Seniors wishing the glovebox had a physical button to open

[moar100]

Tesla is a company that looks 10-15 years in the future. Making a car with additional features just for seniors who may be dead in 10-15 years isn't a great use of company resources. Pitch to the current 18-40 year olds and grow the product to them is far more efficient than making a product fit for purpose for 50-70 year olds and then make that product obsolete.

 

[SVMike]

Tesla is a company that looks 10-15 years in the future. Making a car with additional features just for seniors who may be dead in 10-15 years isn't a great use of company resources. Pitch to the current 18-40 year olds and grow the product to them is far more efficient than making a product fit for purpose for 50-70 year olds and then make that product obsolete.

This is a silly way to look at it.
In 10-15 years people who are currently 35-40 will encounter presbyopia.

 

[drtimhill]

Tesla is a company that looks 10-15 years in the future. Making a car with additional features just for seniors who may be dead in 10-15 years isn't a great use of company resources. Pitch to the current 18-40 year olds and grow the product to them is far more efficient than making a product fit for purpose for 50-70 year olds and then make that product obsolete.

I can guess which group YOU are in

 

[FRE0]

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.)

From all the questions on this site it is inescapably clear that it is not only we seniors who find the excessive elecronification and computerization difficult to use. Even when you do know the voice command the system does not always respond. For example, it has trouble with the "f" sound; it doesn't hear it unless it is strongly emphasized. That makes it difficult to set the fan speed. Just yesterday I was trying to control the heat for the driver's seat only. I never did find a way to do it without also controlling the heat for the passenger seat too thereby wasting battery power.

Those of us with presbyopia have trouble with the touch screen unless we have bifocals. Surely the type size could be increased.

Tesla also assumes that everyone has a smart phone. I intend to keep my flip phone; it is small and fits easily into my pocket which is nice for hiking and bicycle riding. But without a smart phone it is impossible to sound the horn remotely to expedite finding the car in a parking lot. One would think that the EXTRA COST key fob would have a horn function, but it does not.

The 3.2 seconds from 0 to 60 is handy if one finds one's self in the wrong lane while approaching an exit. It makes it possible to change lanes before getting to close to the exit ramp.

 

[FRE0]

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.

Yes, that usually works, but it requires spending considerable time studying and memorizing many commands. Probably the real reason for that system is that it costs less than having hand controls with their associated wiring.

 

[FRE0]

I didnt read whatever original thread this post was in before the mods created this new thread for the OP. I understand some of the OPs concerns but as was likely said a million times (based on the couple responses I see in this thread at least) many of them are likely circumvented by using voice command which is even better than "quickly reaching over and blah blah blah".

I would say to the OP of this thread, take a few minutes and try voice commands. They work better in this car than other cars I have had that had voice commands,. OP may not know all the things you can command that way, but, for example, you can:

Open the glovebox
Change the AC temperature
Turn on and off the wipers, and change modes of said wipers
Perform navigation ("navigate home", or "navigate to (address)" or "Where is the closest Home depot" all work)

There are more. I do agree that the tablet interface can be confusing for some, but the voice commands are WORLDS better than when I took delivery of my car in december of 2018.

It would be just as easy to teach a senior to push a button on the steering wheel and say "Navigate to the closest iHop" than it would be to teach them to use the navigation system in just about ANY other vehicle (most older people have no interest in using navigation in an ICE car because its too hard to understand what to do).

The glove box specifically is a specific case. I store my Charging adapter in there so I need to open the glove compartment whenever I want to charge at a regular non tesla charging location (of which my workplace is one). I sometimes forget to open it when I pull into the parking spot with the outlet at work, and its faster for me to use voice commands to open the glove compartment than use the tablet to get to the "open glove compartment" command.

The root complaint, though "the car is intimidating to seniors" I can see that.. although my mom (who is 73) spends all day poking around at her iPad, so seeing a "giant ipad" as my control unit intrigues her. She doesnt drive anymore though, so I cant get her feedback on how confusing it would be to operate on a daily basis.

But the NAVIGATE command does not always work properly although it is not the fact that it is a voice command that is the problem. "Navigate to 300 Fir Street" was recognized; it displayed properly on the screen, but it took me miles out of the way. "Navigate home" gets me to my neighborhood but then it cannot even get me close to my house. My Garmin GPS gets me where I want to go.

 

[FRE0]

This is a silly way to look at it.
In 10-15 years people who are currently 35-40 will encounter presbyopia.

RIGHT! The problem with presbyopia can begin even before 45 years old. An ironic thing about it is that we oder people are more likely to be able to afford a Tesla.

 

[jjrandorin]

But the NAVIGATE command does not always work properly although it is not the fact that it is a voice command that is the problem. "Navigate to 300 Fir Street" was recognized; it displayed properly on the screen, but it took me miles out of the way. "Navigate home" gets me to my neighborhood but then it cannot even get me close to my house. My Garmin GPS gets me where I want to go.

It always works for me, and I drive down into san diego for business. I work in Oceanside and drive down farther south many times and have never had an issue. I have seen your posts bumping various threads stating this and all I can say is, "it works fine for me, in san diego".

 

[jeremymc7]

Takes me door to door in Los Angela’s as well. Home. Work. Friends.

