When Tesla’s Autopilot feature was launched back in September 2014, it nearly shook everyone and showed them a ray of innovation. Tesla has launched a total of 4 models in the market, which are the Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Model X, and Model S. And all of them are self-driving.
The Autopilot mode is similar to a plane’s Autopilot. It will take you to the desired destination by guiding the car from ramp-on to ramp-off, recommending and changing lanes, steering highway intersections, and also taking exit portals.
It will find the most efficient route to take you to the destination, you might often think that the Autopilot mode drives better than you.
So, let’s see how you can activate and also deactivate the Autopilot mode on Tesla Model 3.
Tesla’s Self-Driving Capability
Before we jump into the main dish, let’s see what else we can expect from our Tesla Model 3 cars. For the record, Tesla cars are designed to be fully capable of self-driving. No wonder Tesla Model 3 cars are so expensive.
Tesla Model 3 comes with a Traffic-aware Cruise Control, Autosteer mode, Autopilot mode, Auto Lane Change mode, Autopark Mode, Smart Summon feature, and Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control.
It also has many active safety features. But we won’t be talking about them right now, let’s save them for later.
Now, most of the self-driving features mentioned up there is just a part of the Autopilot Mode, excluding Cruise Control. We need to know how to turn on/off Cruise Control Tesla Model 3, but now let’s focus on the Autopilot mode.
The Step-By-Step Guide to activate Autopilot on Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 has many dissimilarities between the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X. Activating the Autopilot mode is one of them.
Let’s break down the ultimate way to turn on the Autopilot mode on your Tesla Model 3.
Enabling Autosteer mode
Before we enable the Autopilot mode, we need to enable the Autosteer mode. We told you that most of the self-driving features mentioned above are part of the Autopilot mode, didn’t we?
To activate the Autosteer mode, we need to navigate to “Controls”, then to “Autopilot”, after that navigate to “Autosteer”. Now, we just have to enable the Autosteer feature. That’s all for Autosteer mode.
Activating Camera Calibration and Downloading Navigation Maps
And then, we will be needed the camera calibration feature to enable it. Also, Navigation maps’ latest version is required to enable Autopilot mode. Make sure to download it through WiFi as cellular and broadband connections aren’t available for Tesla cars.
Activating Navigate on Autopilot
For each path where your “Navigate on Autopilot” is accessible, we need to activate the feature by pressing the NAVIGATE ON AUTOPILOT button which is situated on our “Navigation Turn List”.
We can also activate the Navigate on Autopilot feature spontaneously whenever a destination is being input and the Autopilot mode is engrossed by altering our Navigate on Autopilot settings from “Controls” to “Autopilot” to “Customize Navigate on Autopilot”
Moving the gear level
Everything for activating the Autopilot mode on the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model S, and Tesla Model Y was the same until now.
For enabling the Autopilot mode on your Tesla Model 3, you have to navigate to the gear of your car and move the gear lever twice downwards simultaneously. And that’s it, you have successfully activated your Autopilot mode for the Tesla Model 3 car.
There are other features like Autopark, Auto Lane Change, etc. Those just work once you activate the Autopilot mode.
Guess we are not done here yet. Most people struggle to turn off the Autopilot mode once they’ve activated it. So, let’s navigate to where we can learn how to turn off Autopilot mode on Tesla Model 3.
The ways How to turn off Autopilot Model 3
Turning off the Autopilot mode on your Tesla Model 3 is simple and just the opposite of what you did to activate it. Let’s begin with the demonstration.
It’s not so complex that we need to break down the whole method for you. You just need to tap your drive control stalk in the upward direction. Your Tesla Model 3 will just turn off itself. There won’t be any car veering or any sort of flashing brake lights.
To prevent regenerative braking from kicking in, you have to make sure that you have your foot on the accelerator. See, it’s not that difficult to do.
Risks of Autopilot on Tesla Model 3
We can’t fully rely on automated AI alone, can we? Humans can make mistakes, and Automation can also have flaws. Of course, the flaws would be within the software’s creators and programmers but still, that doesn’t mean we can count on them.
According to NHTSA, In 2017, it was found that the number of crashes with airbag deployment decreased right after Tesla Motors launched Autosteer technology. But that report had flaws.
Correcting that report, an independent analysis showed us that the number of crashes with airbag deployment increased after Tesla had introduced their Autosteer, or rather the Autopilot technology.
All technology must have pros and cons, that’s why we shouldn’t fully rely on Artificial Intelligence alone. This means we can’t use the Autopilot feature implemented on Tesla cars every time we want to. It’s for our safety and others’ too.
Also Read: Tesla Autopilot vs Self-Driving Mode: The Differences
Conclusion
Tesla surely has shown us the route of innovation with their electric cars, advanced navigation tools, and most importantly the Autopilot feature.
We might get the idea of how to activate the Autopilot mode on your Tesla Model 3 by now. Remember, this procedure will effectively work with only Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. The steps of enabling the feature on Tesla Model X and Model S are different from the ones we’ve shown you here.
