Life on Autopilot

Cold Start

In 2016, with stars in his eyes, the love of my life took me to the Tesla Store.

For years he had sat on the side lines watching every move made by the company. I would be inundated with stories of amazing battery and car performance and videos of the Tesla S or X beating their competition in every way. As a spouse, it is easy to fall in love again with your partner when they are happy and excited.

On this fated day, we went to see the Tesla model S. His dream in life was to be a legit Tesla fanatic by owning his very own Tesla. As luck would have it the newly released model X, never before seen in the showroom, was touring Canada and on display. We were one of the first to check it out. On that day I remember how the sales people were more focused on the men in the room. I was just the wife and lacking passion for the car I stood back and let the men talk about all the cool features, sound system and falcon wing doors. From my perspective, this was the latest in a stream of electronic toys for boys and my feminist side bristled.

A couple of months later we returned to the Tesla store, while he chatted about the latest developments happening in the Tesla world, I played with the interface to ascertain how much this car would cost us. The price tag rung up to between $150,000 and $180,000 for the souped up Tesla model X. Eyes wide, I backed out of the store. No, we would not be owners of the X.

Together we decided we would buy the already successful well reviewed model S. The more affordable model 3 was still a couple of years away in production. Walking into the Tesla store for the third or fourth time, I was flattered by the sales staff who finally took an active interest in talking to ME the woman in the room. I test drove the model X and found it passing as far as cars go.

I could not share the draw that my husband held for the Tesla. A car is a car right?

Or is it?

I asked my husband why not consider the affordable Leaf? Why not wait until other manufacturers caught up with the technology? His answer would always direct back to Tesla having the best batteries and the most robust cars. Tesla having put itself out there for so many years with a single purpose. The network of superchargers and how early adopters benefited from unlimited charging.

To this I would point out how like cell phone companies, Tesla owns all of your data and your car at the end of the day. You are paying the license to use a very expensive cell phone. How long would the car hold up? Would we have to trade it in for newer technology in a couple of years?

Returning to the showroom we found the now established Tesla X sitting front and center. My husband and I knew that we were expecting baby number three. In the back of my head, I knew that this is what he really wanted. It would cost us but we both worked from home most of the time and could downgrade to one car. An SUV with six or seven seats had more appeal than a sedan.

Ok. Lets do it.

And just like that, we started the paperwork to trade in our two cars for a Tesla X. We were one of the last recipients to squeeze through and qualify for the federal and provincial incentives of $14,000 off the price. As Hans Rosling describes in his book Factfulness, we have enough to live by (Level 4) but are by no means part of the 1%. Purchasing this car required a steep loan and tightening of the belt. The choice came down to a lifestyle choice. We wanted to drive a car that suited our family and do something beneficial for the environment at the same time.

Early Adoption

I blush and have to laugh with embarrassment when I think back to the learning curve we experienced in our first couple of months owning our Tesla X.

The Tesla X is beautiful. Ours is a eye catching blue with a cream/white vegan leather interior. The sound system is remarkable and can be shifted to focus a specific area of the car as needed. This is especially useful when the kids are asleep or grandma decides to use the back seat to catch up on her phone calls.

The first thing I noticed when I sat in the front seat was the sky roof. The car leaves a lasting impression that you are driving in a futuristic mini space ship. I aptly named the car our TARDIS. For fans of Doctor Who, IT really IS bigger on the inside.

The falcon wing doors can be described by the reaction of every 6-12 year old child within visual radius dropping his or her jaw to exclaim

“Mom/Dad… Look at that car!”

Pick up and drop off at school and daycare are quite the exhibition show. I dislike the almost constant attention.

The one exception I take fierce pride in is when I load my groceries to the frunk (front trunk). This to me is cooler than the falcon wing doors and reminds everyone around that this car does not have an engine. I became quickly accustomed to random strangers coming up to me to look at the inspirational vehicle. How does it work?

I finally had the chance to accelerate without a salesperson watching. When you put your foot down, the car moves. Driving is extremely pleasurable and as a driver you feel the control with confidence. A wide rear view camera makes backing into spaces painless. I suspect I am ruined for all other cars.

There is a lot to say to compliment this car.

So why the embarrassment? We made the mistake of installing a Tesla charger in our garage a month after purchase. The nearest supercharger at the time was a full 40 minutes away. We were unable to charge the car to full battery. This proved necessary to accommodate for shifts in weather (early winter combined with parking on a driveway) and to accommodate the demands of a Tesla fanatic who wanted to give everyone and their neighbor a joy ride.

Lesson #1: Tesla fanatics do not like talking about what is not optimal about a Tesla.

The Tesla X’s kryptonite is cold weather. When parked outdoors most of your charge will go to heating the car. Once the car is at the optimum temperature it returns to an excellent level of efficiency. By the second year of owning the car we re-prioritized the prime space in our garage for the winter months. That change in start temperature makes all the difference and we stopped feeling the cold hit the car.

The supercharger system was not as well developed in 2018 as it is today. Driving an hour west of Orangeville from Toronto meant sitting at random chargers for hours on end just to get from point A to point A1 and then point A2 and potentially point A3 (in the dead of winter) before finally getting to our destination.

Since these early days there is now a supercharger in Barrie and another in Orangeville. Tesla has worked hard to provide Superchargers on most motorways and at least 2 hours drive apart. The navigation system on the Tesla plans your route with the optimal charge times in mind. On average your route will include a 2.5 hour drive followed by a 20 minute charge on a supercharger. With a family of 5, this equates to a toilet break and a snack. Longer breaks for meals can result in a 100% charged battery. The breaks also push lone drivers to take a break as needed every couple of hours. You can edit the navigation route as suits your schedule to stop when you want or need to stop.

