It's a good thing TMC does not design cars

[deonb]

There is a saying in design circles that Apple's market research consisted out of the right hemisphere of Steve Job's brain talking to the left one. The same is true for Tesla and Elon.

I remember after the Model 3 reveal how a lot of people (most?) on TMC were up in arms about the goofy 15" horizontal display. How there is no way in hell that this was ever going to be the final design, and it was going to be set into the dash like how the Model S and X screens changed between reveal and final version.

Similarly how can Tesla possibly get away with not having a console behind the steering wheel?? Surely there must be a HUD coming up! That speedometer off to the side is a huge safety risk! Cancel our reservations! Short the stock!!


5 days after picking up my Model 3, I love everything about the display design. It took no effort to get used to that speedometer. No head movement, no eye strain, you used to look down in one place, now you look down in another place. It takes the same amount of time and effort. Your eyes are back on the road in the same time. There's no safety issue. All of our months of silly debate and anxiety was over nothing.

The second thing is, when I interact with my Model S display, I have to lean forward in the seat to reach the display. In the Model 3 I don't have to. So the monitor that isn't set back into the dash is actually a heck of a lot more convenient than the one on the Model S. Now I wish my Model S had one.

Somebody actually thought this stuff through.

 

[deonb]

Oh, and some Eye Candy:

 

[ivengo]

great, thank you for sharing

 

[strykeroz]

Glad you've found it so easy to convert. I think the hardest part of having the M3 in the garage will be getting used to the stalks being mirrored on each of our cars...for a short while at least

Thanks for the photo too. I'd crossed red off the colour short-list, but now it's back on. What should be the simplest of choices is taking so long it's likely a good thing I have to wait for RHD!

 

[Snow Drift]

After sitting in the M3 I was happily surprised by how close the screen is and how little extension (basically none) was required to access it. Barely lift your arm off the rest and you can press the screen.

I now find the MS/MX screen, and my ICE Nav/Stereo to be somewhat far away.

 

[Twiglett]

I’ve not had the opportunity to drive one for a decent length of time so have no basis to decide. Apparently others don’t need to drive it to not like it
I learned to drive with standard/manual transmission and thought automatics were for those who couldn’t drive properly.
Then I got to drive one for a few weeks and never went back.
I’m betting the same happens with this.

 

[nvx1977]

Totally agree on the closer screen. When I sat in a Model 3 at my local showroom, I was able to tap the screen with my elbow on the center armrest. That gives my finger so much more stability. Easier to read the screen too.

 

[Pollux]

Hi, @deonb,

I've been driving my parents' Model 3 a bit. Overall, I am quite impressed and will be getting one for my own family later this year.

That said, the single projecting screen is not a panacea (no surprise there). Yes, easier to reach. Yes, faster than the Model S/X screen (newer electronics). Real pain in the ass for complexity -- IMHO, the S/X use of two screens allows much more information to be seen and simplifies operation. The 3 screen struggles because the smaller real estate means you have to do a lot more menu-ing and overlaying. Good luck trying to adjust wiper speed without swiping back and forth to figure out which sub-screen you need to find. Want to have the rear view camera on at the same time as your nav, which is so easy to do in an S? Good luck with that.

And the way that the screen sticks out? Just BEGS for additional injuries to someone during an accident. Heck, there's already a thread on this forum about an auto accident where the passenger's arm smashes into that screen, breaking the screen and resulting in a gash in the passenger's arm. And then when they needed to show their registration and insurance information, they had a heckuva time getting into the glove compartment because, with the screen broken, their was no control to operate the glove compartment. And Elon has tweeted that they're looking at adding a thin plastic protective sheet over the screen so that it won't break up during an accident.

So, yeah, I'll buy one later this year because it's an amazing car, smaller and more nimble than the S, much cheaper, lots and lots of pluses. I'll buy one despite the negatives I've articulated because the positives so vastly outweigh these negatives. But let's not pretend that a screen jutting out into the car's cabin, with a UI that relies heavily on sub-windows and overlays, is somehow perfect or that in real life these same negatives -- predicted as soon as the prototype was made public -- have miraculously disappeared as concerns.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[Jason S]

I do rely on the rear camera for both cars so I find the default screen being Nav in the 3 to be more than just a little annoying. IF I COULD JUST DEFAULT THE SCREEN TO THE CAMERA, I'D BE MUCH HAPPIER WITH THE MODEL 3'S INTERFACE. Otherwise it isn't much of an adjustment either way, I've positioned the seat so there isn't much leaning forward that I've noticed for either screen and I think the Model S screen really is better than the Model 3 BUT the phone dock before the screen on the 3 wouldn't be possible with the Model S so I think the trade off was fine.

