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Seniors wishing the glovebox had a physical button to open

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Well I’m a senior, and honestly couldn’t be much happier with everything on my 3. After 12 months of ownership I’m totally in love with the car! The voice control does most things (though still needs to improve it’s accuracy) and the screen is very simple and logical. If I actually need to do things on the screen whilst driving (which is rare), I make sure that autopilot has the wheel for those seconds that I have my eyes off the road. Even my wife who is literally about the least technical person I know has mastered the important aspects on the Model 3 (including opening the glove box LOL :) - though she will occasionally need to ask me for something used only rarely.) Amazingly though, she can even plug it in to charge- but has not filled the tank on an ICE vehicle in maybe 20+ years!

On the other hand, when I get in my 2014 Jeep (which is rare, and now mainly only for towing) I really struggle to find some controls, and regularly get nagged by my wife for wandering in the lane if looking for a particular control, adjusting the music windscreen wiper or A/C etc.

The Model 3 is about 1,000 times better, and safer!
Using the screen while driving is NOT safe. Distracted driving kills more people in North America than DUI now. Obviously autopilot reduces (but does not eliminate) the risk of driving distracted. There is a reason the car nags you to pay attention when AP is engaged. Manual controls you are muscle memory familiar with are statistically safer, regardless of how advanced the Model 3 may be. Not to mention more efficient and faster, which is another nice perk. Source: Touch Screens Are Distracting Drivers. What Are Carmakers Doing To Help?
 
Usability is an art with different impact on different audiences. I make software for a living. We're now targeting rural senior veterans for a healthcare application. Our interviews reveal deep differences in expectations, comfort levels, and engagement.

Apple tries to be the computer "for the rest of us", then mandates a one-button mouse but three option keys and tons of magical key-combos, swipes, and triple clicks.

Tesla, so far, seems more sane. Tradeoffs were made. You want one long vent that you can control in wonderful ways? Then you need to lose the 15 mini vents people have to adjust individual with no one able to reach them all. You want simple stalks that are easy to explain to people borrowing your car? Make "auto" enough and add voice commands. You want the valet to stay out of your glove box? Key or software.

I drive a lot of rental cars. Every freaking time I try a new one, it's "how does this and this work?" (And it's usually after a long day of travel wanting desperately to get to my hotel to sleep).
 
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I am impressed with the technical acumen detailed here. It saddens me, though, because it is just one more piece of evidence to me that Tesla autos are not for the senior set (of which I am a reluctant member).

I own a Model 3 and drive it only infrequently ... especially now during the Covid-19 crimp on places to go. Now I'm sure all you young'uns out there will puzzle over how I could possibly lose some sharpness in my senior years; after all, you (and I, too, when I was a young'un) are bright, quick on your feet, sharp memory, and all the rest of the admirable characteristics of not-old humans, AND YOU'LL NEVER GIVE IN TO THE RAVAGES OF AGE, EITHER. Am I not right?

The Tesla autos have sometimes been called, with pride, "a computer on wheels." However, when I describe my M3 that way to others, it's with an inward groan. Why? It is so difficult to do anything, even simple things like open the glove box. In all the ICE cars I've ever driven, it's been easy. A/C? Sure, just reach over WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ROAD and make the adjustments by touch. No way to do that in my computer on wheels.

(btw, I fully expect there will be many crash descriptions of seniors taking their eyes off the road too long and crashing into some innocent car, guard rail at the edge of a cliff, or oncoming fully loaded semi.)

Or, say you want to flip on the windshield wipers to wash off a bug flattened right in your line of vision. If you’re like me, you’ll have to pull over to the side of the road and browse through the logical decision tree on the touch screen (that saves a lot of weight, I’m sure) before you can home in, minutes later, on the part of the algorithm that gives you several choices for windshield wiper activation.

This retired aerospace engineer, who helped design the control system of the GPS satellite decades ago, longs for the simplicity of an old ICE car! Same for my wife, who refuses to drive the M3 because it is “Too complicated.”

