Elon Musk Rolls Out Tesla's Model 3

This was a nice illustration of the speedometer placement concern, seems fine to me personally. Also I'm liking the placement of the GPS higher like this, easier to glance at and clear to read in a pinch:

5e699ebd822a27dce97b3944a94eafa697d30ddd2661079a004af2eb20217ab7.png


One thing I think they could have done better is USB options on the base model imho, that's a miss in my book, they got the front ones but the back seat access ports are part of the premium package if I'm not mistaken. Not ideal tbh, but oh well.
 
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Wierdo said:
They actually have two multi-directional knobs on the steering wheel. Saw in one of the vids you can adjust lotsa things with those so they appear to have moved that kind of functionality there.

You can have multiple profiles for different drivers - for example spouse or kid etc, maybe they prefer diff mirror and steering wheel adjustments and such - and my understanding is you can setup "quick access" stuff through those knobs so that's how that's handled.

Basically instead of a dozen knobs there's two flexible ones that do the same thing, and those functions are controlled more precisely in this fashion - mirrors, sound vol/balance, air conditioning direction/power etc.

It doesn't have to be a WW2 bomber's cockpit to work lol.
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Cars can already have different seat, steering wheel, mirror, etc profiles for different drivers. Been available for years now.

As for two physical controls that adjust multiple things. You're still stuck having to stare at the screen to find out what those controls are set to do. That or having to use the screen to change what those two buttons do.

Seriously, look how much he has to mess with the screen just to adjust his mirrors. I reach down and can adjust mine without looking at anything aside from the mirror. I can close my eyes and turn my heater on/off, adjust my heater, turn on my hazard lights, turn on my lights, adjust my mirrors (not that I could where the hell the mirror is going), fold my mirrors, turn on my fog lights, interior lights, adjust my steering column, adjust my seats, turn on/off my stereo, etc. Good luck doing that with that touchscreen.

Hell, put a towel over that screen and tell that driver to start making adjustments to his heat, mirrors, and stereo using those steering wheel controls. Bet he can't.
 
krotch said:
Cars can already have different seat, steering wheel, mirror, etc profiles for different drivers. Been available for years now.

As for two physical controls that adjust multiple things. You're still stuck having to stare at the screen to find out what those controls are set to do. That or having to use the screen to change what those two buttons do.

Seriously, look how much he has to mess with the screen just to adjust his mirrors. I reach down and can adjust mine without looking at anything aside from the mirror. I can close my eyes and turn my heater on/off, adjust my heater, turn on my hazard lights, turn on my lights, adjust my mirrors (not that I could where the hell the mirror is going), fold my mirrors, turn on my fog lights, interior lights, adjust my steering column, adjust my seats, turn on/off my stereo, etc. Good luck doing that with that touchscreen.

Hell, put a towel over that screen and tell that driver to start making adjustments to his heat, mirrors, and stereo using those steering wheel controls. Bet he can't.
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That's just demonstration of options, I'm pretty sure they can be setup on the wheels as quick access options from what I read. But I will have to report back after a test drive at some point I guess, don't wanna comment on it without trying it myself to see how it feels first.
 
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jpm100 said:
Does it get Netflix?
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I read about a hacker that did that by installing Linux on her Tesla. I don't think you can do it directly though but could be wrong.

Wasn't there a legal requirement against it for the driver panel? Can't remember now. Could also be to limit data usage on the 3G connection I bet too.

Pretty sure only audio not video off the top of my head.
 
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Teenyman45 said:
Rear or front end collision equals a knee through console. A Side impact crash will smash a leg into the edge of the console.
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? Knee that high? But then again what do i know front mirror sliced my friends chin like from under up. So wtf .
 
Uvaman2 said:
? Knee that high? But then again what do i know front mirror sliced my friends chin like from under up. So wtf .
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You'd be amazed what happens to a body in almost freefall with several G of force behind it.
 
krotch said:
Cars can already have different seat, steering wheel, mirror, etc profiles for different drivers. Been available for years now.

