Spaceship like controls... hint from Model 3 Design sketches?

[Garlan Garner]

In a tip to pilots, I imagine they in general have vastly superior hand-eye and hand-brain abilities than the average car driver, let alone the bottom decile. Easy for a pilot may be anything but for the driver population.

Pilots have more recovery time when making a mistake. When a pilot makes a mistake.....they rarely crash into anything because there is nothing to crash into. ALSO...they have auto pilot. hmmm "did I just say that"?

 

[jnuyens]

On the lowres release candidate video, the steering wheel is visible enough to see it isn't cut at the top.
Video of Tesla Model 3 Release Candidate revealed by Elon Musk

 

[strykeroz]

His comments on the controls early on are so open to interpretation. Space ships have very few controls (lots of indicators) and no windscreen.

Soyuz TMA-M dashboard. Source: Один день из жизни космонавта – Naked Science

Or am I taking this all too literally?

 

[qwertzy]

When the steering wheel is turning itself shouldn't the buttons stay in one place, so maybe in the middle portion will be the area with all the buttons and will stay permenetley centered.

 

[EV-lutioin]

When the steering wheel is turning itself shouldn't the buttons stay in one place, so maybe in the middle portion will be the area with all the buttons and will stay permenetley centered.

Yes, everybody is focused on HUD (which Musk just confirmed will not be on the M3), but to me spaceship-like controls means there will be information ON the steering wheel itself. After all, what information is absolutely necessary directly in front of the driver other than speed? Notice how the Chevy Bolt only provides speed and range. Range could easily be put on the center screen and speed could be a tiny screen on the steering wheel.

 

[MTN Ranger]

Yes, everybody is focused on HUD (which Musk just confirmed will not be on the M3), but to me spaceship-like controls means there will be information ON the steering wheel itself. After all, what information is absolutely necessary directly in front of the driver other than speed? Notice how the Chevy Bolt only provides speed and range. Range could easily be put on the center screen and speed could be a tiny screen on the steering wheel.

View attachment 219889

I see a lot more than speed and range. I see whether the doors are open/closed, driving gear status, odometer, power info, energy use/efficiency, trip info, parking/headlight status, alert lights, seat belt lights, etc. By missing the main driver info like this, I feel Tesla is making a big mistake.

 

[lunitiks]

At least there are cup holders

 

[lunitiks]

I see a lot more than speed and range. I see whether the doors are open/closed, driving gear status, odometer, power info, energy use/efficiency, trip info, parking/headlight status, alert lights, seat belt lights, etc. By missing the main driver info like this, I feel Tesla is making a big mistake.

All this, and more, will be covered in the Space Ship Steering Wheel:

• Doors open = Tubes with refrigerant makes the steering wheel freezing cold
• Driving gear status = Steering wheel rattles in P, shakes in R and twists in N
• Odometer = Compressed air inflates the steering wheel as your mileage increases
• Power info = The steering wheel gradually changes colour from glowing, bright green (battery full) to grey (battery near empty) to black (empty)
• Energy use/efficiency = A neon white "smiley" forms on the lower part of your steering wheel, that gets longer ("happier") as you drive more efficient
• Trip info = [Why the heck do you need that?]
• Parking light status = The left/right part of your wheel blinks respectively
• Headlight status = Beams of light propagate from the back of the wheel, onto the dash / your knees
• Alert lights and seatbelt lights = Shown in big, friendly symbols on top of the wheel
• Autopilot = Wheel lights up in Autopilot Blue

Simple.

 

[Lobstahz]

I'm get a much more "space ship" like vibe out of Audi recently.

Audi can do it Tesla, why can't you? I really REALLY want to like the Model 3, but if the lack of driver information in front of the driver makes it to production I'm going to have a really hard time with it.

 

[dsvick]

Yes, everybody is focused on HUD (which Musk just confirmed will not be on the M3), but to me spaceship-like controls means there will be information ON the steering wheel itself. After all, what information is absolutely necessary directly in front of the driver other than speed? Notice how the Chevy Bolt only provides speed and range. Range could easily be put on the center screen and speed could be a tiny screen on the steering wheel.

View attachment 219889

Putting information on the steering wheel would be a horrible idea if you want people to be able to quickly reference it. The change in focal point from looking out the windshield to then looking down at a spot less than a foot away from your chest would be huge, much more than a regular dashboard or even the screen on the side.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I think what many of you are talking about falls into what Elon would call a "weirdmobile", which he explicitly stated he will not build. Given that, i expect no side stick for certain and find it extremely unlikely to have a cut steering wheel. Design drawings like these really need to be taken with a grain of salt and i think many of you are putting too much stock in them.

And then Elon went and built the Model X.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I think that what shouldn't happen is to wonder what kind of spaceship steering wheel will be in the Model 3.

I think a spaceship steering wheel is an alternative fact.

 

[agloutney]

Side stick would be nice, but I don't think most people are ready for that and it would be pretty complex to setup a drive by wire system and two backup modes for redundancy.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I see a lot more than speed and range. I see whether the doors are open/closed, driving gear status, odometer, power info, energy use/efficiency, trip info, parking/headlight status, alert lights, seat belt lights, etc. By missing the main driver info like this, I feel Tesla is making a big mistake.

That stuff seems superfluous to me. Currently, you have to push a button to see the odometer on a Tesla and it gives you a chime if your doors are open or seat belts are unbuckled. Power info is something you can glance at from time to time. This all reminds me of when Apple removed the DVD drive and headphone jack and everyone freaked out.. change is hard.