Expert advice remains firm: Those ‘autopilot’ and ‘full self drive’ tags are steering wide of the mark.

POKING the bear: It means intentionally causing disturbance.

Many might be starting to wonder if no-one in the car world deliberately antagonises with greater enthusiasm than Elon Musk.

He’s certainly unafraid to express. Take the naming convention for his cars. Why Model 3 after Model S (the big sedan) and the Model X (the gull-winged SUV)? For the same reason that the next car coming here is being called the Model Y.

 Together, though not in order of release, it’s the realisation of a naming strategy Musk has been planning for years: To launch a car line that spells "SEXY." (The Model 3 would’ve ideally been the ‘Model E’, but for Mercedes, which incidentally supplies tech to Tesla).

Puerile? Pretty much. But harmless fun.

 Another word and a phrase have become less a laughing matter. The world of “self-driving” is rife with all kinds of marketing jargon that contributes to plenty of confusion. Yet surely “AutoPilot” and “full self-drive” stand particular chance of being misunderstood.

 Seems some people cannot wait for the time when they can let their cars do all the driving. If you believe everything Tesla’s CEO tweets, we’re on the verge of being able to simply set our cars for a destination and let them drive us there without having to interfere.

Reality is ... well, MUCH more complicated.

Consider both in context of what they really offer. AutoPilot isn’t anything more than a driver assistance system, one of many in the market. It is certainly not a fully self-driving system. It’s also different and separate from Tesla’s more advanced Full Self Driving technology package, a non-transferable option, which itself has a misleading name.

That’s not headline news. Industry authorities have been trying to get that message across for some time. But it’s been hard to win airtime because … well, it’s Tesla. Musk is just so mesmeric. And many Tesla owners simply won’t continence any criticism, no matter how valid. To them it’s just all an example of ‘Big Oil’ and ‘legacy car maker’ jealousy and anti-EV conspiracy. So, when the boss repeatedly claims AutoPilot is a fully-autonomous system, his fans believe him.

Why mention it today? Two reasons. First, a national news and current affairs programme on Sunday (called ‘Sunday’) seems set on dedicating its primary story space entirely to tales of self-driving Teslas and their occupants coming to grief. This appears to be an overseas’-shot segment, mainly concerning incidents in North America. But, still, it’s bound to rile. 

The issue under the spotlight is a self-driving Beta; that is, a system under development that is basically being field-tested in real-life driving, with actual customers. Who, by the way, are enthusiastic participants.

 Be that as it may, the Beta has become a topic in much discussion. The evidence from some videos, such as the one here, suggests it is a huge breakthough. But is is perfect? It has come under criticism for being incredibly imperfect. There’s no shortage of footage of cars in ‘Autopilot’ mode having serious issues; steering into oncoming traffic and initiating functions like windscreen wipers unnecessarily. There have also been several crashes while the Autopilot mode has been engaged, some of which have been fatal. 

That’s bound to be covered on the ‘Sunday’ programme.

Tesla seems pretty thick-skinned about the Beta issues. Indeed, if anything, Musk is now stirring the pot.

This week Tesla announced that a new update to AutoPilot and FSD will deliver enhanced autonomy, with ability to “smooth out intersection control, especially long lefts, and start to handle roads with no map data at all.” 

Translation: Being able to function without road map data could mean Teslas will be able to drive autonomously in remote areas without signage or road markings. In covered or underground parking lots, and other areas where GPS signal isn’t available, Musk says Tesla’s software will use "inertial measurement, wheel movement and vision" for navigation. 

 It’s generally understood that fully autonomous driving is, in theory, legal in New Zealand simply by dint of our regulations – as result of being written up decades ago, when hands’-off driving was literally the stuff of sci-fi  – don’t specifically say it cannot be.

Still, it’s unlikely we will be getting the software here, because logically it would have to be massaged to operate in a right-hand-drive environment. The biggest right-hook market for Tesla is the United Kingdom, where autonomous driving is banned.

Today the online portal for the British publication AutoExpress aired thought the tech will remain in North America under that ‘Beta’ testing title. However, it says, Musk has said the firm will attempt to bring self-driving to Europe. 

All this will put the spotlight on the actual and perceived abilities associated with what the wider industry refers to as ADAS.

That spells out to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, a term companies use as a catch-all for the technology that helps make driving both safer and more comfortable.