Elon! Here’s a demographic that you might not reach until you design a simple ecar: The really senior cohort that really doesn’t need 0 – 60 in 3 seconds. (I tried to think of a name for a senior-appropriate Tesla that could be added to the S3XY lineup, but I nodded off. Maybe after my nap.)
 
I am impressed with the technical acumen detailed here. It saddens me, though, because it is just one more piece of evidence to me that Tesla autos are not for the senior set (of which I am a reluctant member).

I own a Model 3 and drive it only infrequently ... especially now during the Covid-19 crimp on places to go. Now I'm sure all you young'uns out there will puzzle over how I could possibly lose some sharpness in my senior years; after all, you (and I, too, when I was a young'un) are bright, quick on your feet, sharp memory, and all the rest of the admirable characteristics of not-old humans, AND YOU'LL NEVER GIVE IN TO THE RAVAGES OF AGE, EITHER. Am I not right?

The Tesla autos have sometimes been called, with pride, "a computer on wheels." However, when I describe my M3 that way to others, it's with an inward groan. Why? It is so difficult to do anything, even simple things like open the glove box. In all the ICE cars I've ever driven, it's been easy. A/C? Sure, just reach over WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ROAD and make the adjustments by touch. No way to do that in my computer on wheels.

(btw, I fully expect there will be many crash descriptions of seniors taking their eyes off the road too long and crashing into some innocent car, guard rail at the edge of a cliff, or oncoming fully loaded semi.)

Or, say you want to flip on the windshield wipers to wash off a bug flattened right in your line of vision. If you’re like me, you’ll have to pull over to the side of the road and browse through the logical decision tree on the touch screen (that saves a lot of weight, I’m sure) before you can home in, minutes later, on the part of the algorithm that gives you several choices for windshield wiper activation.

This retired aerospace engineer, who helped design the control system of the GPS satellite decades ago, longs for the simplicity of an old ICE car! Same for my wife, who refuses to drive the M3 because it is “Too complicated.”

Elon! Here’s a demographic that you might not reach until you design a simple ecar: The really senior cohort that really doesn’t need 0 – 60 in 3 seconds. (I tried to think of a name for a senior-appropriate Tesla that could be added to the S3XY lineup, but I nodded off. Maybe after my nap.)

I call bullshit. If you're too old to understand how to drive your Tesla, you're too old to drive, period. The AC can be controlled by voice command. Just press the right hand steering wheel button and say "Enable Climate" in a loud voice and the car will do that without you even looking at the screen. The open glovebox button is clearly visible near the bottom of the screen on the first menu screen that comes up. Why you would open the glove box while driving is a bit of a mystery and supports the idea that you might be of an age where your driving license should be revoked. The car for you will be the full self-driving Tesla when that becomes available in 2023 or thereabouts. The voice commands can be used to control anything you might want to do while driving. You can control the speed of the airconditioner fan, the speed of the windshield wipers, and the windscreen defogger by voice commands. In a new obsolete car (aka not a Tesla), you would have to learn where all the dozens of control buttons and knobs are and what they do. IMHO, that is a far more cognitively challenging job than flipping through the screens of your Tesla to find what you want to do while driving or reading your on-screen manual to find out what voice commands are available to relieve you of the need to look at your screen while driving. With autopilot, you can set your maximum speed and following distance so you never even have to look at your the screen for your speedometer reading, and you can even look around without worrying about the car ahead of you stopping suddenly while you're not looking straight ahead.
 
I am 77 years old. I bought a Tesla with having never sat on the inside of one. After I placed my order for a Model 3, I watched YouTube on anything Tesla, printed off the car manual and studied it an hour each night as if I was in school and going to have a test. When I picked it up, the salesman did not have to show me anything. I drove 200 miles in heavy traffic in the dark and able to open the glove box for my wife with a voice command.
Every day, if I was not driving, I was sitting in the car playing with the controls to make it 'muscle memory' and not have to hesitate in performing any task while driving. I'm not a whiz at a computer, know enough about electricity to cut on lights, and flip a tripped switch, so the point is, there is nothing about a Tesla that should present a mental challenge to anyone. I would encourage those who think it is intimidating, to print out or obtain the manual, go over the controls in your driveway in the dark, print out a command sheet, and memorize the proper wording so you won't get upset when nothing happens. Confidence will make theTesla experience fun.
 
