Tesla Autopilot: The comprehensive multi-road 33 mile review

When Tesla announced Autopilot, a new feature that allows its cars to drive themselves with no input from the driver, ex-Microsoft developer and geek-famous YouTube reviewer Barnacules Nerdgasm (AKA Jerry) decided to put the new tech to the test.

Not even 24 hours after the Autopilot was live, Jerry and his friend drove a Tesla P85D (and its 762+ horse power), on a 33 mile road trip to get familiar with the new technology. This is what he thought of it.

Would you use Tesla’s Autopilot on a regular basis?

I would enable it, like I would enable cruise control. I would pay full attention, I’d keep my hands near the wheel at all times.

Do you think people will take advantage of this technology?

This is definitely something you have to respect. This is not just a "push the button and check out". This is just a tool, like cruise control. Right? You don’t enable cruise control and jump in the back seat.

The market for cars with autopilot:

This is actually amazing because, if you have to drive in traffic and you’re going at slow speeds for long periods and distances, this would make the ride a joy. At high speed it’s a little nerve-racking on some roads, but once you drove a road a few times and you build up a confidence in it, you could just relax, just let your car drive you home.

The Scariest Moment of the Test Drive:

There was literally a police car on the side of the road, a cop walking around, a guy slamming on his breaks to change lanes at 10 miles per hour on the freeway, and the [Tesla] handled it well. That was a 10 out of 10 handling.

How does Autopilot drive differently than you might?

I don’t want to call it a late braker, but like, I would start riding the breaks a lot earlier than it does. You can tell that the car has a hell of a lot more confidence in its abilities than I do. It’s like, "Aw yeah! Pfft. 20 feet? I can go from a hundred to zero in 20 feet. I’m good".

How do you feel now that you have a few miles under your belt?

I feel fine. The two times that I had to touch the wheel, it was just a precautionary measure. I didn’t have to give it any input. Elon was just like, "there’s a chance, a chance… something might happen, so you might want to have your hands on the wheel". But that was only twice in that whole distance so, that was pretty cool.

Bottom Line:

This is amazing technology. It’s great, but, even on the freeway, you still need to be paying attention. You really do, because it’s not a substitute for the driver, it’s just a tool to help the driver. This can extend your range once you get used to it, once you get used to the quirks and everything just like cruise control, it’s gonna lessen the burden on you on your trip, but if you just check out, like full-blown automation, and expect it to be your valet, it’s going to be a pretty crappy valet.

Watch the full test drive video below:

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