[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by Evergreen6

This is the part I struggle with re: proximity keys. Walking past our EV in the garage means it lights up and gets ready to go. My phone is in my pocket and I've gone to the garage to fetch something else. I didn't intend to drive the car.

Trying to wash it or clean the interior is a *show. Walk away, and it locks. Walk near it, it unlocks. Swipe under the rear bumper and the hatch will open. Touch the screen with a cleaning towel and the dash lights up because it's taken input. Accidentally press a button on the console and the infotainment wants input, or it's already taken input and is doing something I didn't actually intend to do.

And that's one issue I have with modern vehicles. There are so many settings, modes, and overly "helpful" aides and configurations, and they're all programmed differently, behave differently. It's like how video games evolved from "Pong" to 17 sequels of an RPG with an elaborate plot line that takes thousands of hours to conquer and requires a significant investment of time/energy/machinery just to play it. I'm not dumb, it's just at this stage in life I struggle to find these things ultimately useful or worthy of the time/energy to fully understand and configure them. A physical key and simple fob in hand is something I think we all took for granted, and its evolution I think is an answer to questions that weren't necessarily being asked. Perhaps by people who find a simple car key to be a "hassle". Me? I'm of the belief that a hammer can be a very elegant and versatile tool. I find this new stuff to be a "hassle", and don't appreciate the fact that for most of these cars there doesn't seem to be an simple "dumb" mode, or if there is, it takes pages of reading and configuration to dial back it's supposed helpfulness.

Our EV has a partial self-driving mode. I don't trust it. It's a gimmick. I'm still responsible for the car and my own safety, and the safety of others, and I have to second-guess what it's doing and be ready to take over if it does something stupid, which it does. I also can't train it to NOT drive like a teenager. It follows too close, brakes too hard, and doesn't anticipate things in extended sight distance. I tried to let it do its thing while I had to eat breakfast on the run, and yeah, I can kind of see where it's helpful so you can momentarily take your eyes off the road or reduce the level of input needed, but ultimately we as drivers shouldn't be doing that. Shouldn't be eating on the run, shouldn't be taking our eyes off the road.

But I digress and get distracted. I'm still waiting for a manufacturer who will produce an arguably performance-oriented EV where there isn't an equal purpose to automate and simplify (through overhead of configuration and prediction) the driving experience. To really take control of our iX I have to configure it that way, and that's one thing I find to be incredibly annoying as a driver/enthusiast.

Interesting. In the Tesla there is a car wash mode that I can access either through the screen or voice command. There is also a way to pause the system from the screen (I haven’t tried using a voice command for that yet). There’s also a mode to lock the screen so that you can clean it. Simple on screen access so I haven’t bothered with voice command there.

Very much agree with you regarding the driver assist technologies. That’s really what “Autopilot” is. ADAS. Advanced Driver Assist System. Tesla’s Autopilot and systems like it are basically Level 2 ADAS (out of 5 levels). Basically Full Range Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Keeping.

Tesla Full Self Driving, GM SuperCruise, Ford BlueCruise are all examples of Level 2+. Level 2+ was inserted into the lexicon because they have additional cзlability like Lane Changing, Traffic Sign / Signal Recognition and more advanced pedestrian mitigation technologies, but they are not quite up to Level 3 which would. Include other things like emergency vehicle recognition and a few other things I can’t recall off the top of my head.

My car has Autopilot. I use it quite a bit but I recognize its limitations. Does a great job at maintaining center of lane in traffic and maintaining the right distance from vehicles in front of me. Absolutely fantastic in traffic jams. Comes to a complete stop when it needs to and resumes motion when it’s supposed to.

I did the 30-day Full Self Driving demo last month. I’d say in my usage it scored a 99%. Managed traffic circles splendidly. Made its on lane change decisions in highway traffic. Recognized appropriate exit lanes and traffic rules. Worked near perfectly 99% of the time. Thing is, that other 1% is all you need to get yourself killed, so I took a pass on adding it to my vehicle, even though Tesla cut the price in half.