If you're concerned about it....
Why are you opening the glove box while driving?
Why are you adjusting your AC while driving?

Those are both actions you can perform when you get in the car, before you start driving.

Why would one want to change the A/C temp while driving?
Perhaps the miles left is decreasing too fast and one wants to turn off the A/C to make it possible to reach one's destination.
Perhaps one the sun has come out making it feel hotter.
Perhaps a passenger is complaining that it is too cold.
Perhaps one's memory is imperfect and one forgot to set the temp before venturing out.

Opening the glove box while driving?
Perhaps a passenger wants to get something out of the glove box.

I herewith invite others to find additional reasons.
 
I call bullshit. If you're too old to understand how to drive your Tesla, you're too old to drive, period. The AC can be controlled by voice command. Just press the right hand steering wheel button and say "Enable Climate" in a loud voice and the car will do that without you even looking at the screen. The open glovebox button is clearly visible near the bottom of the screen on the first menu screen that comes up. Why you would open the glove box while driving is a bit of a mystery and supports the idea that you might be of an age where your driving license should be revoked. The car for you will be the full self-driving Tesla when that becomes available in 2023 or thereabouts. The voice commands can be used to control anything you might want to do while driving. You can control the speed of the airconditioner fan, the speed of the windshield wipers, and the windscreen defogger by voice commands. In a new obsolete car (aka not a Tesla), you would have to learn where all the dozens of control buttons and knobs are and what they do. IMHO, that is a far more cognitively challenging job than flipping through the screens of your Tesla to find what you want to do while driving or reading your on-screen manual to find out what voice commands are available to relieve you of the need to look at your screen while driving. With autopilot, you can set your maximum speed and following distance so you never even have to look at your the screen for your speedometer reading, and you can even look around without worrying about the car ahead of you stopping suddenly while you're not looking straight ahead.

I exceedingly strongly disagree!

After reading your post, I reviewed the manual which I had to have printed out because Tesla does not provide a written manual. The index has no reference to voice commands. Surely it would help to have a list of such commands in one place.

In looking under "Overview of Climate Controls", I found four pages of text, just for adjusting the climate controls! There were descriptions of how to use the touch screen to make adjustments, but in skimming the instructions I saw nothing about voice commands. Perhaps they were buried somewhere in the text, but surely it would be helpful to have a list of voice commands in one place.

I have bought several new cars over the several decades I've been driving, but never before have I had to spend so much time studying to learn how to do simple things. If I had not printed out the manual I would not even been able to sit comfortably in an easy chair to read the manual. I haven't even attempted to keep up with updates. Surely updates could be accompanied with a list of pages to be removed and replaced - that is a common technique used to update software manuals. If additional pages need to be inserted somewhere they could be numbered with decimal points. For example, if pages need to be inserted between pages 56 and 57, the new pages could be numbered 56.1, 56.2, etc. That is a very olde technique which works quite well.
 
I am impressed with the technical acumen detailed here. It saddens me, though, because it is just one more piece of evidence to me that Tesla autos are not for the senior set (of which I am a reluctant member).

I own a Model 3 and drive it only infrequently ... especially now during the Covid-19 crimp on places to go. Now I'm sure all you young'uns out there will puzzle over how I could possibly lose some sharpness in my senior years; after all, you (and I, too, when I was a young'un) are bright, quick on your feet, sharp memory, and all the rest of the admirable characteristics of not-old humans, AND YOU'LL NEVER GIVE IN TO THE RAVAGES OF AGE, EITHER. Am I not right?

The Tesla autos have sometimes been called, with pride, "a computer on wheels." However, when I describe my M3 that way to others, it's with an inward groan. Why? It is so difficult to do anything, even simple things like open the glove box. In all the ICE cars I've ever driven, it's been easy. A/C? Sure, just reach over WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ROAD and make the adjustments by touch. No way to do that in my computer on wheels.

(btw, I fully expect there will be many crash descriptions of seniors taking their eyes off the road too long and crashing into some innocent car, guard rail at the edge of a cliff, or oncoming fully loaded semi.)

