Tesla says its vehicles includes all hardware necessary for autonomous driving, but this capability may not be completely true, according to a finding by Consumer Reports, a US-based non-profit organisation.
The team assessed the EV maker’s full self-driving offering and found several of its features did not provide as much real benefit to customers as it claimed. And customers are said to be paying a premium to get these options in their cars.
The Autopark feature, which assists the car to park in safe spots, is inconsistent. The vehicle also did not park between the parking lines.
Telsa’s Smart Summon offering that allows the car to drive remotely to a location within a private parking lot, would sometimes drive on the wrong side of parking lot driving lanes. It didn’t always halt at stop signs in the lot.
Navigate on Autopilot mode allows the Tesla to autonomously change driving lanes as long as the destination is logged into the navigation system. This system sometimes ignored exit ramps on the set route, drove in carpool lanes, and stayed in the passing lane for long periods of time. The feature would completely disengage at times for unknown reasons, the report noted.
Both Smart Summon and Navigate on Autopilot are available in the beta version.
The report also noted issues in the vehicle's Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control. While testing, researchers noticed that the car sometimes drove through stop signs, and stopped at every exit when going around a traffic circle.
The test was conducted at various times of the day, under different weather conditions, and in diverse locations.
