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Autosteer and Traffic Aware mode questions Juniper

222 views 20 replies 6 participants last post by  Bigriver  
#1 ·
I owned a a couple of 2023 Model Y's for 3 years and recently traded them in on a pair of 2026 Junipers. The free 30 day FSD trial expired today on one and it reverted to Autosteer. We really liked the FSD but a subscription for $198/mo for the 2 subscriptions doesn't make sense for us.

So I have some questions related to Autosteer BETA. I searched the forum and also searched YouTube videos and could not find answers. I seem to think the Autosteer function on my 26 Juniper functions differently than my previous '23 MY. At least from what I remember, but I cold be wrong.

With our 2026 Juniper:
1- When Autosteer is selected it refuses to engage on local roads unless there are lane markings. I seem to remember that in my older '23 MY it would engage in Traffic Aware cruise mode without lane keeping. Am I wrong?

2- On the road when Autosteer is active, if i move the steering wheel to bypass lane keeping, the cruise TOTALLY disconnects. I seem to remember that in my '23 MY ONLY the lane keeping function would disconnect and it would revert to Traffic-Aware Cruise control and continue to maintain set speed. Am I dreaming?

Do I have some settings set wrong or is this just the way it now functions?

Please educate me.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
i rarely move steering wheel when I was in Autosteer mode where it kicked the AP off. My wife on the other hand gets nervous at times when in Autosteer mode and tries to move the car to the right when opposite direction traffic is too close to center line for her comfort. That kicks the AP off. She just confirmed that it kicks off not only steering mode but also speed mode where she needs to add throttle to prevent slowing down. So that answers #1

Stll unsure about #2. I wish there was a way to switch from Autosteer to TAC on the fly without having to be in park.

My Ford Lightning will engage in Lane keeping mode only if is sees Lane markers, if it doesn’t see lane lines it just engages in adaptive cruise control. It will engage lane keeping and disengage on the fly without having driver input.
 
#4 · (Edited)
With our 2026 Juniper:
1- When Autosteer is selected it refuses to engage on local roads unless there are lane markings. I seem to remember that in my older '23 MY it would engage in Traffic Aware cruise mode without lane keeping. Am I wrong?

2- On the road when Autosteer is active, if i move the steering wheel to bypass lane keeping, the cruise TOTALLY disconnects. I seem to remember that in my '23 MY ONLY the lane keeping function would disconnect and it would revert to Traffic-Aware Cruise control and continue to maintain set speed. Am I dreaming?
#1 - The first part of your question refers to AutoSteer; the second part of your question refers to TACC. I don't have a Juniper - are you saying you cannot engage TACC only? I've found that TACC engages most anytime - Autosteer will only engage when it can "see the road or lanes" - sometimes it will engage with out lane markings (for me) as long as it can see the road (i.e. paved vs grass or non-paved).

#2 - I think you're dreaming, if you have TACC and Autosteer enabled and you change lanes manually, it will disengage both on my 2023 Model 3. I stand corrected, my 2023 Model 3 does keep TACC active after I've steered manually while Autosteer is disabled.

On pre-Juniper, pre-Highland vehicles, there is an option where you can tap down once on the right stalk for TACC and tap again for AutoSteer and TACC - OR - you can set it to tap once for both TACC and AutoSteer to engage. They refer to this as Single-Pull (both engaged) or Double-Pull.

Curious - on new, HW4 vehicles - can you enable TACC only and then Autosteer or does it do both always?

Image


Found the answer, the same options exist on Highland/Juniper models:
Image
 
#5 · (Edited)
#2 - I think you're dreaming, if you have TACC and Autosteer enabled and you change lanes manually, it will disengage both on my 2023 Model 3.
Really? TACC remains active on my 2023 Model Y. I do that several times every day during my commute. It's the only way to change lanes with Basic Autopilot.
 
#6 ·
With our 2026 Juniper:
1- When Autosteer is selected it refuses to engage on local roads unless there are lane markings. I seem to remember that in my older '23 MY it would engage in Traffic Aware cruise mode without lane keeping. Am I wrong?
For the 2023 Model Y, you could configure Autosteer to activate with either one or two pulls on the stalk. Do you remember which way you had yours configured?

I have mine configured for two pulls. If I pull once, it activates TACC. And I can activate TACC on roads without lane markings.


For your juniper, have you enabled TACC in settings? Check that first.

Reading the manual, it sounds like both TACC and Autosteer are activated by pressing the right scroll wheel. It's unclear to me how to get TACC without Autosteer, unless you disable Autosteer in settings.

 
#7 ·
With the Juniper, Tesla took away the 1-click, 2-click option to engage cruise control apart from autosteer on basic autopilot. On the Juniper, it is all or nothing. In an earlier thread, we also discussed the very surprising auto lane change (with manual turn signal) with basic autopilot in the Juniper. I confirmed that is true on my Juniper.

I am currently traveling and am away from my Juniper so can’t test out any of these other things. But @JerryR I expect your experiences and conclusions are all correct. Tesla changed autopilot on the Juniper.
 
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#9 ·
Do you know if it is just Junipers or all Teslas? Older Teslas with HW2 or HW2.5 will not be able to run a FSD stack. Or will have to see how they deal with that.
 
#10 ·
From what I've read on X, it seems 2025.32.8.5 which contains FSD 14.1 has "temporarily" removed TACC and AS, which will return in a future update on an end-to-end software stack.

So, it appears only vehicles capable of running FSD 14.1 and have an active purchase or subscription for FSD will have TACC and AS disabled for a period.

