Did something really stupid today

[chracatoa]

It happens. Glad no one was hurt. I have a similar stupid story... My previous car was a manual 2013 VW GTI. 1st and Reverse are in the exact same position, except you press down on the shifter and shift into 1st to get into reverse. I was at the local drag strip for a test and tune day, and I overshot the line a little on one of my runs and had to go in reverse to get back into position... During the count I looked and the shifter was in the correct position for 1st... Yeah, I forgot to shift back into 1st from reverse. So the light turns green and all of the sudden I find myself rocketing backwards while my competitor shoots down the strip. It was... Very embarrassing. Luckily I stopped quickly and was able to get going forward. Needless to say, I immediately left the drag strip.

Just like Ready Player One (the movie, not the book)

 

[Kichwas]

The drive stalk is not unique to Tesla.

Gear control through the steering wheel stalk was on a lot of cars in the 70s. All those wood paneled cars and such. It’s still on a lot of vans, buses, and some sedans that have the more “driving a boat” feeling.

So it’s a little disingenuous to be mad at Tesla for doing something not standard when that something actually is semi-common.

Just because it isn’t on your other car doesn’t mean it isn’t on a lot of cars. For all the humor I made about our catering van, our former larger catering van had the gears in the same spot as my Tesla.

 

[RayK]

The good old "four on the floor" vs. "three on a tree" shifting implements.

 

[Eno Deb]

The drive stalk is not unique to Tesla.

Gear control through the steering wheel stalk was on a lot of cars in the 70s. All those wood paneled cars and such. It’s still on a lot of vans, buses, and some sedans that have the more “driving a boat” feeling.

Gear selection stalks are actually still pretty common on modern cars. For example, the Mercedes E class has a stalk that works pretty much the same as the Tesla stalk (I suspect it's what "inspired" Tesla, given that they even used original Mercedes-made stalks for the Model S). But as mentioned above, these other cars typically don't overload simple levers with so many functions as the Model 3.

 

[BenR]

Every time I drive a non-Tesla I have at least one close call when I try to use Hold mode...

And even after 7k miles, I still sometimes reach for the key in the ignition after pressing the P button. But I've never once tried to hunch down to squint through my steering wheel at a speedometer, so not ALL old habits die hard!

 

[jkirkwood001]

I spent the week with an ICE loaner. It rained several days. Today I finally got my model 3 back.

When I was waiting at the light, it started raining again. At the exact moment I turned the windshield wipers on, the light turned green, and I stepped on the accelerator. And the car went backwards.

Luckily, I didn't crash. The car behind me swerved left and passed me, probably thinking I was crazy. The act of turning the wipers on on most cars does something completely different on the model 3. It puts the car in reverse.

I have to be careful when I do that in the future. Close call.

Better than the opposite - me in a BMW loaner yesterday: I wanted to drive out of the parking lot on a dry day, and turned on the windshield wipers!