Regarding the HUD topic, what I hate the most is not losing the speed, but all the things you can add in the Model S little screen, like music, maps, tyres pressure..
I'm still not convinced there's enough room on one 15" screen to display all the crap people like to see and have access to when driving.
Can any Model S owners answer this question: Do you think it would hurt the functionality and enjoyment of your driving experience if everything on your dash screen was moved to the center screen? Would it be merely an inconvenience or a detriment?
I'm also a total stat guy. I like stats. That's why I was so pumped to get into a Tesla. I can configure my computer to tell me all the stats I want, and a Tesla is a drivable computer. I want my car to talk to me. Tell me what it's doing. Tell me what I'm doing! Tell me how I can drive it better. I got a scan gauge primarily for this reason. It makes driving more interesting and you can turn the different readouts into a game.
You've got the time, outside temperature, inside temperature, battery temperature, tire pressure, odo, speedo, range, energy usage, media, maps, autopilot, charge information, cruise control, headlights, high beams, turning signals, trip meters, all sorts of warning light indicators like seatbelt, check engine (?)...
And now you want to jam all that crap onto one screen? That central screen is going to get very busy very fast, and if you want it to not look like hideous binary vomit, you need to again limit yourself and your driving experience.
You lose out on functionality and elegance. I could easily see myself overlooking warnings because of all the other colors and text on that screen. The overlay or whatever "opacity" garbage Elon is on about will make it look terrible. The speedo already looks awful like it's just slapped on top of the map (because it is!) Now you're gonna slap even more stuff on there.
When you're busy trying to fit as much stuff in the most compact way possible, you lose out on any opportunity to make it look nice and pretty or fit the theme of the car. People design GUIs and programs and websites to look pretty because they're easy on the eyes and enjoyable to work with. Also a great way to breath life into the program and sell your product. How can Model 3's screen look good? We already lost out on the circular speedo gauge that, even though it's outdated, is still used on MANY cars because it looks great and gives an air of elegance. Something about a flat fonted number just loses the magic.
Model 3 will have the most stark, minimal interior in massive contrast to the busy screen. Maybe that's the plan. Make the screen so cuh-razy that your attention is instantly locked onto the ugly iPad so you don't notice that there's literally nothing else inside the car. But then you're looking at that god-awful screen. Tesla didn't think this one through.
This is how Model 3's screen will look once you've got it configured to your liking:
