In early April 2019, Tesla rolled out a major Autopilot update that greatly enhances the Navigate on Autopilot feature, allowing customers to turn off Confirm Lane Change. With no lane change confirmation required, Tesla vehicles can now truly drive autonomously from freeway on-ramp to exit. Note that this feature is available for those customers who currently have the Navigate on Autopilot feature and for those who have purchased the current Full Self-Driving (or Enhanced Autopilot) packages.
Lane Change Options in Settings
The Customize Navigate on Autopilot setting now has additional options available:
- Enable at Start of Every Trip
- Require Lane Change Confirmation
- Lane Change Notification
Enable at Start of Every Trip – this will automatically turn on Navigate on Autopilot once a destination has been entered that has a compatible freeway route.
Require Lane Change Confirmation – a user can select “No” for this option and the vehicle will automatically change lanes when safe to do so and when the users hands are detected on the wheel.
Lane Change Notification – this allows a user to be notified of an upcoming lane change via an audible alert or a steering wheel vibration (if your vehicle was built after August 2017).
Users can cancel a lane change by before it’s made by moving the car’s turn signal or pressing the lane change notification cancellation button on the touchscreen.
Here’s a quick test showing how it works:
Safety
Tesla says they have thoroughly tested this feature with over a half-million miles driven with the confirmation turned off. Even before that, Tesla logged millions of miles with Navigate on Autopilot to understand exactly how well lane change suggestions worked in order to adjust the system for the rollout.
Who Gets This Feature?
It’s available for US customers other markets where regulations allow it. It first rolled out with the 2019.8.5 update but be sure to check the Software Updates page for the latest enhancements to Full Self Driving.
See the original full Tesla announcement here.