As for two physical controls that adjust multiple things. You're still stuck having to stare at the screen to find out what those controls are set to do. That or having to use the screen to change what those two buttons do.

Seriously, look how much he has to mess with the screen just to adjust his mirrors. I reach down and can adjust mine without looking at anything aside from the mirror. I can close my eyes and turn my heater on/off, adjust my heater, turn on my hazard lights, turn on my lights, adjust my mirrors (not that I could where the hell the mirror is going), fold my mirrors, turn on my fog lights, interior lights, adjust my steering column, adjust my seats, turn on/off my stereo, etc. Good luck doing that with that touchscreen.

Hell, put a towel over that screen and tell that driver to start making adjustments to his heat, mirrors, and stereo using those steering wheel controls. Bet he can't.
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lol even i'd take those excessive button presses to adjust my mirrors at this point.. i've already had to replace my mirror control switch 5 times in the last 3 years because fords cheap as hell and uses 5 cent Chinese made crap that costs 20 bucks to replace.
 
Wierdo said:
This was a nice illustration of the speedometer placement concern, seems fine to me personally. Also I'm liking the placement of the GPS higher like this, easier to glance at and clear to read in a pinch:

5e699ebd822a27dce97b3944a94eafa697d30ddd2661079a004af2eb20217ab7.png


One thing I think they could have done better is USB options on the base model imho, that's a miss in my book, they got the front ones but the back seat access ports are part of the premium package if I'm not mistaken. Not ideal tbh, but oh well.
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Yeah, that's still no good. Off and to the right like that.


Would have been better if they had just installed that damned screen behind the steering wheel.
 
Since the dawn of the modern auto, cars has had an instrument cluster with a hood around it to keep the sun out. I've had plenty of times where the touch screen in my car was rendered useless by the sun however the instrument cluster always works. Telsa not only failed to solve this problem, they made the worse by putting more window area in the car.
 
Yeah, all those windows are hideous. Imagine living in a hot climate or one with lots of frost - the heat/defroster really eats up the battery big time.

It's like they took an AMC Pacer and added electric motors to the car and removed the instrument cluster.
 
OldGator said:
Yeah, all those windows are hideous. Imagine living in a hot climate or one with lots of frost - the heat/defroster really eats up the battery big time.

It's like they took an AMC Pacer and added electric motors to the car and removed the instrument cluster.
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I don't mind the windows. In fact, IMHO, the bigger windows the better. It makes for an airier experience with more visibility. I hate some of the more modern American cars where the windows are tiny, and you feel like you are inside an armored tank or something.
 
Wierdo said:
That's just demonstration of options, I'm pretty sure they can be setup on the wheels as quick access options from what I read. But I will have to report back after a test drive at some point I guess, don't wanna comment on it without trying it myself to see how it feels first.
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I'm sure they will have quick access options and such to make them easier to use, but I'm sure it'll require you to use that screen. Maybe not touch it, but to look at it to figure out exactly which device control scheme you selected.

sirmonkey1985 said:
lol even i'd take those excessive button presses to adjust my mirrors at this point.. i've already had to replace my mirror control switch 5 times in the last 3 years because fords cheap as hell and uses 5 cent Chinese made crap that costs 20 bucks to replace.
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That'd be great, except Tesla owners have had to replace their touchscreens or have to randomly reboot the screen 2-3 times a day. The problem has plagued many S owners, has plagued the X, and I see it plaguing the 3 also.

120+ degree cabin temperatures doesn't mess with my Japanese made switches. Sorry Ford went cheap with your car, but it's hardly an issue with most cars.