In our early days, we drove the car to zero battery often and with children or elderly visitors in tow it was quite the embarrassment. I experienced buyers remorse.

All of these feelings of remorse evaporated overnight once we had the correct charger installed at home. I enjoy driving the Tesla X and knowing I can enjoy a free charge at any Supercharger. The car is a pleasure and liberating to drive.

The second period when I resented the car was when I was pregnant with number three.

A basic handle that exists in all cars to aid people in getting in and getting out of the car is strangely absent in the Tesla’s interior design. I like to say it is not made for pregnant women or the elderly. The one time the driver’s seat moved forward without a means of stopping and into the steering wheel as my son entered the back seat was enough for my role of driving the kids to be put on hiatus. I am not sure if the safety requirements adhered to for the outside of the vehicle are also the same for the inside. There are a few mechanical quirks with respect to the doors, yes the falcon wings, that I have every hope that Tesla will fix and perfect in time.

The car does well in all seasons, with kids, with dogs, with grandma and grandpa, and with me.

The backs of the seats are very hard and plastic such that I always make sure the kids have their seat belts fastened even when moving a short distance like down the driveway. The power of the car both in acceleration and braking is enough to create an equal and opposite force. Note the only reason I mention this is because most cars have soft seats and most kids attempt to take off their seat belts before the car comes to a full stop. Not my kids.

Auto Pilot and Redemption

Disclaimer: I have used auto pilot once and that was on a scantily populated country road. I did not like it. I am very much a child of the analog age and I find it difficult to trust my life and that of my passengers to a self-driving car when I am in the driver’s seat. I compare it to how I trip while walking. Driving takes all of my attention and I am jumpy and excitable. My temperament is such that I need to be in full control of the vehicle while I am driving. My exception here is in using cruise control. To date, I can not think of auto pilot as a tool. To me it is a feature of the car and as a former product manager I suspect it may have its share of bugs, especially as a beta.

I instead speak on behalf of my husband, the ardent Tesla fanatic, who has full confidence in the Tesla’s auto pilot feature. Our most recent road trip from Toronto to Boston with three kids aged 8 through 8 months was a celebrated success. Our kids were well spaced out in the back given our 6 seat configuration with the baby able to see and be entertained by her siblings.

Auto pilot was instrumental in the success of the road trip. It kept the car within the lanes/lines at all times. My husband tends to drift to the right which annoys the one sitting in the passenger seat, me. Proximity to the other cars is also controlled allowing the driver to keep a safe controllable distance at all times. Sudden slow downs on the highway cause the car to automatically slow down. The car gives the impression that you are one of many cars on a train. By the same token, find a car travelling at a decent speed ahead of you and let the car do its thing following at that safe distance at a speed you set. Stress and nagging due to bad driving habits are averted.

The downside of auto pilot is occasional boredom experienced by the driver. Phones should not be nearby as they can be a source of distraction. It is also very unnerving to see that his foot is planted to the floor and not on or over any pedal. Sitting next to Mrs. Caution meant turning off auto-pilot whenever SHE determined the traffic was erratic or that he became tired. There were more than a few incidents on the long drive where another car was either weaving or a truck showed aggression. No amount of programming can replace human intuition and reaction. In these situations it is up to the driver to decide when auto pilot should be turned off and return to human driving.

I can vouch for feeling safe while auto pilot took over. The lane changes could be a little less sudden and the acceleration and deceleration are also palpable compared to the gradual nature of a human driver. Overall, provided the driver understands the limitations of auto pilot and does not push him or herself or the car to the limit, there should be no issue.

Midway through writing this article, the National Post published an article where the family of Walter Huang are suing Tesla for his death while using auto-pilot.

I wonder whether the driver of the fatal accident had fallen victim to what Malcolm Gladwell describes in his podcast titled the Blame Game. I find it plausible that a confident driver using auto pilot, who has his feet planted on the floor, when encountering a sudden emergency whether imagined or real may put his foot on the wrong pedal. This paired with the Tesla’s powerful acceleration can amount to a death sentence. The family is right in suing Tesla for not having some form of fail safe since the car is able to sense that there is an obstruction coming up alongside. In this case it is the auto pilot that leads the driver to have both feet planted on the ground. But at the same time it is up to the driver to ascertain whether the brake or the accelerator should be pressed. There is no easy answer here and this could happen in any powerful car.

I have driven ‘around’ cars parked on a residential street and had the Tesla beep/alert at me to inform me that there is a stopped car in front of me. The car loudly recognizes obstructions. However, I have no clue how their safety mechanism in this case works. Were I to plow into the car parked ahead would the car safely stop? I am not about to try it.

Overzealous Tesla drivers exuding a level of confidence in a beta feature lack a sense of caution when using auto pilot.

This gives the car a bad reputation when accidents happen. Accidents happen to all cars but all accidents involving a Tesla will make headline news.

The future as written in Science Fiction is one where automation will take over. The cell phone had to replace the rotary phone. Digital controls replaced analog. So too will the car with auto pilot eventually replace the human driven car. Given the speed at which technology developed in my grandmother’s time (the entire 1900s), by the time I hit my nineties auto pilot will be the norm and I will tell my grand children how we used to have to drive our cars by ourselves.

Here is a start: I haven’t done an oil change or paid for gas in years. I love my car. Yet, not being my husband, I dream of driving an electric BMW Mini one day.