Or, say you want to flip on the windshield wipers to wash off a bug flattened right in your line of vision. If you’re like me, you’ll have to pull over to the side of the road and browse through the logical decision tree on the touch screen (that saves a lot of weight, I’m sure) before you can home in, minutes later, on the part of the algorithm that gives you several choices for windshield wiper activation.

This retired aerospace engineer, who helped design the control system of the GPS satellite decades ago, longs for the simplicity of an old ICE car! Same for my wife, who refuses to drive the M3 because it is “Too complicated.”

Elon! Here’s a demographic that you might not reach until you design a simple ecar: The really senior cohort that really doesn’t need 0 – 60 in 3 seconds. (I tried to think of a name for a senior-appropriate Tesla that could be added to the S3XY lineup, but I nodded off. Maybe after my nap.)

A car need not be designed specially for us seniors. Rather, it should be designed so that one need not spend hours studying to do even the simplest of things. Although it is easy to press the end of the turn signal to operate the washers, it is excessively time consuming to find that out.

Probably one of the reasons for the touch screen is to reduce manufacturing costs. It eliminates much of the wiring and separate individual controls with the associated assembly costs. It may be costly to write the software to make the touch screen possible, but once written, software can be reproduced at zero additional cost. Because I have written software for a wide variety of applications, including accounting, industrial control, and systems, I am well aware of how costly developing software is, how little it costs to copy it, and how little it costs to connect things to computers.
 
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I exceedingly strongly disagree!

After reading your post, I reviewed the manual which I had to have printed out because Tesla does not provide a written manual. The index has no reference to voice commands. Surely it would help to have a list of such commands in one place.

In looking under "Overview of Climate Controls", I found four pages of text, just for adjusting the climate controls! There were descriptions of how to use the touch screen to make adjustments, but in skimming the instructions I saw nothing about voice commands. Perhaps they were buried somewhere in the text, but surely it would be helpful to have a list of voice commands in one place.

I have bought several new cars over the several decades I've been driving, but never before have I had to spend so much time studying to learn how to do simple things. If I had not printed out the manual I would not even been able to sit comfortably in an easy chair to read the manual. I haven't even attempted to keep up with updates. Surely updates could be accompanied with a list of pages to be removed and replaced - that is a common technique used to update software manuals. If additional pages need to be inserted somewhere they could be numbered with decimal points. For example, if pages need to be inserted between pages 56 and 57, the new pages could be numbered 56.1, 56.2, etc. That is a very olde technique which works quite well.
Freo you are right about having to print out a manual. There are some who advertise they will 'sell you a manual'. And you are correct the manual will change with each update that comes on the car. I did print off a command sheet, but for the life of me I can't remember if I got it off the YOUTUBE site, or it was put on by one of the Tesla Clubs. Maybe if someone knows they will post, because it is just as important as the manual to have.
 
I am 70 and my Model 3 has over 46,000 in just under 16 months. I did pay extra for the red paint because it is a great color. I too use voice commands to do most of the adjustments I might need to do including opening the glove box. I can do it while driving so that my wife can get her earrings out of the glove box to change them. A very good thing that we use a lot is the dog mode. I drove a Prius for 11 years and many times had to leave the dog home because it was either too hot or too cold to leave him alone in the car. With dog mode it doesn't matter what the outside temperature is because I can set the temperature once and just actuate it before I leave the car.
 
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Using the screen while driving is NOT safe. Distracted driving kills more people in North America than DUI now. Obviously autopilot reduces (but does not eliminate) the risk of driving distracted. There is a reason the car nags you to pay attention when AP is engaged. Manual controls you are muscle memory familiar with are statistically safer, regardless of how advanced the Model 3 may be. Not to mention more efficient and faster, which is another nice perk. Source: Touch Screens Are Distracting Drivers. What Are Carmakers Doing To Help?
I do not need a lecture on what’s safe, and what’s not safe. I’m not a 17 year old.
And yes, I’m very well aware of the dangers of distracted driving.
“There is a reason the car nags you to pay attention when AP is engaged.”
Really! I never would have guessed it! Seriously!