 

[FlatSix911]

There is a saying in design circles that Apple's market research consisted out of the right hemisphere of Steve Job's brain talking to the left one. The same is true for Tesla and Elon.

I remember after the Model 3 reveal how a lot of people (most?) on TMC were up in arms about the goofy 15" horizontal display. How there is no way in hell that this was ever going to be the final design, and it was going to be set into the dash like how the Model S and X screens changed between reveal and final version. Similarly how can Tesla possibly get away with not having a console behind the steering wheel?? Surely there must be a HUD coming up! That speedometer off to the side is a huge safety risk! Cancel our reservations! Short the stock! Somebody actually thought this stuff through.

Someone else is admiring the Apple design philosophy ... VW’s top designer says Apple’s approach will inspire its upcoming electric cars

Volkswagen’s design head Klaus Bischoff has said that the company is using Apple’s approach to guide future electric car designs beyond the I.D. concept seen above. Bischoff said that there was a purity, clarity and significance to Apple’s designs … Reuters reports the remarks in what appears to have been a brief interview.

The core namesake brand alone will spend 6 billion euros on a new modular platform dubbed MEB designed to underpin over 20 purely battery-powered models such as the I.D. hatchback, I.D. Crozz crossover and the I.D. Buzz microbus. Bischoff said that right now was the most exciting point in his 25-year history at VW.

In the past everything was very centralized, very narrow boundaries were set on the road of success. Today is the most exciting time of my career because I‘m allowed to do things that didn’t use to exist that way. Volkswagen has previously shown an electric VW Bus concept which used an iPad as an infotainment center, supposedly entering production in 2022. The company recently said that it plans to make 1,500 electric cars a day at a major production hub in Saxony, Germany.

 

[EfficientWatts]

i would like to add on to what @deonb said here (and to kind of respond to the people who disagreed with the OP):

the person saying that TMC shouldn't have designed the product doesn't mean that user feedback should be ignored. (heck look at how Elon responds to some twitter responses). part of any design process involves getting feedback from usage and stuff. however limited direct usage of the car by others (especially if they have to keep stuff secret) and the design changes versus conventional car design (no speedo? only one display?) does cloud people's judgement as they are not simply not used to something different. anything different, even if well intentioned, will rub some people the wrong way. just look at the apple iphone and the no physical keyboard design, and the macbook air and the no dvd-rom drive, and how some people reacted to that; now look at where we are at. (no physical keyboards on virtually all smartphones and most notebooks don't have optical drives).

i would honestly reserve some skepticism with the design till you can actually sit in the car. some things may look bad in pictures, but you don't really know till you actually sit in the drivers seat. (fwiw I finally got to sit in one in Houston Galleria, and the placement of the speedo worked even better than I thought; I drive a Prius so I am kind of already used to stuff being more in the middle).

 

[SomeJoe7777]

The second thing is, when I interact with my Model S display, I have to lean forward in the seat to reach the display. In the Model 3 I don't have to. So the monitor that isn't set back into the dash is actually a heck of a lot more convenient than the one on the Model S. Now I wish my Model S had one.

This.

It was the very first thing I noticed when I sat in the Model 3 at the Houston Galleria showroom -- the screen is way more convenient to use than the Model S screen because you don't have to lean forward.

I also feel this is why the Model 3 steering wheel is slightly on the small side -- I think that let them get the screen closer to the driver without getting in the way of your hands when you're turning the wheel. That close screen makes the AP controls and the speedometer location a lot less of an issue than you would otherwise think they would be.

My M3 delivery is scheduled for the week of 2/28-3/2, so I'll confirm this once I get some driving hours in the 3.

 

[deonb]

Good luck trying to adjust wiper speed without swiping back and forth to figure out which sub-screen you need to find.

