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Model 3 general improvements [owner suggestions]

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My first post so take it easy on me. Don’t want to sound like I’m bashing my Model 3 but 6 months in I am intrigued to see if I am the only one that has noticed a number of issues that could be easily adjusted to make the car awesome. I’m from the UK and have a 21 model

Here are a few observations (ducks for cover)

-Interface, font, text, colour, size all should be adjustable to suit your vision needs (i need reading glasses but not driving glasses)

-reverse lights…either brighten them or reduce the rear mirror dimming when in reverse. I cannot use my mirrors to reverse in dark unlit environments

-mirror design, reflects the interior of the car too much (especially in the dark) and also the weird “side” of the mirror takes up a lot of real estate

- wipers controls hidden under two hits of the screen (could just be on the stalk button) frightening when passing a large truck in the rain when the auto wipers don’t keep up and you have to reach for the screen…twice!

-heating, ac controls need larger hit points (are really hard/dangerous to find/hit when driving.

-changing lanes when In autopilot (not advanced) why do I have to keep switching on the pilot every time I change lanes and suffer the “bong” noise every time along with the “snatching” feeling as it engages every time.

-software updates, great if I get “more” stuff but really annoying when stuff is removed…fells like I bought something that has now been taken away (auto pilot advanced, summon, lane change, all just disappeared)

-entertainment interface that doesn’t require me to constantly pick up my phone to hit next, ff, rewind, or select a track/cast

-auto pilot that interprets lorry trailers and doesn’t go into an emmergency stop on the high/freeway when it passes one (is this just a UK thing)

-volume that sticks. When I turn up my volume the car slowly reduces it, so I end up turning it up Massively to compromise

- so much screen taken up with a cartoon of my car and surrounding obstacles. Serves absolutely no purpose and just takes up real estate that could be used increasing the font size, map or allowing important buttons to sit on the “front page”

-faster acceleration on autopilot. The car slows well as it approaches a slower vehicle but when the slower vehicle moves away the model 3 takes an age to get back up to speed, causing traffic approaching from behind to overtake, or requires me to hit the pedal to compensate.

- random speed changes. The car will often slow very quickly for no apparent reason. It must detect something like a pedestrian or a tree but seems over sensitive.especially on the free/highway.

I’m gonna stop now as this is a lot for a first post….again, I’m not here to bash my car but these points all frustrate me as I WANT the car to be great, not disappointing.
 
- wipers controls hidden under two hits of the screen (could just be on the stalk button) frightening when passing a large truck in the rain when the auto wipers don’t keep up and you have to reach for the screen…twice!
Left stalk button push once wipes the windscreen once *and* brings up the wiper UI if you want to adjust.
-changing lanes when In autopilot (not advanced) why do I have to keep switching on the pilot every time I change lanes and suffer the “bong” noise every time along with the “snatching” feeling as it engages every time.
That is a signature feature of FSD. Enhanced autopilot had it but is no longer offered. Buy or subscribe to FSD to avoid your frustration.
-entertainment interface that doesn’t require me to constantly pick up my phone to hit next, ff, rewind, or select a track/cast
Not my experience. I assume you mean Bluetooth. With anything I’m streaming over Bluetooth I can press previous/pause/play/next on the screen ui or left steering button. I dont have a way to choose a track with my sources.
 
This is the kind of stuff that's made me hesitant to get a Tesla. The rudimentary control over music is massively disappointing. As a person that likes to make a lot of playlists and listen to a lot of different music the Tesla interface is a massive stumbling block. It's like going back to the 90's playing CD's where you could only skip tracks and needed a CD changer to do any sort of shuffle.
 
-Interface, font, text, colour, size all should be adjustable to suit your vision needs (i need reading glasses but not driving glasses)

Yep, pretty universally agreed upon. Except for the way you spelled "color".

-reverse lights…either brighten them or reduce the rear mirror dimming when in reverse. I cannot use my mirrors to reverse in dark unlit environments

Clever, I hadn't thought of that but it makes perfect sense! Does anyone know Elon's Twitter handle?

- wipers controls ...heating, ac controls need...

Yeah, a little slider on the stalk for wiper speed would have been nice, especially since their algorithm is far from finished.
AC is easy to voice control but you're correct that the UI leaves much to be desired. Makes no sense to have the defrost button on the passenger side while music is on the driver side and seat heaters get the same prominence as everything else while steering wheel heat is hidden 3-levels deep.

