It probably has the best and most intuitive lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, blind spot alerts, collision detection warnings, etc. out there (at least from the cars I've driven). For example, other intelligent cruise control systems I've used will rigidly and aggressively maintain a fixed distance from the car in front of you, like a robot--with only 3 options: awful tail gating, kind of acceptable, and piss everyone else off as you stay a mile away.
Whereas Telsa's have some 8 levels of distance options--easily adjustable by pushing the right steering wheel button left or right, which shows a visual indicator on the screen. And more importantly, it isn't some rigid algorithm that will "always maintain 8 car lengths", instead its behavior is based on current conditions.
Autopilot is a fantastic driver-assist tool, and makes driving so much more enjoyable and less stressful. Part of the problem is that even technically inclined people, as witnessed here, have trouble with the distinction between "Full Self Driving", and "Autopilot". Autopilot is basically cruise control with steering. If you wouldn't use cruise control normally, certainly don't use Autopilot. And when using it, keep your hands on the wheel, and be prepared to take control immediately, just like it says--especially whenever there's an upcoming change to road conditions (e.g. a new lane appears, an intersection, a merger, etc).
It's also really easy to take control if it starts to veer into, say, another lane that appears. When I first got a Model Y in January, there were a couple places on my daily drive where it'd tend to rather aggressively steer into an an emerging turn lane with poor/non-existent markings. However, it would ultimately make the right decision, even if it was a little unnerving.
But with the latest software updates, those edge cases have been addressed; at most, it'll gently and momentarily steer in that direction, and then gracefully correct to maintain its previous heading (as you'd expect).
Autopilot doesn't have a detailed understanding of the road path, stop signs, intersections, etc. It's literally just using onboard sensors to figure out its surroundings.
Full Self Driving is a totally different animal.
And I think everyone would agree that Telsa has done a rather poor job communicating these distinctions and limitations.
[0] https://www.tesla.com/support/autopilot
[1] https://cleantechnica.com/2021/04/18/tesla-autopilot-is-just...
On straight highways with little traffic there I had zero problems with Autopilot. As a test, I engaged it in some not-so-great conditions (rainy, twisty mountain roads with lots of tractor trailer traffic) and the result was a bit more exciting. So, yes, used appropriately, Autopilot is great. I'm not really sold on FSD yet.
I have a question about Tesla Autopilot.
Looking at the common driver assistance features that are common nowadays even on many entry level models from most car companies, I see adaptive cruise control (often with low speed following), warnings if you start to drift out of your lane (sometimes with minor steering nudges), warnings if you turn on a turn signal when something is in your blind spot, and similar things. They are usually separate features you can individually enable or disable.
I assume Tesla does those things, too, but are they part of Autopilot or are they ? If they are part of Autopilot, do you lose them when you decide not to engage Autopilot or can you turn on and off individual features of Autopilot?
Put another way, if I found myself driving a Tesla, and only wanted it to only use those driver assist features that I'd find if I were driving a low to mid level Honda Civic or Toyota Camry, is that possible?