Plaid Safety

[gadelrosario]

“On the left side of the yoke” - when you drive straight only. When you turn they may be on the right side, upside-down

Very true - yoke orientation is critical.

 

[Boza]

When u r Turing your turn signals should be already on

 

[SilentFlight]

When u r Turing your turn signals should be already on

That assumes that:

1. all roads are straight, and
2. you will never have to go from a left turn to a right turn or vice versa.

 

[Dan D.]

When u r Turing your turn signals should be already on

That assumes that:

1. all roads are straight, and
2. you will never have to go from a left turn to a right turn or vice versa.

Turing would have used his turn signals correctly.

Like many geniuses, Turing was not without his eccentricities. He wore a gas mask while riding his bike to combat his allergies. Instead of fixing his bike’s faulty chain, he learned exactly when to dismount to secure it in place before it slipped off. He was known around Bletchley Park for chaining his tea mug to a radiator to prevent it from being taken by other staffers.

 

[Beasts]

While we "only" have the 21 LR S we do have the yolk, of course, and I have to say it's been a real steep learning curve. I can't tell you how many times I turned on the windshield wipers while going for the cruise control or had to search with my eyes and finger tips for the correct turn signal. And now, in spite of being in my 70s, I'm starting to relax more and more as my muscle memory improves and my mind adapts. Am I totally comfortable? No. But I kind of like the challenge. The lack of a full circle on the yolk still leads to some jerky cornering making right hand turns in town but highway driving is quite smooth and relaxed. And those 90 degree turns in town will come with practice as my coordination adjusts to the new shape. I can already feel it happening as I have to concentrate less and relax more.
I admit to not having the experience with performance cars that many Plaid owners seem to have but I am seriously impressed with all of the performance aspects of our S. Acceleration in the LR, as you know, is better than most high performance cars out there costing much, much more. Cornering in this car simply begs me to go faster it is so effortless and confident in its' execution. And boy I don't miss the noise the ICE folks love.
Regarding the screens and the computerization, here again I have admit to being a neophyte, a troglodyte, but I'm excited by the incredible amount of information and options available. Frustrating at first to get the basics down, but now it's getting to be a question of what can I discover next to further expand the experience. And those functions in the lower left hand corner of the screen are becoming so automatic that I don't really have to actually see them. All this coming from someone who had never really used a cell phone and never swiped a screen before! Quite an adventure! A big problem I am having is trying to keep my eyes off of the screens and on the road. Scary.
Bottom line I suppose is that I truly love change, as long as it is for the good. I'm not inclined to condemn the yolk at this point although it is a challenge. And there is so much about Tesla (and all EVs) that is so positive, especially the energy efficiency and, of course the power.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[zerosumgame]

I have been driving the new plaid for about 2 months now and for the first time, I took it on a road trip. Austin to Dallas and back.

The car is comfortable and super quiet. Its range compared to our old P90D and P100D model X is nice. Its turbine-like acceleration is addictive.

I stopped in Waco on the way back, and the car charged up from around 60 miles left to 300 in about 30 min. It was actually ready to continue to my destination in about 15.

However....

Having put many miles on the old model s and x, there are a few things that I have come to realize that makes the car, IMHO, less safe.

1. The display and UI. On the old model attempting to change something on the screen was more straightforward due to the fixed and predictable position of the controls. The new UI has moving and swipeable things, which is fine on a tablet but takes your eyes off of the road in order to focus on what you are touching. Items on the screen that you would generally need to interact with are not strategically positioned to facilitate good ergonomics and minimum eye contact while the car is in motion. If you are in heavy traffic and you want to change something you need to be very careful. Sure, you can put the car in autopilot mode, but you should not have to. It's like the UI was created to be more of an entertainment system, but it's #1 priority should be for the driver to manage the car as easily as possible.

The old car had items that you would frequently use available to you in the main display. For example, a text message was displayed and could be responded to using the scroll wheel or a call answered. Nothing gets displayed in the instrument cluster display on the new UI, and response requires interaction with the touch screen in a position that has not been driver optimized.

2. The yoke. Much has been written about the yoke. Something that has not been discussed is the offset of the center of the yoke from the steering column. Couple this with a rectangular shape and you have a situation where depending on where you grab the yoke you get a different response, sort of an amplification effect. It's not confidence-inspiring at all. The best analogy I can come up with is taking the handlebars on a 10-speed bike and flipping them up and back.

It has been said that one of the purposes of the yoke was to allow a better view of the instrument cluster. I never had a problem seeing the old one, but the yoke now blocks the view of the touch screen lower-left corner. So now I not only need to take my eyes off of the road but I need to move my head to see part of the screen.

The biggest issue, however, is the touch controls on the yoke. Tesla, if you are listening, please change this. I will happily pay for a better setup.

If you insist on having capacitive touch buttons, then take it all the way and make them into tiny screens that I can configure to my liking. If not then please, put the turn signals on the corresponding side of the yoke. Left side to turn left and right side to turn right. Keep them away from the scroll wheels. Put the horn in the center below the airbag. Would you please bring back the ability to answer the phone or text to the scroll wheels? Make the scroll wheel so you can push it to the left or right with ease, maybe a bit of rubber in the center instead of a slick knurled ball.

"The best analogy I can come up with is taking the handlebars on a 10-speed bike and flipping them up and back."

^^^Genuinely terrifying analogy.