ADAS can encompass everything from blind-spot warning and lane departure warning to more advanced systems like adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

Some ADAS systems are very advanced, allowing the driver to remove their feet and hands off the controls while the car is under way (and while ADAS is engaged) and adapt to the speed of traffic around the vehicle without crashing. Not all can do this.

Recently, the US web publication Autoblog wrote an excellent backgrounder about ADAS and how Tesla fits in. The following is from that piece.

“AutoPilot is Tesla’s marketing term for an ADAS system that includes an adaptive cruise system that, when active, modulates speed and distance based on the traffic, road conditions and speed limits on specific, mapped roads. It also includes a lane-centering steering assist system that Tesla calls “Autosteer,” which helps your vehicle remain in its lane as the road curves and undulates. Other brands offer these types of features. 

“Most ADAS systems have specific physical parameters that have to be met before the system can be turned on. For example, like other adaptive cruise control and lane-centering steering systems, the sensors around the vehicle must have at least one or two clear lane markings on either side of the car in order to keep the vehicle centered in the lane. Adaptive cruise uses cameras around the vehicle (though older models also featured radar) to maintain a set speed and distance from vehicles ahead and around it.”

This brings us to the topic of “self-driving,” and :”autonomous vehicles.”

Says Autoblog: “These terms are often thrown around by Musk and his fans, especially when it comes to claims that Tesla vehicles can drive themselves using AutoPilot. The reality is that there are currently no legal, full-self-driving vehicles on the road today, no matter what Elon Musk or his marketing department may say.”

The global industry and safety authorities worldwide define six levels of autonomy, ranging from Level zero to Level Five; each reduces need for human interaction from the driving equation.

Level ‘zero’ is also known as driving on your own without any assistance, whatsoever. It’s just you, your car, and the laws of physics. 

Level one means your car is capable of managing simple inputs, one at a time. These include things like basic cruise control or lane-departure warning.

Level two allows a driver to use two or more automated systems to drive, at the same time. For example, using a speed adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist. Level two is the highest any car available in NZ can reach.

Yes, including any Tesla. Autoblog says that “although AutoPilot is a highly advanced adaptive cruise control, even Tesla has admitted it’s Level 2 system.”

Moving on. Level three, is what’s known as conditional automation meaning that if specific conditions are met (like proper lane markings, road signs, and weather conditions, on specific stretches of highway), then the car can do some limited self-driving without any human input – but with the requirement that a human can take over at any time if the system fails to detect the required inputs. The new Mercedes S-Class has a system called DrivePilot that can achieve this. The basic ingredients of the set-up incorporate into NZ-market cars, but have been rendered inactive.

Levels four and five are much higher degrees of autonomous driving; years away from real-life readiness. Level four still offers a steering wheel or mechanism for a human to take over. Level Five deletes the steering wheel controls completely. Level four and five cars are often shown as concepts, but no vehicles with this tech are on public roads anywhere in the world today. 

Says Autoblog: “Only at Level 5 autonomy can you safely hop into the back seat of your car and take a nap or eat a pizza.”

There are currently two levels of AutoPilot that Tesla offers: “Basic AutoPilot” and “Full Self-Driving.” 

Basic AutoPilot comes on all Teslas and includes ADAS systems like adaptive cruise, lane centering and lane-keeping assistance and emergency braking. 

Customers can decide to “upgrade” by paying extra – it seems to be around $11000 - for “Full Self-Driving,” or FSD. At the FSD level, customers get access to systems that can help them “summon,” their Tesla from a parking spot, stop sign control and auto lane change. For North America Tesla rolled out (and then rolled back) an “assertive” mode for its FSD system, which allowed cars to roll through stop signs, narrow the following distance and made some questionable turns into facing traffic.

Are either autonomous systems? Absolutely not, says Autoblog. “Tesla’s AutoPilot is a Level two system that amounts to a suite of advanced driver safety systems that help make driving a bit less taxing. Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ system is also not a self-driving system since it still requires human input.”

The site wraps up by advising “You should never, ever, exit the driver’s seat, take a nap or take your eyes off the road when using either of these systems as they pose a risk to both your own life and those of the drivers around you. While AutoPilot is a tool that can be used to make driving easier, it is not a full self-driving system.”