Zarathustra[H] said:
I don't mind the windows. In fact, IMHO, the bigger windows the better. It makes for an airier experience with more visibility. I hate some of the more modern American cars where the windows are tiny, and you feel like you are inside an armored tank or something.
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That's kind of the point. It's for safety. Be it rolling the car or getting smashed into by a gigantic SUV. I'd be more inclined for larger windows for more visibility, if drivers actually used that visibility. Nope, still can't look out a window to check for other cars in different lanes. Too busy on their phone. Now, they just got a big ass phone in their center console.
 
krotch said:
I'm sure they will have quick access options and such to make them easier to use, but I'm sure it'll require you to use that screen. Maybe not touch it, but to look at it to figure out exactly which device control scheme you selected.



That'd be great, except Tesla owners have had to replace their touchscreens or have to randomly reboot the screen 2-3 times a day. The problem has plagued many S owners, has plagued the X, and I see it plaguing the 3 also.

120+ degree cabin temperatures doesn't mess with my Japanese made switches. Sorry Ford went cheap with your car, but it's hardly an issue with most cars.



That's kind of the point. It's for safety. Be it rolling the car or getting smashed into by a gigantic SUV. I'd be more inclined for larger windows for more visibility, if drivers actually used that visibility. Nope, still can't look out a window to check for other cars in different lanes. Too busy on their phone. Now, they just got a big ass phone in their center console.
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ahh did not know people were having issues with the touch screen, good info to know.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
ahh did not know people were having issues with the touch screen, good info to know.
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Ya, I don't know how prominent the issue is. My friend never had any issue with his Model X. He's in Maryland. Maybe hotter climate areas...I don't know. Just seems too big an amount to ignore. Hopefully the Model 3 won't have issues, as the screen isn't imbedded in the dash.
 
That would be a major inconvenience if your screen went out. How does it work out for people in cold climates who have to drive with gloves?
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Yeah, that's still no good. Off and to the right like that.


Would have been better if they had just installed that damned screen behind the steering wheel.
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Tesla is betting in a few years time the car will drive itself. It already has the hardware for it. Center screen is just added cost and complexity at that point.
 
Sufu said:
Tesla is betting in a few years time the car will drive itself. It already has the hardware for it. Center screen is just added cost and complexity at that point.
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Yep, I mentioned that this was their justification several posts ago.

I think it's awfully presumptuous of them to assume that customers of the model 3 really give a rats ass about autonomous driving. I just want a good electric vehicle. Even if I had a car with this autopilot nonsense, I'd probably never use it

If I could buy a cheaper model 3 without any autopilot hardware or software at all, I would in a heart beat.

Why do they have to insist that autonomous driving and EV's go hand in hand?

I don't care for flashy technical gimmicks. I just want to drive a car that doesn't use gas. Everything else, I want to be exactly the same as with a traditional car.

The only possible benefit I can see from autonomous driving is the ability get home in my own car after a night in the town without getting a DUI, but since laws regarding autonomous driving and alcohol are unlikely to change any time soon, I'm not counting on this happening.

Any time I have not been drinking I will ALWAYS prefer to do the driving myself.

I think Tesla's cars are great, and they are pretty much the only car on the market I desire these days, but quite frankly, they can take their autopilot and shove it somewhere where the sun don't shine.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
Yep, I mentioned that this was their justification several posts ago.

I think it's awfully presumptuous of them to assume that customers of the model 3 really give a rats ass about autonomous driving. I just want a good electric vehicle. Even if I had a car with this autopilot nonsense, I'd probably never use it

If I could buy a cheaper model 3 without any autopilot hardware or software at all, I would in a heart beat.

Why do they have to insist that autonomous driving and EV's go hand in hand?

I don't care for flashy technical gimmicks. I just want to drive a car that doesn't use gas. Everything else, I want to be exactly the same as with a traditional car.

The only possible benefit I can see from autonomous driving is the ability get home in my own car after a night in the town without getting a DUI, but since laws regarding autonomous driving and alcohol are unlikely to change anytime soon, I'm not counting on this happening.