Image
 
#11 ·
My free trial af FSD expired. Now when Autosteer mode is selected it will not revert to TACC when lane lanes are not available. It refuses to activate any cruise functions.

With my previous 2023 MY it always allowed me to activate TACC in my neighborhood without lane lines when Autisteer was selected.

This is very disappointing.
 
#14 ·
1- If I'm using Autosteer and I manually steer to disable Autosteer BOTH Autosteer AND TACC disengage.

2- When driving in Autosteer and I want to change lanes, when I signal lane keeping stays engaged and continues to track in the current lane. It does not automatically change lanes. Then when I apply slight turning pressure on the steering wheel to initiate a lane change immediately BOTH Autosteer and TACC disengage.
Yeah, that sucks. I think they did this because there's no way to activate just TACC in a Juniper (unless you disable Autosteer in configuration).

I'll try my other 2026 Juniper tomorrow where it still has Free FSD and I'll report back my findings.
In particular, you should try creating a new profile where FSD is disabled, and you just have TACC/Autosteer/Navigate-on-Autopilot activated. See if that behaves any differently.
 
#15 ·
Yeah, that sucks. I think they did this because there's no way to activate just TACC in a Juniper (unless you disable Autosteer in configuration).

In particular, you should try creating a new profile where FSD is disabled, and you just have TACC/Autosteer/Navigate-on-Autopilot activated. See if that behaves any differently.
I crested a new profile on my RWD with free FSD is disabled, and TACC/Autosteer/ activated. It would not allow me to select Navigate-on-Autopilot, it was greyed out.

It acted exactly like my 2026 Juniper that where the Free FSD has expired

1- When using Autosteer and I manually steer to disable Autosteer BOTH Autosteer AND TACC disengage.

2- When driving in Autosteer and I want to change lanes, when I signal lane keeping stays engaged and continues to track in the current lane. It does not automatically change lanes. Then when I apply slight turning pressure on the steering wheel to initiate a lane change immediately BOTH Autosteer and TACC disengage.

When Autosteer is selected in the profile it's absolutely worthless on unmarked roads. It refuses to engage at all unless there are lane lines. It does NOT revert to TACC on unmarked (not Lane lines) roads
 
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#17 ·
Although I now use FSD for literally 99.9% or more of my driving, I previously yearned for a "dumb" cruise control that would hold exactly the speed I set without varying on its own based on what it thought the speed limit or appropriate speed was. I'd still like that option even if I would rarely use it.
 
#18 ·
I crested a new profile on my RWD with free FSD is disabled, and TACC/Autosteer/ activated. It would not allow me to select Navigate-on-Autopilot, it was greyed out
Were you in park? My Juniper with FSD still has NOA option available. 2025.32.8.
When driving in Autosteer and I want to change lanes, when I signal lane keeping stays engaged and continues to track in the current lane. It does not automatically change lanes
This is what would be expected, but is different than you had previously experienced on your Juniper (with FSD, but FSD disabled in the menu). This afternoon I checked that my Juniper with FSD (but turned off in the menu) still changes lanes with only Autosteer. Here’s my picture. It still astounds me that it does this, but I’ve not heard anyone else mentioning it. And I’m confused why yours doesn’t do it anymore but it once did.
Image
 
#20 · (Edited)
@Bigriver
And I’m confused why yours doesn’t do it anymore but it once did.
OK, Here are results and the reason why mine "doesn’t do it anymore but it once did".

I have 2 Juniper Model Y's purchased 10 days apart. One (AWD) no longer has the Free FSD and the other (RWD) still has the Free FSD.


When in Autosteer Mode:
The RWD WITH FSD WILL change lanes when turn signal is selected
The AWD WITHOUT FSD WILL NOT change lanes when turn signal is selected.

The one without FSD when signal light is selected stays in its lane forever.

Another concern with either car.
When in Autosteer it will not engage ANY speed control, TACC or Autosteer, on streets without lane lines.
When driving, from the Autopilot setup screen autopilot I can change feature from Autosteer to TACC but cannot change back from TACC to Autosteer when driving with either car. I must be in PARK to go from TACC to Autosteer.

I actually will be glad when FSD is no longer on the RWD so that the both Teslas function the same. The way they differ is too confusing. One of the reasons why I traded both instead of only one of our Model Ys in on new one was to eliminate differences in user interfaces. It tough enough going from our Teslas to our Ford Lightning EV and trying to remember how the Cruise control, radios, Google Maps, Alexa, works or doesn't work on each.
 
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#19 ·
@Bigriver

I’m going to take mine out again now and verify. I only have 1 more day left on free FSD.
 
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#21 ·
When in Autosteer it will not engage ANY speed control, TACC or Autosteer, on streets without lane lines.
This is consistent with what I remember of our 2018 model 3 when testing it in March 2025. With autosteer, it would not engage if it can’t see lines.
When driving, from the Autopilot setup screen autopilot I can change feature from Autosteer to TACC but cannot change back from TACC to Autosteer
This is consistent with longterm Tesla practice. You can move down to lesser function, but not up, presumably because that requires you to read and approve the disclaimer.
I must be in PARK to go from TACC to Autosteer.
Would that work for you to have 2 profiles, one for TACC only and the other for TACC/Autosteer? I do multiple profiles to turn on/off FSD while driving, but have not tried it for this.
so that the both Teslas function the same
I hear you on that. None of my Teslas have the same way to do things. I applaud that Tesla is innovative and willing to change things, but the frequency at which they change fundamental things plays hard with my muscle memory.