February 8, 2025 at 7:58 AM CST In my last column I wrote about the Tesla Model X I took for a test drive, and the benefits and downsides of the electric powertrain. Here, I’ll discuss a few other unique features, starting with autopilot. The promise of the Tesla Autopilot is that you could enter your destination into the vehicle’s GPS and press “go.” Using a high performance computer and an array of rear, side and forward cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors, the Tesla will bring you safely to your destination. Your car will drive you there by itself. The reality is that this is still a complex, emerging technology. While Tesla is actively selling this technology in all of its vehicles, it still considers it in the “Beta” stage, shared with consumers to help test, but buyer beware. Tesla has been forthcoming that the software is not final, and is continually refining the technology. The version I drove has older hardware. This is significant because the newer version includes additional cameras and sensors, allowing functions such as fully automated lane changes and driving more complex roads. Once activated, the autopilot continues driving the vehicle down the road, avoiding obstacles, staying in the lane and avoiding collisions. On my drive, a road sign had fallen into my lane. I was advised to not touch the steering wheel and let the vehicle drive. Sure enough, the Tesla smoothly avoided the obstacle without missing a beat. Every bend or curve in the roadway was smoothly followed as if I was driving myself. In order to ensure that the human driver was paying attention, the vehicle would flash a bright display on the dashboard and make an audible noise to request the driver move the steering wheel, to indicate that the vehicle was being monitored. In essence, this was the “training wheels” mode requiring humans to be the babysitter. As an auto enthusiast who has been driving for the past 30 years and also an advocate of safe driving practices, I found the whole experience very strange. Throughout the entire experience, I struggled to remove my hands from the steering wheel, and the few times that I did, I was compelled to keep my hands hovering nearby. On long stretches of highway, I can see the value of having the assistance of autopilot to drive. Taking much of the mental load off of the driver can reduce some degree of stress. According to Tesla’s data, after introducing “Autosteer,” the number of crashes in Tesla vehicles dropped from 1.3 down to 0.8 per million miles. By comparison in Minnesota, we had 1.26 crashes per million miles in 2015 (285 deaths and 29,981 injuries). Assuming the numbers are accurate, one could extrapolate that on a typical year, use of this technology might have saved 109 lives and 11,530 injuries in Minnesota alone. Economic costs could be significant in savings of lost income, wages, and medical costs. Yet perhaps I’m a little old-fashioned, but I’m still not exactly comfortable with handing over the wheel to a computer. I’ve spent my entire life being taught, and teaching others, that safety depends upon tireless vigilance, attention and discipline. The simple crux of the issue is that I’m simply not (yet) comfortable giving up control of my personal safety to electronics and code that someone else wrote. And I’m not alone. There is clearly a trust and perception factor involved here – regardless of how positive the data is, because this is a cultural and mindset adjustment. And there’s still much technical work to be done. But it is a dang good cruise control! OTHER FEATURES In a parking lot, the falcon-wing doors are one of the most distinctive features you’ll see. The two rear doors of the Model X are hinged to open up and fold. Push a button, and a complex set of motors and sensors will lift the door straight up, ensuring that no obstacles are touched above or next to the vehicle. However, the sensors and motors of the doors can be incredibly finicky. Outside with clear skies, it would stop abruptly for inexplicable reasons, leaving a partially obstructed passenger while opening. Other features include the panoramic windshield, with an unobstructed view above and in front (through engineering out the header bar where the sun visors are), the pedestal mounts for the rear seats, the front trunk (“frunk”) for storage, and rear-facing jump seats. What’s exciting here isn’t just the technology, but the risk-taking innovation. What Tesla uses to market itself as a premium car maker is also what pushes the entire automotive industry to explore and add new technologies. By having sold 185,000 vehicles through the end of 2016 and another 47,000 more through July of this year, and having received over 400,000 deposits for the newly released Tesla Model 3, they’ve demonstrated to the industry that there is a viable market for electric vehicles. Regardless of how successful Tesla is in getting Model 3 production up to promised volumes, every major auto manufacturer on the planet has an electric vehicle program in place in an effort to capitalize on this interest. It has become the exception to find an automaker that doesn’t have electric vehicles on the drawing boards across its product portfolios in the next decade. Some have already stated that by 2020, all of the vehicles in their product lineup will have electric-only versions. The rapid development of technologies have been rapidly making their way into more mainstream vehicles. Features such as automatic braking, lane keeping assistance, forward collision alerting, and adaptive/smart cruise control including automatic steering were only available to a handful of people years ago in vehicles costing $100,000 or more. Today, they are available in many makes. The bar has been raised. Originally Published: