# Cruise Control



## scamp333

Can anyone tell me why the cruse control defaults to 55 instead of the speed you are going when you turn on the cruse control?


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## TomT

What's a cruse?


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## Greg Appelt

scamp333 said:


> Can anyone tell me why the cruse control defaults to 55 instead of the speed you are going when you turn on the cruse control?


Hi Scamp333, The cruise control setting can be adjusted in the Settings menu. By default when you set the cruise, it will match the posted speed limit. You can adjust this to be above or below the posted speed, and to either flash the speed limit icon or bing when you exceed it.

Note: If this is the first time setting cruise during your current trip, it will normally be set to your current speed, unless you are near the posted speed limit, unless you have exceeded it. Then it will match your current speed.
Examples:
32mph in a 55 zone = cruise @ 32.
48mph in a 55 zone = cruise @ 55.
63mph in a 55 zone = cruise @ 63.
But re-engaging the cruise control will return you to your previously set speed.


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## garsh

scamp333 said:


> Can anyone tell me why the cruse control defaults to 55 instead of the speed you are going when you turn on the cruse control?





Greg Appelt said:


> By default when you set the cruise, it will match the posted speed limit.


I don't like this "feature" either.
I get around it by setting the speed limit offset to -20mph. For most situations, this allows the cruise to start at my current speed instead of immediately accelerating up to the speed limit.


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## scamp333

garsh said:


> I don't like this "feature" either.
> I get around it by setting the speed limit offset to -20mph. For most situations, this allows the cruise to start at my current speed instead of immediately accelerating up to the speed limit.


Where do I find the speed limit offset?


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## Dr. J

scamp333 said:


> Where do I find the speed limit offset?


I believe it's on the touch screen menu at Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit Warning


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## jdfphoto

I’m a new owner and just don’t understand something. An example - driving on cruise @ 50mph. Speed limit is 50mph. I stop for a light. i Start again and want to set the cruise speed to 40mph but when resuming Cruise it tries to accelerate to 50mph. In order to get to 40 I need to resume then quickly set the limit down to 40. My question is how do I set my speed to a lower number than shows on the screen?


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## garsh

jdfphoto said:


> I'm a new owner and just don't understand something. An example - driving on cruise @ 50mph. Speed limit is 50mph. I stop for a light. i Start again and want to set the cruise speed to 40mph but when resuming Cruise it tries to accelerate to 50mph. In order to get to 40 I need to resume then quickly set the limit down to 40. My question is how do I set my speed to a lower number than shows on the screen?


Yeah, I hate this default behavior for Teslas.

My workaround is to configure the Speed Limit to be "Relative", and the Offset to be "-20 mph" (yes, MINUS 20 mph).
In practice, this means that the car will keep the current speed when you turn on cruise control.
If you're in a 50 mph speed limit area, but you're currently travelling at 40mph and you turn on cruise control, your speed will remain at 40mph.


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## jdfphoto

jdfphoto said:


> I'm a new owner and just don't understand something. An example - driving on cruise @ 50mph. Speed limit is 50mph. I stop for a light. i Start again and want to set the cruise speed to 40mph but when resuming Cruise it tries to accelerate to 50mph. In order to get to 40 I need to resume then quickly set the limit down to 40. My question is how do I set my speed to a lower number than shows on the screen?


i just read GARSH's post above and I'll see if that works for me. If anyone has anything else to solve my issue, please let me know.


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## FRC

jdfphoto said:


> i just read GARSH's post above and I'll see if that works for me. If anyone has anything else to solve my issue, please let me know.


This is an issue that we've struggled with since the inception of the Model 3. To date, @garsh's solution is the only one.


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## BluestarE3

FRC said:


> This is an issue that we've struggled with since the inception of the Model 3. To date, @garsh's solution is the only one.


Yeah, I wish there was a "Resume" option separate from "Set" as with other cruise controls I've used. I was freaked out the first time I re-engaged cruise control on local streets after going 55 on the freeway and, instead of holding my current speed of 40, it started to accelerate back up to 55. The Relative/Offset -20 workaround described by @garsh above did the trick.


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## garsh

Software 2020.44 has updates for setting cruise control speed.
I'll be switching to CURRENT SPEED as soon as I get this version. 



GDN said:


> *Release Notes:*
> *Autopilot Set Speed*​You can now change the Autopilot set speed by adjusting Controls > Autopilot > Set Speed to one of the following options:​​SPEED LIMIT will set the cruise speed to the speed limit of the road, and will adjust either to the Set Speed Offset that is specified or to the current driving speed, whichever is greater. The Set Speed Offset can be configured to a FIXED speed for all roads or to a PERCENTAGE that will vary based on the speed limit of the road.​​CURRENT SPEED will set the cruise speed to the current driving speed.​​Note: Your previously set speed offset will not carry over to the new Set Speed feature.​​


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## Long Ranger

garsh said:


> Software 2020.44 has updates for setting cruise control speed.
> I'll be switching to CURRENT SPEED as soon as I get this version.


I'm curious, can you explain why you and so many others frequently want to set your cruise speed at something below the speed limit? That's a really rare case for me. I don't usually want to drive at a speed slower than the speed limit, unless I'm being limited by traffic, and then TACC takes care of it automatically. Is it because the car has the speed limit wrong?

I experimented a bit with the -20 setting, and I really didn't like it. I found that a common scenario for me consisted of this: 
I'm driving in AP at or above the speed limit.
I encounter traffic and the car slows automatically as it should.
I manually steer out of AP due to the car not maintaining proper lane control or to go around a pothole.
I reengage AP. AP sets speed to my current slow speed.
Traffic speeds up and the car doesn't speed up automatically unless I remember to increase the set speed.


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## FRC

Others can correct me if I'm wrong , but I think the Minus 20 offset allows them to set TACC/AP and it defaults to there current speed. They can then scroll to the speed they want which may not always be a constant amount of offset. I'm more like you, I let the car set automatically to my +11 offset and use the manual scroll to reset if need be. I think it comes down to most of the time they want speed to set to their current speed. Most of the time I want speed to set to My + offset.


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## garsh

Long Ranger said:


> I'm curious, can you explain why you and so many others frequently want to set your cruise speed at something below the speed limit?


Because I'm not a filthy law-breaking criminal like you. 

I guess the usual case would be while stuck in slower-moving, stop-and-go traffic. I really don't want my car accelerating to catch up to the car in front just to slow down again. I want to maintain a slower, more constant top speed until traffic clears up.

But I've also been surprised in construction zones. The car doesn't realize that there's temporarily a lower speed limit, I activate AP, and it immediately starts to accelerate.


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## sduck

Long Ranger said:


> I'm curious, can you explain why you and so many others frequently want to set your cruise speed at something below the speed limit? That's a really rare case for me. I don't usually want to drive at a speed slower than the speed limit, unless I'm being limited by traffic, and then TACC takes care of it automatically. Is it because the car has the speed limit wrong?


There are a number of common situations for me - construction zones as has been mentioned, but more commonly it's school zones. Maybe you don't live near one of these, or the rules are different, but where I am I'm boxed in by school zones that are pretty long, and that I drive through twice a day, and there are often overly zealous cops. It's just easiest to flip on TACC at 15 mph, but having to do the whole adjustment dance when doing so is annoying. Especially the first few times I tried doing this, before finding out the weird way the tesla worked.


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## SalisburySam

School zones, construction zones, and several places where the speed limit is temporarily below posted signs. Most common for me are areas governed by electronic displays that change for various reasons and the signs are not yet read properly.


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