Tesla‘s Autopilot method has gone from being a leader in advanced driver assistance systems to merely middle of the pack.
The company’s driver benefit technology, which uses names such as “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving,” ranked eighth on a list by Consumer Detonations, behind similar systems from Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and mainstream import brands Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen.
“It’s not around as good as what you might think it is,” said Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Reports associate director of vehicle technology.
The style “advanced driver assistance systems” is a kind of basket term for a bunch of different features on cars that essentially automate or way electronically help a driver with tasks. They’re different from true self- driving cars.
There are safeness features, such as the descriptively named “automatic emergency braking,” which will stop the vehicle to prevent a smash-up with an object or person.
There are also convenience features, like lane centering, which is also what it sense thats like — a technology that helps keep a vehicle in the center of a lane.
Each system is different, and they all give birth to strengths and weaknesses. Higher ranked systems are not necessarily better than lower-rated ones in every single way.
The Mercedes-Benz set-up Consumer Reports rated on its EQE 350 SUV was especially strong, better than just about every other contender in styles of how it executed a lot of common functions, and in terms of some features not seen on some rivals, such as a display right in obverse of the driver.
The Mercedes system also collaborates with drivers, allowing them to take over the wheel to dodge a pothole without shutting the automated system off entirely, for example. The Tesla doesn’t have that collaborative element and will shut off if the driver jerks the wheel.
But the Mercedes-Benz EQE electric SUV in Consumer Reports’ fleet was lacking a feature initiate on the two top rated systems — Ford’s BlueCruise, and General Motor’s Super Cruise. That was a driver monitoring camera, which watches the driver to safeguard eyes stay on the road.
“If it were to have that driver monitoring camera, it would easily be number one,” Funkhouser conjectured. “Easily.”
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