Model 3 - Things to Come

[garyjac]

Looking at Elon's latest tweets about the driving setup in the Model 3 encourages me to make a couple of "way out" predictions. Here goes...Elon says the protoype will be changed at "Unveil 2" (production) such that "it will be like flying a spaceship". He also said something about this "not being the final steering gear."

OK, I think that there will be no ordinary LCD display in front of the wheel. I think they will take data and other signals from the main screen (selectable data of course) and have a small projector in the dash, so that a true HUD is on the windscreen. As you look through the windscreen, you will see (for example) your current speed, energy usage, et cetera displayed on the windscreen. It is an old idea and has been done in Prius cars before today I believe. It would suit the Model 3 since it would be cheaper than having to put in a screen the size of the one in Model S.

Secondly, I think he might go for a steering wheel that is like (in shape) the control yoke of an aircraft...a bit edgy that one...but maybe. This would increase the feeling of being right on the road!

I think the HUD on the windscreen is close to certain though.

Slings and Arrows ?? Brick bats??

 

[paulp]

Swell. HUD means new sunnies. Polarises cancel it out.
Just to put model 3 into perspective, tesla have in a few days taken reservations for 276,000 cars. 60,000,000+ cars are built annually, so that's less than half a percent. Is that enought to change mobility? Or do we assume they keep selling 90,000 each day.

 

[garyjac]

Keep your sunnies. They'll just make it possible to rotate the polarisation of the display. Cheap, easy to do. Also still complete guesswork !!

As for the number of cars? Well, it's like 404 lawyers at the bottom of a pond -- a good start apologies to all the honest hard working lawyers out there.

 

[Blue heaven]

Swell. HUD means new sunnies. Polarises cancel it out.
Just to put model 3 into perspective, tesla have in a few days taken reservations for 276,000 cars. 60,000,000+ cars are built annually, so that's less than half a percent. Is that enought to change mobility? Or do we assume they keep selling 90,000 each day.

Keeping in mind that Tesla was still fairly unknown before March 31st and on top of that many potential car buyers who had heard of Tesla still didn't know much at all because they see the headline but don't read the technical details, so a figure of more than 270 000 reservations for a car two years from production is staggering, this brings me to the following;
Elon was always keen to see other carmakers follow the same EV path, to some people the demand for the model 3 has been a shock, carmakers will go two ways, continue to be stubborn and ignore the inevitable or take on board what's happened over the last few days and transition to electric, I'm sure some major carmakers already have projects far more advanced than their letting on, the issue is getting sufficient supplies of battery packs in the short term, Tesla has a good lead in that race.
in years to come Tesla may only have a small percentage of world sales but they will always be known as the ones who started the revolution.

 

[WA-T3sla]

Swell. HUD means new sunnies. Polarises cancel it out.
Just to put model 3 into perspective, tesla have in a few days taken reservations for 276,000 cars. 60,000,000+ cars are built annually, so that's less than half a percent. Is that enought to change mobility? Or do we assume they keep selling 90,000 each day.

To put it into a different perspective, BMW sold 142,000 3 Series' in the US in 2014, Tesla have doubled that in reservations in a weekend. I think it has raised eyebrows in the established car companies about the viability and demand for an electric car that doesn't look for excuses for being electric. It probably also has Toyota wondering how quickly it can have a viable hydrogen refuelling network, or if such a thing is even worthwhile.

 

[raynewman]

Swell. HUD means new sunnies. Polarises cancel it out.
Just to put model 3 into perspective, tesla have in a few days taken reservations for 276,000 cars. 60,000,000+ cars are built annually, so that's less than half a percent. Is that enought to change mobility? Or do we assume they keep selling 90,000 each day.

Polarises cancel most LCD/LED displays but NOT the Model S one. I think they have figured that bit.

 

[paulp]

Polarises cancel most LCD/LED displays but NOT the Model S one. I think they have figured that bit.

Hmmm, good point. It must just be that bmw are useless then.
But can't see HUD going into a "budget" car.

 

[paulp]

Keeping in mind that Tesla was still fairly unknown before March 31st and on top of that many potential car buyers who had heard of Tesla still didn't know much at all because they see the headline but don't read the technical details, so a figure of more than 270 000 reservations for a car two years from production is staggering, this brings me to the following;
Elon was always keen to see other carmakers follow the same EV path, to some people the demand for the model 3 has been a shock, carmakers will go two ways, continue to be stubborn and ignore the inevitable or take on board what's happened over the last few days and transition to electric, I'm sure some major carmakers already have projects far more advanced than their letting on, the issue is getting sufficient supplies of battery packs in the short term, Tesla has a good lead in that race.
in years to come Tesla may only have a small percentage of world sales but they will always be known as the ones who started the revolution.