But hopefully this will prove to be one of the great benefits of a Tesla - they can improve the UI. They already changed it once last year (for the worse) and they released a better UI for the Model S this year so there's hope.

-changing lanes when In autopilot (not advanced) why do I have to keep switching on the pilot every time I change lanes and suffer the “bong” noise every time along with the “snatching” feeling as it engages every time.

'cuz you're a cheap ass. It's only $10,000 to unlock the lane changer thing, just pay it. What's the big deal?

-software updates, great if I get “more” stuff but really annoying when stuff is removed…fells like I bought something that has now been taken away (auto pilot advanced, summon, lane change, all just disappeared)

Some things do get removed (e.g. Dyno test mode) which is spooky, but your stuff just expired and had nothing to do with any software updates.

-entertainment interface that doesn’t require me to constantly pick up my phone to hit next, ff, rewind, or select a track/cast

If the steering wheel buttons aren't working it's probably an incorrect setting in your phone.

-auto pilot that interprets lorry trailers and doesn’t go into an emmergency stop on the high/freeway when it passes one (is this just a UK thing)

Yeah, the cruise control is pretty nervous, especially the newer radar-less version. It will definitely get better though, that's a certainty.

-volume that sticks. When I turn up my volume the car slowly reduces it, so I end up turning it up Massively to compromise

Again, your phone is phuked. Don't know what's going on with it. And why are you using your phone anyway?

- so much screen taken up with a cartoon of my car and surrounding obstacles. Serves absolutely no purpose and just takes up real estate that could be used increasing the font size, map or allowing important buttons to sit on the “front page”

Yes, this is incredibly stupid and frustrates at least 100% of all Model 3/Y owners. Even Musk agrees that the interface is crap.

-faster acceleration on autopilot. The car slows well as it approaches a slower vehicle but when the slower vehicle moves away the model 3 takes an age to get back up to speed, causing traffic approaching from behind to overtake, or requires me to hit the pedal to compensate.

Yep, I goose the pedal too. Then adding insult to injury the weird algorithm makes it hard to let off the pedal without an abrupt jolt. This will likely improve over time.
 
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Its been 3 weeks since I got my Model 3 I love it BUT some minor safety adjustments should be made
1. When you put your turn signal on the camera showing you what is there actually blocks the screen to see that there are car in red. Needs to be reserved to other side, Actually the nav screen and the car shadow screen should be reversed
2. Love the theater app but Hulu doesn't work. I spoke to service and they say there is a bug that needs fixing.
3. Cant find AM radio only FM
4.Would rather have Sirius then TuneIn I suspect that if I log in there will be more channels.

I hope someone at Tesla reads this.
Thanks
Arnie
 
Its been 3 weeks since I got my Model 3 I love it BUT some minor safety adjustments should be made
1. When you put your turn signal on the camera showing you what is there actually blocks the screen to see that there are car in red. Needs to be reserved to other side, Actually the nav screen and the car shadow screen should be reversed
2. Love the theater app but Hulu doesn't work. I spoke to service and they say there is a bug that needs fixing.
3. Cant find AM radio only FM
4.Would rather have Sirius then TuneIn I suspect that if I log in there will be more channels.

I hope someone at Tesla reads this.
Thanks
Arnie

1. Thats feedback on the software, I would suggest participating in one of the many threads on the software in the software subforum here:



3. No model 3s or Ys have AM radio and are not likely to get it any time soon. I dont believe any Model 3 or Y shipped with the antennae, and they will not be putting it back. They will tell you to look for HD radio equivalents to your AM channels. That ship has sailed for Teslas so you will need to find an alternative.

Also one more important note:

This website is not affiliated at all with Tesla. It is a third party fan website. While people from Tesla might (or might not) see posts here, this site has no connection with Tesla (the company) other than being a fan site about its products. I mention that so that you do not get the idea that posting this here means someone from tesla will definitely see it.

Its likely that a few employees read this site as its one of the larger Tesla sites around, but if you really want to try to get traction, you would want to participate in an existing thread (for example on the user interface) than create a new one. Its my belief that a 20 page thread on user interface might be more likely to attract someones attention than someone starting a new thread, but thats just my belief.