The luxury of taking your legs from the pedals and hands from the wheels is a reason many car owners opt for cars with autopilot.
Not only did it add to their convenience, but it also improved safety on the road.
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In this article, we have compiled 5 affordable electric cars with autopilot with their individual features.
What Does Autopilot Mean?
An autopilot is a driver assist feature that helps you steer your vehicle. It controls the brake and acceleration automatically. It differs from a self-driving or autonomous system. The latter does not need the input of the driver and self-driving systems use cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence.
1. Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf is an impressive vehicle that has pulled off one of the smartest driving features for a ridiculously low price. It has a starting price of $28,375. No other EV has been ever sold at this price.
Although it might not meet the Tesla standard and sleek tech options, but with the Nissan ProPILOT Assist, it makes a fine choice for car owners today.
ProPILOT Assist is a part of the driver assist system that uses Nissan’s steering technology and cruise control. It makes the car able to navigate its way around traffic and makes the vehicle speed up or stop depending on the traffic conditions.
Functions of the Nissan ProPILOT Assist
Here are functions of the Nissan ProPILOT Assist feature:
Maintains Speed and Adjusts With Traffic
This ProPILOT Assist automatically controls the pedals. It can accelerate and brake when necessary. This speed range is approximately between 18 mph and 62 mph.
Lane Assist
This maintains the car in the middle of its lane. It works even when navigating through corners both on highway and city driving. The system is controlled based on the data obtained through the Nissan high-image mono camera.
How Do You Activate the Nissan ProPILOT Assist System?
- Press the blue button on your steering.
- The speed is adjusted by pressing the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ button.
This system will deactivate once you press the pedals, but can be easily restarted by tapping the ‘RES’ button on the steering. However, the steering assist won’t work until there’s some kind of lane marking and the cruise control would be active but it won’t steer itself.
Rules Associated With the Nissan Leaf ProPILOT Assist
The steering assist would deactivate itself in bad weather or heavy downpours, especially if it cannot detect the lane markings. This happens because the system is just a driver assist feature and the input of the driver takes priority and would override the system.
What Other Nissan Models Has This ProPILOT Assist System?
Here are other Nissan models that have the ProPILOT Assist system:
- 2020 Nissan Altima
- 2020 Nissan Rogue
- 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport
2. Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is another affordable vehicle with a base price of $39,000. This is also part of the reason why it’s one of the cheapest electric cars you can lease in 2023.
It has new technology features that include the autopilot system.
Many experts claim the Ioniq can compete with the driving abilities of Tesla models.
Features of the Hyundai Ioniq Autopilot
It comprises three parts, including:
- Highway Driver Assist( HDA)
- Forward Collision Assist
- Driver Attention Warning
The HDA
This system works on the highway at a speed under 95 mph. It helps the car to maneuver its way in traffic as it maintains a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.
It also keeps the car in a lane during cruising.
The Forward Collision Assist
This system monitors any incoming crashes or collisions. It alerts the driver about it and applies the emergency brakes through the active assist.
The active assist has a cross-traffic feature that alerts the driver of any cross-traffic collision. It warns the driver and applies the brake in such a situation.
Make sure to check our article about compact SUVs with park assist.
Driver Attention Warning
This system keeps the driver focused on the road. It has two parts (inattentive driving & leading vehicle departure warning).
The former gives an alarm if it notices the driver is unfocused for a long period.
The system judges how attentive the driver is while the latter alerts the driver to move when the car ahead takes off. An added plus to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 autopilot is that it can emulate the driver’s driving style and do the same automatically. It can accelerate or decelerate depending on the driver’s previous usage.
How to Activate and Use the Ioniq 5 Autopilot
Follow these steps to activate the Ioniq 5 autopilot system:
- Start by pressing the ‘SET UP’ button on your dash.
- Select the vehicle icon on your display screen.
- Turn on the cruise control from the cruise button on your steering. This will turn the HDA icon into green in the instrument cluster.
- To turn on the drive assistant, select the icon on the menu list. Then press the HDA button. It can also be deactivated using the same button.
- This feature deactivates if you leave the steering for too long. The HDA features also tend to shut off in bad weather, bad roads or heavy downpours.