I've seen this comment a few times from people now, but don't understand it. When you press the single-serve wiper button on the left stalk, the wiper menu pops up on the center screen, and you can then adjust the settings you want in there.

Was there a time that the software didn't do this?

 

[Az_Rael]

Glad you've found it so easy to convert. I think the hardest part of having the M3 in the garage will be getting used to the stalks being mirrored on each of our cars...for a short while at least

Oh, yeah. I am totally going to put our S in Neutral trying disengage AP. My husband flashes people with the brights accidently when he drives my 3.

 

[nvx1977]

I've seen this comment a few times from people now, but don't understand it. When you press the single-serve wiper button on the left stalk, the wiper menu pops up on the center screen, and you can then adjust the settings you want in there.

Was there a time that the software didn't do this?

If you think about it, it doesn't matter anymore if the UI wasn't as friendly before. It works easily enough now and will continue to be easy for everyone that gets a car after you (and me). I called out this behavior (UI auto-switching to wiper controls when user presses manual wipe button) in my first impressions thread in the event the FUD of the past was influencing people negatively.

Agreed though. The instant I saw the UI switch to the wiper functions, I was like, either 1) the software didn't do this before, or 2) lots of people making assumptions that the UI would be hard to use and not speaking from direct experience.

 

[mpt]

"It's a good thing TMC does not design cars" - back in the day I remember when Tesla announced that they'd reached a whole new milestone in their maturity when "We no longer react to everything that's said on TMC"

 

[Dave B]

5 days after picking up my Model 3, I love everything about the display design.

Six days into ownership here, and if anything the lack of a speedo in front of me, combined with TACC/EAP, makes me a better driver. I'm more relaxed (TRANSLATION: less road-ragey) by the car handling the speed and not having my eyes constantly darting from speedo to road and getting frustrated because I'm not going the speed that I feel like I should be going.

Took my girlfriend out and let her drive the car for an hour or so to get her acclimated to it, and it was the most relaxed I've ever seen her driving. (Ie: She only screamed at another driver once.)

I not only don't miss having a speedometer right in front of me - I kinda prefer it now.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Thanks for the photo too. I'd crossed red off the colour short-list, but now it's back on. What should be the simplest of choices is taking so long it's likely a good thing I have to wait for RHD!

FYI definitely try to see it in person. It's an odd colour in that it looks way better in photos than in person, IMO but I'm not alone there. It's not a BAD colour, I've now seen them the M3 in person in all the colours and there isn't bad one in the lot. The basic black I suppose rides the edge of it by being very bland in that it lacks shimmer of any sort but that's not surprising.

P.S. I do get why blue appears to be outselling the rest so far. It has a classy yet exciting look in person.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Took my girlfriend out and let her drive the car for an hour or so to get her acclimated to it, and it was the most relaxed I've ever seen her driving. (Ie: She only screamed at another driver once.)

 

[dhrivnak]

There is a saying in design circles that Apple's market research consisted out of the right hemisphere of Steve Job's brain talking to the left one. The same is true for Tesla and Elon.

I remember after the Model 3 reveal how a lot of people (most?) on TMC were up in arms about the goofy 15" horizontal display. How there is no way in hell that this was ever going to be the final design, and it was going to be set into the dash like how the Model S and X screens changed between reveal and final version.

Similarly how can Tesla possibly get away with not having a console behind the steering wheel?? Surely there must be a HUD coming up! That speedometer off to the side is a huge safety risk! Cancel our reservations! Short the stock!!


5 days after picking up my Model 3, I love everything about the display design. It took no effort to get used to that speedometer. No head movement, no eye strain, you used to look down in one place, now you look down in another place. It takes the same amount of time and effort. Your eyes are back on the road in the same time. There's no safety issue. All of our months of silly debate and anxiety was over nothing.

The second thing is, when I interact with my Model S display, I have to lean forward in the seat to reach the display. In the Model 3 I don't have to. So the monitor that isn't set back into the dash is actually a heck of a lot more convenient than the one on the Model S. Now I wish my Model S had one.

Somebody actually thought this stuff through.

Yes sir I agree it works much better than I thought. My only complaint after a week is the glove box. I really think one should have a button for that.