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Not all advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are created equal. They have different names and features depending on the manufacturer. Tesla's "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" are probably the most recognizable, but don't let the name fool you. In all systems on the road today the driver should be ready to take over in a moment's notice.
Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla has been offering "Autopilot" as a packaged feature on its vehicles since 2015, with a number of technologies that have been expanded and refined over the last seven years.
The basic Autopilot software enables certain driving functions to be executed by Tesla software in place of the driver, though the Tesla website does say that the features require active driver supervision and do not make the car autonomous.
Tesla's ADAS software and its true capabilities versus how it is used by drivers has been a controversial subject for the company, generating criticism from the public, researchers and safety advocates who say that the technology behind it isn't fully realized and poses a danger to the public.
In a 2021 interview with CNBC, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said that the technology was mislabeled, saying that the way the company talks about Full Self Driving is misleading. "My biggest concern is that Tesla is rolling out full self-driving technology in beta on city streets with untrained drivers," she explained.
The NTSB opened an investigation, as did the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NTSB was focused on instances of Teslas crashing into stationary emergency vehicles, like when a driver in North Carolina struck a police car in 2020 when Autopilot was engaged. NHTSA is looking into Autopilot's "phantom braking" allegations.
What are the different levels of Tesla's ADAS?
The company offers three levels of the tech: Basic Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self Driving Beta.
Basic Autopilot is included for free with every purchase of a Tesla model. It can perform functions like lane-keeping and steering assist, emergency braking when a collision with another vehicle or pedestrian is imminent, and adaptive cruise control.
It's considered a Level 2 system by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). There are six levels from 0 to 5.
Enhanced Autopilot, which is only available in European and Chinese markets, builds on Basic Autopilot by adding automatic lane change capability, automatic parking, which maneuvers the vehicle into the parking space by controlling a car's speed, gear changes and steering angle, and a Smart Summon feature that can autonomously drive a vehicle out of a parking space and find the key holder that summoned it in a lot.
Tesla's "Full Self Driving" technology, despite recent beta testing enhancements, is still a Level 2 ADAS, sold as a $12,000 add-on to the price of the model chosen. The beta will soon be available for Tesla models in Canada.
Why do drivers think Teslas can drive themselves?
Some drivers are understandably mistaken in thinking that since the technologies are called "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" that means they can take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road. Like all Level 2 systems, they require the driver to be ready to act immediately in emergency situations.
The six-tier scale from SAE International says that a Level 1 vehicle can be equipped with lane centering technology or adaptive cruise control while the driver maintains control the whole time.
Level 2 is known as "partial driving automation," which builds on Level 1 by having both steering and brake/acceleration support.
Though not widely used currently, a Level 3 system introduces conditional driving automation. The autonomous technology makes driving decisions and the human driver does not need to supervise, though they must be ready to take over when asked.
A Level 4 autonomous system does not need any input from the driver. This can include driverless taxis that have no steering wheel or pedals.
At Level 5, a vehicle can drive itself under all conditions. It is not limited in where it can travel. The only human interaction is setting a destination.
Tesla vehicles have functions like adaptive cruise control and steering assistance while also providing acceleration or braking support to the driver. Where's the confusion? Some Tesla critics say that the company deliberately oversells the technology as a marketing tactic, which mobility researcher Liza Dixon calls autonowashing, a term that's been used by critics like Ed Nedermeyer.
What exactly is Tesla FSD?
Like Cadillac's Super Cruise or Mercedes' Drive Pilot, the Tesla "Full Self Driving" update is an ADAS that is intended to perform some of the duties normally done by the driver.
The company says that the FSD technology can make automatic lane changes, navigate and keep in a lane on the highway, and automatically park itself, though drivers are required to be ready to take over at any time.
Behind that tech are ultrasonic sensors and eight cameras that Tesla says provide 360 degrees of visibility at up to 250 meters.
What sets Autopilot/FSD apart from other ADAS?
Most manufacturers use a combination of sensor types for their ADAS technology, along with a multitude of cameras. Tesla doesn't.
Cameras, LiDAR sensors, radar sensors and others are currently being developed by technology companies and automakers to provide driver assistance systems with redundancy, which researchers call an important tenet to protect passenger safety in case one of the systems fails.
Mobile Eye, the autonomous tech subsidiary of Intel, says that redundant systems are the best way to "provide enhanced safety and a significantly higher mean time between failures."
At Tesla's Autonomy Day in 2019 CEO Elon Musk has said that LiDAR is an "expensive" and "unnecessary" technology.
What are LiDAR and radar?
An acronym of Light Detection and Ranging, a LiDAR sensor points a laser at objects in its field of view, measuring distance by the time it takes for the reflected light to return to the sensor. From that it can plot speeds and distances of the surrounding vehicles and other objects.
A number of companies have sprung up to offer this technology like Velodyne Lidar, Aurora and Waymo, primarily for use in autonomous vehicles.
Radar sensors use radio waves to find those same distances and make the same calculations. Both have pros and cons. Radar has a shorter range but is better for inclement weather. LiDAR is more expensive, but faster and more accurate at collecting data.
What issues does Autopilot have?
Currently, the NHTSA is investigating 12 incidents where Tesla vehicles with Autopilot enabled crashed into stationary emergency vehicles.
Other reports indicated that drivers have been observed falling asleep and driving under the influence in the past. Tesla has since installed driver monitoring systems (like Cadillac Super Cruise, Subaru EyeSight and Ford BlueCruise have been using) to ensure that drivers are paying attention to the road. Cameras embedded in the dashboard in front of you keep track of your eye movements, alerting you when you take your eyes off the road for a significant amount of time.
Videos posted to social media show Teslas with Autopilot engaged that were unable to recognize pedestrians, veer suddenly out of a lane and commit phantom braking.
Research from MIT has shown that Tesla drivers are more likely to disengage from the task of driving with Autopilot enabled. According to the 2021 study, "before AP disengagement, drivers looked less on-road and focused more on non-driving related areas compared to after the transition to manual driving. The higher proportion of off-road glances before disengagement to manual driving were not compensated by longer glances ahead."
Should I use Autopilot or FSD on my Tesla?
That depends on your comfort level. Before making that decision, you should familiarize yourself with what the technologies can do and what they can't do, as well as the laws and regulations in the area where you'll be operating the vehicle.
Tesla says that while the service is called "Autopilot," the technology cannot perform all of the duties currently done by drivers. Even the "Full Self-Driving" upgrade needs complete attention.
Most companies now offer some form of adaptive cruise control, steering assist and lane-keeping technologies, even on their more basic vehicles. There here are currently zero self-driving cars on the market.
