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Tesla's Autopilot conquers intimidating highway and inner city trip with ease

Credit: YouTube/Dirty Tesla

Published

6 years ago

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recent video from a Tesla enthusiast shows that the electric car maker’s driver-assist software is fully capable of handling lengthy trips on the highway, navigating through various on and off ramps and performing smooth lane changes.

As a part of his “Tesla Challenge” series on YouTube, Tesla owner and enthusiast Dirty Tesla took his Model 3 on a 45-mile journey from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Troy, Michigan. He decided it was a perfect opportunity to test Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot system as the journey was taken during a relatively busy time on the highway. His Model 3 was operating on Software 2019.40.50.7 with Hardware 2.5.

Dirty Tesla noted that the intention of the video was to intervene as little as possible with the car to see how it would handle the trip in somewhat stressful conditions. He stated that in past challenges, he has been a tad disappointed with his Model 3’s performance when navigating on the highway with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. However, this test gave a completely different result.

When traveling on Interstate-75 in Michigan, Dirty Tesla notes that exit 186B has given his vehicle some issues in the past. Even though the vehicle and GPS recognized that the exit needed to be taken to get to the destination in the quickest way possible, the Tesla would sometimes speed by the exit and reroute.

However, the vehicle easily recognized the exit in this instance and took it with relative ease. “Perfect, it took it. That is so nice. That’s an exit that [the car] used to just fly right past it. It had it on the screen, it said it was going to exit, and it just didn’t. But now, that is working,” he said.

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Shortly after taking the correct exit in a manner that was impressive to Dirty Tesla, the car then displayed its recently added Adjacent Lane Speed Adjustment feature. When approaching a traffic light that had recently turned green, a line of cars in the lane next to the one Dirty Tesla was driving in was not yet moving. The Model 3’s Autopilot cameras and sensors recognized this and eventually slowed the vehicle down so it would be traveling at a safer speed that was similar to the cars around it.

After exiting the freeway, the Tesla was then automatically navigating through a series of city roads and intersections flawlessly. This was impressive as some lines on the road were faded or not visible at all. This did not seem to be a challenge for the Tesla and it was able to travel through the streets of Troy without any intervention from the driver.

The performance of Dirty Tesla’s Model 3 is another example of how far Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems have come. As the company has released frequent updates to the software that has made it safer, the Tesla enthusiast noted that the vehicle seems to perform with more confidence than it ever has before. Ultimately, the YouTube host gave Autopilot’s performance an A rating and stated the drive was super impressive and a lot of fun.

You can watch Dirty Tesla’s 45-mile journey in his Model 3 below.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Cybertruck

Tesla clears the air on Cybertruck ‘deactivation’ video that is obviously fake

Tesla has cleared the air on the viral video, stating it is fake.

Published

16 hours ago

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August 11, 2025

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Credit: Cybertruck | X

Tesla has cleared the air regarding a video that has been circulating, where the owner claims his Cybertruck was “deactivated” by the company while he was driving.

The video was shared on X and showed a driver pulled over on the side of the road, claiming his Cybertruck had been deactivated by Tesla in the middle of traffic. It is very obviously fake to those who know the company, but these kinds of things have a tendency to pick up steam.

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The video shows a screen that says:

“Tesla Cybertruck De-Activated. Critical Issue Detected | Contact Customer Service, Comply with Cease & Desist to Re-Activate. Update Failed, Return to Dealer.”

The same person who posted the video also shared an image of what appears to be a Cease and Desist letter from Tesla, but it is also likely fake:

The company finally responded to the video on Monday afternoon, stating that the video is, in fact, fake, reiterating that it will not disable vehicles remotely for any reason.

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It is a shame that these types of things happen, especially as people are prone to believe anything they see on the internet. As there is so much misinformation circulating surrounding Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, it is no surprise that someone would leverage the situation for their own benefit.

If that Cease and Desist letter is not real, perhaps the next one might be. These types of things can truly cause damage to a company’s reputation, and someone getting an idea that Tesla would remotely deactivate a car could prevent them from buying one.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk is stepping up for Tesla Service in a big way

Elon Musk has stepped up to resolve a handful of customer issues regarding vehicle service.

Published

18 hours ago

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August 11, 2025

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tesla service
Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk is stepping up to help customers in a big way, especially when they are having issues with Tesla’s Service.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages Tesla owners have is access to Musk through X, his social media platform. Over the years, we’ve seen Tesla add features, refine its cars’ performance, and more, all through asking Musk directly through a post.

Now, Musk is stepping up in another way by resolving a few Service complaints that customers had.

The first occurred last week when a recall on a Tesla battery was not honored by Service. The company sought $30,000 for a replacement and labor, which was not right. Musk responded that he would personally investigate the matter. The vehicle was fixed at no cost as it was a recall, and was ready for pickup the next day.

It also revealed a new strategy Tesla is using to combat service communication issues:

Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service

The next occurred with a Cybertruck owner who was in Japan. Their car was parked at an airport in the U.S. and had lost a vast majority of its state of charge, leaving them just fifty miles of range at the time.

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Musk reached out to the owner and said Service will take care of the car and will investigate the cause of the battery drain:

There are not too many companies out there where the CEO will get involved with individual issues like these. It’s pretty exclusive to Tesla, as Musk has commonly stepped up to resolve complaints with vehicles or to confront features that some owners might find useful.

Service has been a weak point of the company for some time, but it has worked to refine and resolve customer complaints by building more Service Centers across the world that can handle these issues.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when

Anyone will be able to request a Tesla Robotaxi in September, Elon Musk said this morning.

Published

19 hours ago

on

August 11, 2025

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the company’s Robotaxi platform is opening to the public, and he even gave a timeline for when anyone will be able to access one for a ride.

Tesla’s Robotaxi platform launched to a small group on June 22 in Austin, Texas. The company has continued to expand the number of riders and its geofence over the past month and a half.

Tesla officially launches Robotaxi service with no driver

Additionally, it launched rides in the Bay Area of California, but it differs slightly, as the Texas Robotaxi platform does not utilize a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. In California, the monitor sits in the driver’s seat.

As the geofence, service areas, and testing populations expand, Tesla fans are awaiting their elusive emails that enable their ability to use the Robotaxi platform. It now seems that the email will come soon, as Musk said Tesla will open up public access to Robotaxi next month:

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Tesla has been prioritizing safety over anything else with the launch of the Robotaxi platform, which is why it has been slow to push invitations to new riders. It is confident in the abilities of the platform and its Full Self-Driving suite, which has been proven with data.

However, even a single accident could set Tesla back years in terms of its development of self-driving cars. It is not a risk it is willing to take.

Musk said during the recent Q2 Earnings Call:

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“We need to make sure it works when the vehicles are fully under our control. It’s kind of one step at a time here. We don’t want to jump the gun. As I said, we’re being paranoid about safety. But I guess next year is I’d say confidently next year. I’m not sure when next year, but confidently next year, people would be able to add or subtract their car to the Tesla, Inc. fleet.”

As the platform will expand in Austin and the Bay Area for anyone, Tesla still continues to reiterate that Robotaxi will be available for everyone sometime next year, as Musk said in the quote above.

Things will continue to improve over time, and Tesla will likely expand its geofence in both regions in the coming weeks. It has already done that in Austin twice, with about a doubling in size occurring both times.

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