 

[drtimhill]

Yes, that usually works, but it requires spending considerable time studying and memorizing many commands. Probably the real reason for that system is that it costs less than having hand controls with their associated wiring.

It's less about that, and more about software upgradability. You can't add a new physical button with an over-the-air software upgrade. The same reason that the initial iPhone was such a revolution .. it ejected all but the basic buttons so it could evolve the user experience outside of hardware changes.

 

[Sans-gas]

I like my M3 and it’s buttonlessness. I knew there might be a learning curve, so I got my 1st Tesla before my 8th decade on this earth. No regrets.

 

[CyberGus]

...You can't add a new physical button with an over-the-air software upgrade. The same reason that the initial iPhone was such a revolution .. it ejected all but the basic buttons so it could evolve the user experience outside of hardware changes.

A software update cannot physically alter the controls, but existing controls can be reprogrammed. The iPhone "Home" button serves various functions, some of which are user-customizable, and the Volume buttons act as a shutter release when using the camera.

For instance, the Tesla's horn is a physical control, but it was updated to also be a "Teslacam Save" button.

 

[drtimhill]

A software update cannot physically alter the controls, but existing controls can be reprogrammed. The iPhone "Home" button serves various functions, some of which are user-customizable, and the Volume buttons act as a shutter release when using the camera.

For instance, the Tesla's horn is a physical control, but it was updated to also be a "Teslacam Save" button.

Not denying that, I just said it can't add new ones. In general though, adding "overloaded" functions to buttons is worse than a "soft" Ui using on-screen buttons (IMHO). The iPhone Home button is an anti-pattern for this, which at one point had an absurd number of functions:

-- Press to go to home screen
-- Press to go to search from home screen
-- Touch for TouchID
-- Light touch for pull-down
-- Long touch for something or other
-- Double-click for something else (Siri if I recall)

imho, this kind of overloading is worse to try to figure out than a on-screen UI (assuming its reasonably well done).
(end UI rant and grin)

 

[CyberGus]

Not denying that, I just said it can't add new ones. In general though, adding "overloaded" functions to buttons is worse than a "soft" Ui using on-screen buttons (IMHO). The iPhone Home button is an anti-pattern for this, which at one point had an absurd number of functions:

-- Press to go to home screen
-- Press to go to search from home screen
-- Touch for TouchID
-- Light touch for pull-down
-- Long touch for something or other
-- Double-click for something else (Siri if I recall)

imho, this kind of overloading is worse to try to figure out than a on-screen UI (assuming its reasonably well done).
(end UI rant and grin)

Home double-click (when locked) also brings up Apple Pay. And you forgot the dreaded triple-click (usually screen zoom, magnifier, or other accessibility option).

Most of these functions are available in the UI, but the button option is there for the impatient (and dexterous).

 

[drtimhill]

Home double-click (when locked) also brings up Apple Pay. And you forgot the dreaded triple-click (usually screen zoom, magnifier, or other accessibility option).

Most of these functions are available in the UI, but the button option is there for the impatient (and dexterous).

Yes I forgot those. And I'd be ok with them being short-cuts, but I never liked it was the only way to summon Siri (how you would find this out without being told was never clear to me). Anyway, stopping now to avoid being accused of thread drift.

 

[CyberGus]

Lookie here...programmable physical buttons!

S3XY Buttons

The button free interior of your Model 3 & Y is simple, clean, and, very occasionally, a tad annoying! There's so much you can do via the screen, but sometimes, don't you wish you actually had a glovebox button? Or a button to quickly turn on all your interior lights? Well, want no more....we...

abstractocean.com

 

[jeremymc7]

Yes, there has been quite a few videos out there on YouTube lately. Tesla Raj and Dirty Tesla (preferred) come to mind.

Completely customizable, easily installed by even the most timid person, and easily reversible.

I do wonder about Tesla and warranty though. Can Tesla detect it when you take it in to service. Is this location where Tesla hooks in as well? There has been a number of forum threads about denied warranty for certain seemingly innocent 3rd party accessories being installed.

If you need something like this then you'll likely pay whatever the price. Honestly I think they're overpriced for what they are. I'll personally to waiting for a cheaper version from one of the other 3rd party accessories companies. For the cost and my needs I'm in no rush on this one.

 

[maclean525]

Tesla need to do a MUCH better job of pushing the voice recognition abilities of their cars. I do almost nothing with the touchscreen while driving, I do everything through the voice rec functions. "open glovebox" works perfectly well!

 

[jeremymc7]

Tesla need to do a MUCH better job of pushing the voice recognition abilities of their cars. I do almost nothing with the touchscreen while driving, I do everything through the voice rec functions. "open glovebox" works perfectly well!

Agreed. One helpful thing here was mentioned in the Dirty Tesla review. You could make a button to activate the voice commands. This is helpful for passengers, such as blind people, seniors, or even kids to activate the commands for seat heater, music, etc; where with a blind passenger they can't see the screen, or to not have to ask the driver when in the back seat.

 

[CyberGus]

I do wonder about Tesla and warranty though. Can Tesla detect it when you take it in to service. Is this location where Tesla hooks in as well? There has been a number of forum threads about denied warranty for certain seemingly innocent 3rd party accessories being installed.

To deny warranty coverage, they must show that your modification caused the failure. Simply having a mod does not nullify the entire warranty.