Apart from the fact that I’ve NEVER had an at fault accident and don’t intend to start now, and almost never had ANY accident (though was unavoidably rear ended whilst stationary 20 odd years ago), I made the point that the Model 3 with it’s GUI and smarts is safer for daily driving than my 6 year old Jeep with its multiple knobs, buttons and switches, and yes, a touch screen. I can do almost everything I need on the 3 by voice, and if I absolutely need to use the screen, which is very rare, AND very brief, I pick a safe piece of road AND use autopilot, or wait until I’m stopped. In any event I’m not delving deep into menus or taking eyes off the road for more than a few seconds.
(BTW I also happen to have 30k hours of flying heavy jets as well, and know a fair bit about when and where to adjust controls, and when and where to pay attention.)

If you’re making the point about the numerous other cars with touch screens, just like my 2014 Jeep, but few or none of the safety features of the Model 3 including autopilot then you certainly have a point.
Cya
 
I am impressed with the technical acumen detailed here. It saddens me, though, because it is just one more piece of evidence to me that Tesla autos are not for the senior set (of which I am a reluctant member).

I own a Model 3 and drive it only infrequently ... especially now during the Covid-19 crimp on places to go. Now I'm sure all you young'uns out there will puzzle over how I could possibly lose some sharpness in my senior years; after all, you (and I, too, when I was a young'un) are bright, quick on your feet, sharp memory, and all the rest of the admirable characteristics of not-old humans, AND YOU'LL NEVER GIVE IN TO THE RAVAGES OF AGE, EITHER. Am I not right?

The Tesla autos have sometimes been called, with pride, "a computer on wheels." However, when I describe my M3 that way to others, it's with an inward groan. Why? It is so difficult to do anything, even simple things like open the glove box. In all the ICE cars I've ever driven, it's been easy. A/C? Sure, just reach over WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ROAD and make the adjustments by touch. No way to do that in my computer on wheels.

(btw, I fully expect there will be many crash descriptions of seniors taking their eyes off the road too long and crashing into some innocent car, guard rail at the edge of a cliff, or oncoming fully loaded semi.)

Or, say you want to flip on the windshield wipers to wash off a bug flattened right in your line of vision. If you’re like me, you’ll have to pull over to the side of the road and browse through the logical decision tree on the touch screen (that saves a lot of weight, I’m sure) before you can home in, minutes later, on the part of the algorithm that gives you several choices for windshield wiper activation.

This retired aerospace engineer, who helped design the control system of the GPS satellite decades ago, longs for the simplicity of an old ICE car! Same for my wife, who refuses to drive the M3 because it is “Too complicated.”

Elon! Here’s a demographic that you might not reach until you design a simple ecar: The really senior cohort that really doesn’t need 0 – 60 in 3 seconds. (I tried to think of a name for a senior-appropriate Tesla that could be added to the S3XY lineup, but I nodded off. Maybe after my nap.)

This is my approach, push the right hand wheel on the steering wheel and tell it what you want to do. they added voice commands a while back and it's not perfect but it does pretty well. I too have a technical background for 36 yrs and now have trouble remembering where things are hidden. Push the button and say "open glovebox" viola it happens. You can adjust temperature, cruise control (I think) and probably wipers although, the left lever on the steering wheel has a button on the end that will make the wipers hit 2 swipes, hold it in for wash, that will take care of the bug problem. I love autopilot because it keeps me solidly in the lanes and watches for cars when changing lanes, but you still have to pay attention. Good Luck, I love my M3 and try to find places to go so I can drive it!
 
I do not need a lecture on what’s safe, and what’s not safe. I’m not a 17 year old.
And yes, I’m very well aware of the dangers of distracted driving.
“There is a reason the car nags you to pay attention when AP is engaged.”
Really! I never would have guessed it! Seriously!

