Model S Dashboard and console controls

[AndyM]

That's a great tactic. Someone with a good video cam and a steady hand should try this...

Easter egg hunting, anyone?
I'd say the volume going to "11" counts as the first one found.
I want my Model S to tell me "Happy Birthday, Andy" in Jude Law's voice every year.

 

[Jeeps17]

I want my Model S to tell me "Happy Birthday, Andy" in Jude Law's voice every year.

Better that than :

Andy: "Open the driver door, S"
S: "I can't do that Andy"

Cue ominous music (on the upgraded audio system, mind you)

:biggrin:

 

[woof]

My feature is steering wheel button based cruise control. Although I can adapt to using the stalk attached to the left side of the steering column, I'd much prefer using steering wheel buttons.

+1 Yes please!

In discussion with one of the Tesla crew at the NY event, I mentioned my preference for this as well. He said it MIGHT (repeat MIGHT) be possible to assign cruise control functions to one of the thumb scroll wheels on the steering wheel. In the static car I tried to see how one might do this, but was unable to figure it out if it is indeed possible.

 

[Todd Burch]

So here are some things that I think we've yet to see on the touchscreen that I thought would've been seen or announced by now. They seem like they would almost certainly be supported (and if not, a software upgrade can bring them) but I've yet to see evidence of it.

-We know you can look up addresses on the nav system. Can we look up businesses by name (find the nearest Target) or type (find the closest airport, the nearest police station) like a regular GPS?
-Can we store favorite nav destinations?
-Can we look at our altitude, lat/long coordinates?
-Can we change the symbol used for the car on the map from a triangle to something else?
-Can we play videos/movies on the touchscreen (even if they're only allowed when the car is in park)?
-Can I turn on the sound system, roll down the windows, and get out of the car and do some other things while the music continues, or does the car really just shut down the systems when the fob exits the car?
-We know there is a display sleep mode, but I haven't seen how to activate it or change the settings. Does the display go to sleep on a timer? Do you tap some area to put it to sleep?

Any confirmed insight or experience with any of these questions?

 

[MikeK]

When I sat in the car in Palo Alto, I played with the nav system a bit. IIRC, as you type, it auto-completes sort of like doing a Google search. I believe I saw business names in the auto completion as I typed the first few letters. Pretty rapidly those were weeded out (since I was typing a street name), but overall, my impression was that this is probably the nicest nav system I've ever seen.

 

[AndyM]

-Can I turn on the sound system, roll down the windows, and get out of the car and do some other things while the music continues, or does the car really just shut down the systems when the fob exits the car?
-We know there is a display sleep mode, but I haven't seen how to activate it or change the settings. Does the display go to sleep on a timer? Do you tap some area to put it to sleep?

Any confirmed insight or experience with any of these questions?

I can take a stab at those two.

Judging from the behavior of the car in the showroom (VIN#50), there's an internal timer that seems to start when the driver gets out of the seat. The key is not present in the car int he showroom so that the car can't be driven through the front door, but all the other functions of the car seem to be in working order (windows, doors, lights, display, radio, etc. So I am very sure this timer isn't dependent on the key. Anyway, the timer dims the screens (17" and dashboard panel) after just a few minutes (3? 5?) and it stays off until a driver sits down or someone taps the screen. Also I noticed that the screen will stay lit if the charge door is left open! When the charge door closes, and there's no driver, and if the timer has expired, the screen turns off.

I bet there's a very long and complicated logic table for what events will cause the display to stay on or go to sleep. But I'm encouraged to know that it is under some kind of control. Which means it can be easily adjusted later by a software upgrade.

 

[Todd Burch]

Thanks for those responses so far.
some other things that just don't seem to be ready yet:

-Email, and the system reading your email/text messages to you.
-Dictation software for writing emails while driving using voice recognition (not sure if that will be there at all)
-Voice control (coming in the not too distant future, we're told).

 

[AndyM]

I learned something cool this weekend:

Press and hold the Menu button (right-hand of steering wheel, button under the roller), and a screenshot is captured of the dash and main display! No idea where it's stored, or if its accessible by the owner.

I also was able to capture some rare snaps of Developer Mode...

 

[W.Petefish]

Nice shots! Kinda wish that they could have a waver for those of us whom would like for those options to be enabled. Maybe an asked for option?

 

[AnOutsider]

I see a homelink menu in there as well as what they used to speed govern the vehicles. Perhaps some subset of this menu will be available to all owners.

 

[AndyM]

I see a homelink menu in there as well as what they used to speed govern the vehicles. Perhaps some subset of this menu will be available to all owners.

The "apps" area appears to be a staging area. there's also "Scheduler", which could be the charging scheduler app.

 

[vfx]

Was checking out the Automotive section on Nvidia website since the boasted about Model S integrating Tegra technology and noticed possible future additions to the Model S / Model X functionality :
...

The Tesla Model S dashboard is now on Nvidia's homepage banner rotation.

 

[Todd Burch]

Everything you need to know when driving Model S displays on the instrument panel. So please do not read the touchscreen while driving.

Ha ha, right. Now that's a great example of CYA.

 

[wycolo]

Now that a couple hundred ModelSs are out there could someone sketch a systematic approach to understanding the 17in screen console GUI?

At one extreme, how far could you get if you just taped a black towel over it & pretended it did not exist? Like the buyer who did no research ahead of time.

On the other hand, can the GUI be changed to something more familiar like a computer desktop? If it IS in fact Linux OS, then one could open a video window and run SPEEDOMETER in it. Size to taste and place it where you want on the vast screen.

Where is the USB socket for computer input, exactly? Does a box pop up on the screen listing the files on a USB thumb drive? Giving the file extension & filesize? Similarly with an external harddrive?

Is there an HDMI socket for external Media Player input, such that when car is OFF, one can input 1080p directly into the 17in screen & audio system? Similarly, can MKV or AVI videos on USB thumbdrive be played on 'the system'?

Since the rear-facing camera plays thru the 17in screen, can one hit a button for screen-grabs? If you don't have the TECH PKG, thus no rear camera, can you still plug in an external video camera?

And what is lacking if one does not have the TECH PKG? How 'bare-bones' is it?
--

 

[jerry33]

At one extreme, how far could you get if you just taped a black towel over it & pretended it did not exist? Like the buyer who did no research ahead of time.

You'd never need to look at the screen while driving, because the frequently used controls are on the steering wheel. You would need to be shown how to use the steering wheel buttons because they are rather complex from a UI standpoint. Hopefully Tesla or someone will create a laminated quick start guide for them.

On the other hand, can the GUI be changed to something more familiar like a computer desktop? If it IS in fact Linux OS, then one could open a video window and run SPEEDOMETER in it. Size to taste and place it where you want on the vast screen.

I suspect this will be possible once the API comes out. I wouldn't expect that for a least a year though.

Since the rear-facing camera plays thru the 17in screen, can one hit a button for screen-grabs? If you don't have the TECH PKG, thus no rear camera, can you still plug in an external video camera?

My understanding is that you get a standard definition camera without the tech package, not no camera (unless that has changed).

And what is lacking if one does not have the TECH PKG? How 'bare-bones' is it?

The things I'm interested in (HID lights, smart entry, high-definition camera, navigation, and side mirrors) make it a mandatory purchase for me. I'm almost positive those were originally supposed to be standard but cost overruns and the promised $50,000 base price nixed them.