People experience Tesla's new product in 2015. The company has been developing autonomous cars in recent years. (Photo/Xinhua)
Bend sinister
Hong Kong doesn't have black-and-white regulations for e-vehicles with autonomous driving functions. In the case of Tesla, only assisted steering, lane change and auto parking functions were cleared for use after an evaluation by the transportation authority. The Summon function, which navigates a car in or out of a parking space using remote control, is not allowed.
Most people disable Autopilot on urban streets. Drivers like Au have to wait until they are on highways or in tunnels before turning on the function - and even then Tesla cars require them to rest their hands on the steering wheel at all times.
"If your hands are off the steering wheel for too long, the Autopilot function will be suspended temporarily. It's like the system is punishing you," Au said.
Although Tesla has named its system Autopilot, the company states the system is only partially autonomous - there to assist drivers, not take over.
That was the explanation the company gave last year when a driver who had activated Autopilot died on a highway in Florida, the United States, after his car hit a truck. An investigation found the driver, Joshua Brown, 40, had been watching a Harry Potter movie at the time of the crash.
It was the first known fatality involving Tesla's Autopilot. In response, the automaker issued a statement that the accident was only the first after 209 million kilometers of Autopilot driving, compared with the US average of one fatality for every 151 million km for all types of vehicles.
After months of using Autopilot, Au does not trust the system entirely to drive hands-free, but he does believe it is useful.
"If you're always in the car, especially if you're driving for a long distance, you get tired easily," he said. "Driving through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel usually takes about a minute. During that time, I can relax my feet a little."
Au lives in a village in Sai Kung, about a 40-minute drive from Hong Kong Island, and the nature of his work as a realtor requires him to drive a lot.
"I usually turn on the Autopilot function when I'm in the tunnel, because you don't have to change lane and there are hardly any bends," he said. "But when I reach the end of the tunnel, when two lanes turn into more lanes, I'd suggest turning off Autopilot because the car can't seem to find the right lane and it sways about. I take over steering until it's in the lane I want."
China Daily recently took a spin with Au in his Model S. As he drove along the 3-km section of the Island Eastern Corridor expressway from Causeway Bay to North Point, he turned on Autopilot.
"Actually, I don't always use Autopilot here because there are quite a few bends. But let's try," he said, adding that his car does not usually steer well if there are too many bends, and sometimes he feels it gets too close to vehicles in the next lane.
On that day, however, the autonomous steering was doing OK. Au gave a signal to change to the right lane, and after about 5 seconds the car found a gap and steered over. The car was traveling at 70 km/h, and Autopilot was autonomously adjusting the distance from the car in front. Au could set the distance at a length of one, two or three cars.
"There's one major defect of the system right now," he said. "It doesn't recognize traffic lights. For example, say I'm at a crossroads and the traffic light is red - if there is no car in front, the car will just go ahead. That's a big no-no."
Still, he said he believes Autopilot is safer than human drivers, and that the technology will eventually mature and be able to take on the bustling streets of Hong Kong.
