No dash screen -- only 15" touchscreen?

[Bimbels]

I'm sure plenty of people won't be on autopilot that much. So that's only one side of the story.

I'm just saying that people who haven't driven with AP might have difficulty imagining how the driving experience is different.

Also, I think AP is the ONE option not to skip on a Tesla. It's one of those things that once you have it, it's hard going back.

 

[Bullrun]

Judging by the lack of buttons on steering wheel and the way the landscape screen is kind of floating in space, this is going to change a lot.

The screen will at least be integrated into the dash, why would you waste empty space behind something? It also increases risk of literally ripping off the monitor.

I don't buy the demo drivers assertion that this is close to final, it just can't be.

 

[ProphetM]

Well, I've had 8 years of "un-conditioning" driving the Mini, and it's still annoying...

I drive a 2001 Toyota Echo which has center instruments and haven't found it to be any trouble. I got used to it very quickly after I got it 10 years ago.

 

[rcarpen22]

Judging by the lack of buttons on steering wheel

That's an excellent point. I din't even think about the lack of audio (etc.) controls on the steering wheel. Surely in this market segment, it will have those.

 

[Az_Rael]

I will admit that no steering wheel buttons might be a deal breaker for me if that ends up being the final design. I love being able to answer and hang up calls with steering wheel buttons. I also prefer physical buttons/knob for music volume adjustment vs a touchscreen. So I hope that is not final.

I will survive with the center instrument cluster, but I would be much happier if there is a HUD. They are putting those in pretty mainstream vehicles now, so I don't think that is unreasonable.

 

[Rla]

I've had the misfortune to have driven a car with only centered instrument cluster for a couple of months and I was so uncomfortable. For me emotionally it also expresses that it was not a 'drivers car'. So I really, really hope there will be something; hopefully a HUD (otherwise I'll get on of these like the Garmin Hud, Navdy, Iris, ...)

I'm fearing that Tesla employees have already been to grounded in the AP idea, feeling very comfortable about its operation that you really no longer need the confirmation of the info it display's today. Yet a lot of Model 3 drivers will be firstimers to AP and will be wary about its operation.

I'm also concerned about the effectiveness of having primary driver information on the center screen. To much clutter and other distractions that you NEED to filter out. The Model S screen is different as you do not NEED to look at it just to drive the car.

 

[ikjadoon]

A few thoughts if it's truly one screen only (i.e., only source of vital information like speed & charge)

1. Glare during the day (especially with those gorgeous, massive windshields) sounds problematic
2. Night time driving: does it kill your night vision? What if passengers want some shut-eye, but you need the screen bright for speed and charge-level? Sure, in a city, it's never truly dark out anyways, but in the country, it sounds iffy.
3. What SoC are they using? If it's reading out your speed & battery, I want 0 lag at all times. Can you imagine having lag/delays in your speedometer? I trust Tesla, but they went too cheap on the Model S SoC.
4. Because it's landscape, how easily can you touch/read things on the far-right edge (if LHD)? Even without color distortion like on TN LCD panels, the sheer angle sounds inhibiting, at least in reading clearly.

Now, because it's release is in 2018 essentially, maybe we will see OLED panels. The first OLED laptop is releasing this month (Lenovo X1 Yoga); they are brighter, can turn off black pixels completely (reducing glare somewhat), consume less power (if not displaying white), etc.

And, if it's really the only screen, I hope they don't cheap out. I'd love to see low-persistence displays (super low blur...it's like old CRTs) like they're using in VR. I run a 24" low-persistence LCD and it's done wonders for my eyesight.

 

[ikjadoon]

Whoops, can't edit posts.

Anyways, I think the overall paradigm they're moving towards is amazing.

Why do we have all those cryptic car symbols, anyways? "Check Engine Light", "Squiggly line with a circle", "Triangle with exclamation point", etc. Let's clear away most of what is really just mechanical clutter.

 

[JPP]

Not sure if anyone at the Model 3 reveal/drive event got to see this and can comment, but regarding the instrument panel/dashboard/touchscreen issue, did anyone see the US DOT required warning lights in front of the driver & steering wheel? I know that in the USA there have to be certain warning/indicator lights that illuminate at engine start/bootup and then illuminate later for issues with the braking system, ABS, etc. There has to be a headlight & fog light indicator and high beam indicator. I know that the power up lamp display is a bit superfluous on the S and X instrument panel since there are no lamps to fail and thus no need for the traditional lamp test. But I presume that the US DOT (the same one that requires rear view mirrors when presumably cameras would be better and more aerodynamic) would still require indicator 'lamps ' in an arrangement for the driver to see. Are these now all in the new 15" touchscreen? If not, where are they on the Model 3? And if there is a small strip of indicators or the like, why not shoehorn in a small display for speed, gear (drive/reverse), etc.