No arguement from me, what tesla have done with 3 has never been done before, its an amazing outcome and should give them the motivation to work extra hard on completing the design to a brilliant standard.

 

[Jays200]

Not my idea, read somewhere else but hasn't seemed to gain much traction.

I'd like to see some electrochromatic dimming of the roof glass, just like Boeing Dreamliner 787 windows.

I'm 198cms, fit easily in my wife's 2005 Corolla wagon but would appreciate the extra headroom a glass roof will provide.

Otherwise I see myself getting it tinted darker or using some of that perforated electrostatic plastic sheet. Both options are obviously less desirable than dimming glass.

 

[Seesaw]

Commodore has a heads up display and it is surprisingly a useful feature. It's in colour and shows speed, the speed limit, navigation directions... and if you are so inclined G force figures around corners.

 

[NovoCasGreeny]

Swell. HUD means new sunnies. Polarises cancel it out.
Just to put model 3 into perspective, tesla have in a few days taken reservations for 276,000 cars. 60,000,000+ cars are built annually, so that's less than half a percent. Is that enought to change mobility? Or do we assume they keep selling 90,000 each day.

paulp, this is the big thing I think of to0. I think is it enough, will things change quickly enough to make enough of a difference to our very bad global situation.

These are my brief thoughts on it:

Primarily Tesla have created a huge shift in a vast industry, almost every auto manufacturer is creating some capacity for electric vehicles. Fossil fuels are all unbelievably cheap right now but that will change, however EVs are still surviving and somewhat prospering in a very cheap fuel scenario.

If EVs can develop some economies of scale and Tesla/everyone else can continue to grow capacity then when fuel prices go back up cost of fuel is going to be a huge factor in new purchases.

Why will the cost of petrol/diesel/coal go back up?

Almost every fossil fuel major project in every country has been delayed or postponed. The ones that haven't been delayed are not feasible at current prices and the banks will not give them the money to do it. So in a few years time when a huge amount of bankruptcies (O&G companies are already getting hit hard) have filtered through because prices will stay low for a long time then supply will reduce from the current glut and prices will rebound. Some projects take four or five years, some 10 years from final investment decision to production. So the supply reaction is very very slow. Also, like the UK in the 80s and 90s there is an educational shift (undergrad choices) and the industries end up with a huge skills shortage and this only increases the cost of projects and delays the time to production.

High fuel prices and hopefully economies of scale will make EVs a definite replacement for petrol/diesel if not the propulsion mechanism of choice. Years and years of development and a few cycles of crude/gas/coal prices going up and down and every single consumer will want the reliability of an EV and the steady fuel price.

If all governments see sense and put a heavy carbon tax in place it will only accelerate the above. Further expansion/development and cost reduction in solar and other renewable methods of generation will see solar and batteries becoming even more popular in home and businesses and you cannot put electric in your petrol car.

Hopefully simple economics is going to help take care of the problem!!

 

[paulp]

Actually I was thinking that the masses might just work out that the electric car (tesla style) is just fun to drive and adopt it on that basis.

 

[NovoCasGreeny]

Once battery development, charge density, recharge times and economies of scale come into play I actually think they will be cheaper and easier (huge difference in amount of working parts and assembly requirements) to manufacture, own, maintain and operate. In time they will hopefully just better in every way.

 

[houdini]

Nissan has done few cool "wheels":

This Blade Glider one is super cool:

 

[garyjac]

...aaandd, as we now see, ELon has poached Porsche's expert(s) on internal design and (guess what?) HUD display design. Might as well tell us up front....

 

[paulp]

...aaandd, as we now see, ELon has poached Porsche's expert(s) on internal design and (guess what?) HUD display design. Might as well tell us up front....

He was working on holographic display with driver gesture interactions. I reckon he must have left HUD to the juniors.

 

[garyjac]

Just the man to have then. However, I've been thinking about a "gesture sensitive" HUD. Think of what might happen when people (e.g. kids) chuck things around in the car or someone gets excited, starts waving arms around....eeek!

 

[Dakah3]

Been thinking with Elon stating it will have a steering wheel like a spaceship and never seeing a spaceship steering wheel before or why a spaceship would have a steering wheel, that instead of a HUD it may have a small touchscreen display built into the steering wheel?

 

[garyjac]

Expensive to implement I should think. That might not be useful either, since it tends to turn.