Anytime I have not been drinking I will ALWAYS prefer to do the driving myself.

I think Tesla's cars are great, and they are pretty much the only car on the market I desire these days, but quite frankly, they can take their autopilot and shove it somewhere where the sun don't shine.
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I hear you, but I also think you've never had the chance to use autopilot before. Even with Gen1 hardware, I find myself using it daily on my commute home. It's even better in stop and go traffic. You don't have to purchase it though; the HW is included, but the 5k fee to activate it is optional. It does enable other features like AEB which are handy in and by themselves.

The Model 3 is more of a mid-range luxury? electric vehicle than a competitor to a cheap 10-20k Corolla though. BMW/Audi territory for sure, so I see why they included the AP HW. If you fully spec it out, including the 9k for the long range battery, you are looking at about 60k fully loaded.
 
Sufu said:
I hear you, but I also think you've never had the chance to use autopilot before. Even with Gen1 hardware, I find myself using it daily on my commute home. It's even better in stop and go traffic. You don't have to purchase it though; the HW is included, but the 5k fee to activate it is optional. It does enable other features like AEB which are handy in and by themselves.

The Model 3 is more of a mid-range luxury? electric vehicle than a competitor to a cheap 10-20k Corolla though. BMW/Audi territory for sure, so I see why they included the AP HW. If you fully spec it out, including the 9k for the long range battery, you are looking at about 60k fully loaded.
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Don't get me wrong. I'm not expecting a Model 3 to be a corolla. If I wanted an electric Corolla, I'd buy a Chevy Bolt.

All I want is a drivers electric vehicle. I don't understand why they put so much emphasis on sleek looks, performance and a tuned suspension, on a car they plan to make autonomous. Those are features I expect on a drivers car. Autonomous driving? That can go in one of these turds:

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That's pretty much an electric Corolla right there, and that's where I'd expect autonomous driving to reside.

A Corolla is a cheap reliable car for people who don't care about cars and don't like driving. Autonomous driving is also a feature for people who don't care about cars and don't like driving. They seem made for eachother.


A performance sedan with european-style tuned suspension? Why would you want autonomous driving in that? That's built to be driven and enjoyed while being driven.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
A performance sedan with european-style tuned suspension? Why would you want autonomous driving in that? That's built to be driven and enjoyed while being driven.
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True, a car like this is built to be driven. But when you have a long 10-hour cross country drive in a long monotonous highway, you will come to appreciate autopilot. Or how about when you are in bumper-to-bumper traffic; can't do much driving there. Again, both typical scenarios that greatly benefit from autonomous driving. Why can't you have both luxury/creature comforts and performance? The two are not mutually exclusive. If the reason is just that of price, then you can still buy a base RWD Model 3 for 35k in any color as long as it's black with the ~200mile battery range. AP is optional.

In any case, if the Model 3 did not WoW people and include AP HW, I think the transition to electric vehicles would be more difficult and remain a niche for longer than we would've hoped for. Maybe the Model 3 is not your niche; I personally might hold out for the refreshed Tesla Roadster and then trade in my Model S. We already have a Model 3 on order, and can use that if we need to bus people around.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I don't care for flashy technical gimmicks. I just want to drive a car that doesn't use gas. Everything else, I want to be exactly the same as with a traditional car.
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That's pretty much my view. Going from a traditional interior to the controls of a Tesla is like learning how to drive all over again. I also would never use autopilot under any circumstances.
 
Snowdog said:
I agree. I have found most modern car dashes have become a cluttered mess. This looks great!

I think concerns about it being off center for the driver, are way overblown. The driver info is in the upper left corner, which is is high and practically in your perfipheral vision with you you eyes on the road, and vice versa.

I drive an older car with radio and climate controls that need eyes on to adjust and they are way lower in the center console-dash, than even the bottom of that screen.