 

[Sudre]

My wife loves her 2001 Toyota Echo with the one center speedo. She will be fine with the single screen. I have no problems at all adapting to her car instantly when I drive it. I think the one point brought up above is about my only mild concern. When I look at the center speedo on the Echo there is no turning map or moving music bar. It's very simple and straight forward. I have a little (small.. tiny) nagging fear that the LCD screen may be too cluttered to make checking speed a quick glance.

A friend of mine cleaned up a shot of the screen and posted it on my FB page. It looks very busy for a quick speed check BUT the speed is very clear so it might be just fine. OVer all I am hoping it get... refined.

 

[brkaus]

Clearly there is one reason for this design - to stop the arguments over which screen displays the time and temp.

 

[GregRF]

I'm guessing there is more info to come. But in case there is not, there are always aftermarket screens/HUDs.

Simple Garmin one on Amazon $87

 

[Tina C]

I've already voiced my concerns about not having speed/battery info in front of the driver. I love the big center display.....but will it get glare in bright sun? Will I be able to read it with my polarized sunglasses on (can't do it with iPhone)? I'm short and the speed on the top left of the screen might actually be behind the steering wheel in my line of vision. Will my short arms be able to reach the far side of a horizontal display? I do not like how the speed is in a box overlaid on the map. Too much visual clutter to see the important stuff at a glance. It took me watching a test drive video 3 times to actually see where on the screen the speed was displayed.

If the horizontal crevice between the dash colors is where the AC/heat blows out, then how do you adjust the airflow direction? I don't like air blowing directly in my eyes drying them out.

If it is still in prototype stage (I hope), then maybe Tesla will read the feedback they are getting in forums like this and make design adjustments.

I put my deposit down already. I'm so excited about this car, and I'm all for thinking outside the box and doing things differently, but sometimes things are popular because they work.

 

[Uncle Paul]

With a well functioning autopilot displays might be less necessary.

 

[Kandiru]

In second world markets and ghettos the screen will lure criminals, who will vandalize the car thinking they are in for a large tablet or convertible.

 

[favo]

If the horizontal crevice between the dash colors is where the AC/heat blows out, then how do you adjust the airflow direction? I don't like air blowing directly in my eyes drying them out.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. There could be adjustable fins in that channel, I suppose. I hope there is some way to adjust airflow. Sometimes you either want to target or avoid certain parts of the body.

 

[gjunky]

I agree with some of the comments above about the instrument cluster screen/HUD and sterring wheel button:
The Tesla dashboard design team

 

[tga]

With a well functioning autopilot displays might be less necessary.

I donno, I think full autopilot is a long ways out. Especially those of us who travel on potholed rural New England roads (sometimes *gasp* unpaved!), and those of us who like to drive.

 

[Devanish]

Me too, I would like to see a decent HUD for speed and charge etc.

Speed, Charge, and proximity sensor.

 

[Devanish]

It's almost as if Telsa is trying to gradually subtract from the driver's role of being the central point of focus in the driving experience. By deleting the instrument panel, removing all buttons and rockers from the steering wheel, and as one Telsa test driver mentioned, making the center display landscape instead of portrait in order to give the passenger equal access to controls, it feels like a precursor to the autonomous future. The future in which Telsa unveils a model where not only is the IP cluster gone, but in which the steering wheel it self is absent....Or at least one which tilts flat and slides away out of sight into the dashboard only to appear when summoned for manual driving or an autopilot malfunction. Exploring this idea of driver/passenger equality a bit further down into the rabbit hole, perhaps we may even see a steering wheel that can be moved between left and right passenger.

Where as before, in your ICE vehicles where you were the Captain and Commander of your vessel, what with your myriad incomprehensible toggles, knobs, and buttons laid out before you, now you are merely, but for one step away from being just another passenger....and we know Musk has an evil plan to sooner rather than later pluck that soon to be vestigial appendage from your 10 and 2'O Clock hands.