Other Hyundai Models That Have This HDA Feature
Here are other Hyundai models with this feature:
- Hyundai Elantra
- Hyundai Sonata
- Hyundai Kona
- Hyundai Santa Cruz
- Hyundai Tucson
- Hyundai Santa Fe
- Hyundai Palisade
3. Volkswagen ID.4
The ID.4 is a family-friendly SUV with an autopilot system. The floor price of the Volkswagen ID.4 is $39,995, according to caranddriver.
Features of the ID.4 Autopilot System
Here are the features of the ID.4 EV:
Steering Control
This feature helps to keep your wheels in their lane. It comes on at any speed above 37 mph.
Adaptive Cruise Control
This maintains your speed at a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.
Travel Assist
This is a similar feature to that of the Tesla autopilot system. It combines both adaptive cruise control and steering control to assist your highway driving.
It works within the speed of 0-95mph and applies the brakes automatically if there’s a sudden obstruction.
How to Activate the Driver Assistance in the Volkswagen ID.4
Follow these steps to activate the driver assistance feature in the ID.4:
- Press down the VW logo for 3 seconds on the steering and the ID pilot comes on
- It is turned off the same way as turning it on or by pressing the pedals
What Other Models of the Volkswagen Have Autopilot?
Here are other Volkswagen models with autopilot:
- Volkswagen Artean
- Volkswagen Atlas
- Volkswagen Atlas Cross
- Volkswagen Sport
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4. Chevrolet Bolt Ev
The Chevy Bolt is a remarkable all-wheel drive EV. It is also the first EV to have a true hands-free driver assistant. It uses the super cruise system.
The system uses many sensors and cameras to perform the braking, steering and acceleration. According to autoevolution.com, this super cruise control can reach up to 200,000 miles. The floor price of the Chevy Bolt is $33,000 as stated by autotell.
Features of the Super Cruise in the Chevrolet Bolt
Here are features of the Chevrolet Bolt’s super cruise system:
Adaptive Cruise Control
This controls the braking and acceleration. It matches the pace of the vehicle in front of you. It uses a lot of features to make this super cruise convenient. They include:
LIDAR MAP
The map detects traffic instructions and road maps. It also detects all curves and lane marks.
DAS (Driver Attention System)
This uses a small camera on the steering to judge whether the driver is focused. This simply means that although the Chevrolet supports hands-free driving, it still requires the attention of the driver. If the driver is unattentive, it sends a visual alert to get the attention of the driver.
Lane Assist
The Chevrolet Bolt also has lane keep assist, emergency braking, pedestrian alert and forward-collision alert that notifies the driver about incoming crashes and applies the brakes if necessary.
How to Activate the Super Cruise in the Chevrolet Bolt
Follow these steps to activate the super cruise in the Chevy Bolt:
- You must be on a highway and in a lane. Then a wheel image pops up on your dash.
- Press a button on the steering. This fully activates it and illuminates a green color at the top of the wheel.
Models of the Chevy Bolts That Have Super Cruise
The Chevrolet Bolt is the first vehicle from its brand to have the driving feature.
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5. Ford Mustang Mach E
The Mach E features a more advanced co-pilot 360 2.0 assist.
This is called the blue cruise in the Mustang. The floor price of the Mustang is $42,000 according to autotell.
Features of the 360 Driver Assist in the Ford Mustang
Ordinarily, the standard 360 2.0 system has its automatic emergency braking, lane assist, and forward collision.
The Ford Mustang E added some more features like the speed on alert, intersection assist, adaptive cruise control and lane centering.
Adaptive Cruise Control
The adaptive cruise control allows the driver to take his hands off the wheels.
It also adjusts the speed and matches it with the speed of the vehicle in front.
Lane Centering
It is like the lane assist but a more advanced technology.
It actively keeps the vehicle centered in its lane. It uses the front camera to make adjustments to the lane markings.
Intersection Assist
This feature alerts the driver while attempting to change directions. It will also use the emergency brakes if there’s a sudden obstruction.
Speed Sign Alert
This helps the driver to maintain a safe driving speed. It warns the driver if they are at an unsafe speed.
How Do You Activate the 360 Drive Alert in the Mustang Mach E?
Follow these steps to activate the Mustang Mach E autopilot:
- You press the button on the steering.
- Select the desired speed as it can be adjusted with the ‘+’ or ‘-’ buttons.
However, the camera in the dash will watch your attentiveness and will alert you when you lose focus. If you choose to ignore this, it will make it a much louder sign and eventually deactivate itself. Fortunately, this driving assist of the Mustang works in all weathers, even in snow.
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