My only concern would be glare off that big touch screen, since those things are usually glossy.
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I agree to a point. Dashboard ergonomics basically topped out with my '89 Dodge Daytona. Give me a simple speedometer, a tac, heat controls and radio in easy-to-reach and use spots. I was looking at an Abarth 500 this past weekend (for the wife, but surprisingly nice little racer)... what an utter mess of controls (although the wife thought it was "cute"). Pretty indicative of other modern dash controls I've seen with maybe the exception of the newer VWs and Audis I've driven.

We need to go back to simplicity and centralization, but I do think they've gone too far with that all-encompassing panel. I'm sure newer iterations will start to segment controls and get better though...
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Don't get me wrong. I'm not expecting a Model 3 to be a corolla. If I wanted an electric Corolla, I'd buy a Chevy Bolt.

All I want is a drivers electric vehicle. I don't understand why they put so much emphasis on sleek looks, performance and a tuned suspension, on a car they plan to make autonomous. Those are features I expect on a drivers car. Autonomous driving? That can go in one of these turds:


That's pretty much an electric Corolla right there, and that's where I'd expect autonomous driving to reside.

A Corolla is a cheap reliable car for people who don't care about cars and don't like driving. Autonomous driving is also a feature for people who don't care about cars and don't like driving. They seem made for eachother.


A performance sedan with european-style tuned suspension? Why would you want autonomous driving in that? That's built to be driven and enjoyed while being driven.
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I can partially understand sleek looks, cause it tends to go hand in hand with aerodynamic performance. Not for like, better downforce, cause....who cares. It's autonomous. But so it can slice through the air easier and get better range.

For something like a Tesla, it can still be driven. So I can some will want it to have performance. I'd like a fully autonomous car, but only for highway driving. Driving in a straight line for hours is not fun. But once I reach my destination, I'd like to drive.

Like setting the car for the 4 hour drive to Nurburgring. Set it, go back to sleep. Wake up, hit the track. Not that a Tesla can complete the Nurburgring circuit with max power the whole time.
 
It seems to me this is the kinda car you can't fully appreciate until you actually test drive it:
All of this is a long way around of saying that there’s basically very little between the driver and the expansive view of the road, which takes up most of your field of view thanks to the broad, uninterrupted windshield. It’s something that says “Just. Drive.” and it’s a very pleasant experience if you even enjoy driving a little bit.
...
I really got a chance to open it up (to the upper limit of the posted speed limit, of course) in a couple of places along the route, and it felt great. Like, the kind of great where it’s nearly enough to make you giddy. And it feels like a very responsive vehicle in terms of steering, too, with a low center of gravity that results in very, very little body roll side-to-side.
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https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/28/heres-what-its-like-to-drive-the-tesla-model-3/

TL/DR:
It’s hard to stress how much of a step up this will be for most drivers in terms of pure driving experience: It’s basically apples to oranges. So much so that based on that brief trial alone, it’s likely my next vehicle purchase.
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Can't wait to do that as well, looks fun.
 
Wierdo said:
This was a nice illustration of the speedometer placement concern, seems fine to me personally. Also I'm liking the placement of the GPS higher like this, easier to glance at and clear to read in a pinch:

5e699ebd822a27dce97b3944a94eafa697d30ddd2661079a004af2eb20217ab7.png


One thing I think they could have done better is USB options on the base model imho, that's a miss in my book, they got the front ones but the back seat access ports are part of the premium package if I'm not mistaken. Not ideal tbh, but oh well.
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I don't think that's a real accurate illustration unless you're 4'11". Also the 70 for the normal gauge is nowhere near where it would be in a real car with a gauge pod.
 
Lizard Testes said:
I don't think that's a real accurate illustration unless you're 4'11". Also the 70 for the normal gauge is nowhere near where it would be in a real car with a gauge pod.
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Height would simply change the viewing angle upwards/downward for both gauge orientations, would it not? I don't see how that would make a difference unless it introduces an obstructing object into the picture.
 
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