Apart from the fact that I’ve NEVER had an at fault accident and don’t intend to start now, and almost never had ANY accident (though was unavoidably rear ended whilst stationary 20 odd years ago), I made the point that the Model 3 with it’s GUI and smarts is safer for daily driving than my 6 year old Jeep with its multiple knobs, buttons and switches, and yes, a touch screen. I can do almost everything I need on the 3 by voice, and if I absolutely need to use the screen, which is very rare, AND very brief, I pick a safe piece of road AND use autopilot, or wait until I’m stopped. In any event I’m not delving deep into menus or taking eyes off the road for more than a few seconds.
(BTW I also happen to have 30k hours of flying heavy jets as well, and know a fair bit about when and where to adjust controls, and when and where to pay attention.)

If you’re making the point about the numerous other cars with touch screens, just like my 2014 Jeep, but few or none of the safety features of the Model 3 including autopilot then you certainly have a point.
Cya
Okay old man, clearly your purely anecdotal "evidence" of never having been in a collision supercedes decades of research. Classic boomer mindset "sure I drink and drive, but I have never been in a crash and therefore it is safe to do so, don't lecture me because I'm old". That's your argument deflected back at you. A 2014 Chrysler has physical knobs to use as well as the screen. If you can't manage to figure out how to use the physical options by memory that's on you.
 
In response to WattBeatsGas regarding seniors driving Tesla 3, I am in the same boat. There is a lot of issues related to seniors. You can overcome most of your frustrations by using the voice command. All you have to do is to push the right wheel button on the starring wheel and tell the car what you want.

2 years of safe driving in my M3, and I had to double check one answer on here. I googled Tesla voice commands- there really are 168! "We don't need no stinkin buttons". Any adjustment you need- just push the right wheel, and ASK.
 
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Why would one want to change the A/C temp while driving?
Perhaps the miles left is decreasing too fast and one wants to turn off the A/C to make it possible to reach one's destination.
Perhaps one the sun has come out making it feel hotter.
Perhaps a passenger is complaining that it is too cold.
Perhaps one's memory is imperfect and one forgot to set the temp before venturing out.

Opening the glove box while driving?
Perhaps a passenger wants to get something out of the glove box.

I herewith invite others to find additional reasons.
Your example is silly, if the passenger wants to open the glove box they can just touch the on screen button. You must be like 1:100,000,000 that is always in their glovebox. WTH.
 
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I am impressed with the technical acumen detailed here. It saddens me, though, because it is just one more piece of evidence to me that Tesla autos are not for the senior set (of which I am a reluctant member).

I own a Model 3 and drive it only infrequently ... especially now during the Covid-19 crimp on places to go. Now I'm sure all you young'uns out there will puzzle over how I could possibly lose some sharpness in my senior years; after all, you (and I, too, when I was a young'un) are bright, quick on your feet, sharp memory, and all the rest of the admirable characteristics of not-old humans, AND YOU'LL NEVER GIVE IN TO THE RAVAGES OF AGE, EITHER. Am I not right?

The Tesla autos have sometimes been called, with pride, "a computer on wheels." However, when I describe my M3 that way to others, it's with an inward groan. Why? It is so difficult to do anything, even simple things like open the glove box. In all the ICE cars I've ever driven, it's been easy. A/C? Sure, just reach over WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE MY EYES OFF THE ROAD and make the adjustments by touch. No way to do that in my computer on wheels.

(btw, I fully expect there will be many crash descriptions of seniors taking their eyes off the road too long and crashing into some innocent car, guard rail at the edge of a cliff, or oncoming fully loaded semi.)

Or, say you want to flip on the windshield wipers to wash off a bug flattened right in your line of vision. If you’re like me, you’ll have to pull over to the side of the road and browse through the logical decision tree on the touch screen (that saves a lot of weight, I’m sure) before you can home in, minutes later, on the part of the algorithm that gives you several choices for windshield wiper activation.

This retired aerospace engineer, who helped design the control system of the GPS satellite decades ago, longs for the simplicity of an old ICE car! Same for my wife, who refuses to drive the M3 because it is “Too complicated.”

Elon! Here’s a demographic that you might not reach until you design a simple ecar: The really senior cohort that really doesn’t need 0 – 60 in 3 seconds. (I tried to think of a name for a senior-appropriate Tesla that could be added to the S3XY lineup, but I nodded off. Maybe after my nap.)