Tell me this isn't the final steering wheel

[DrivingTheFuture]

View attachment 228791

Now that I'm looking at it I can see that the trim is dark grey in color just like the first time this newer steering wheel was spotted at the party. The bright sunlight makes it almost look all black. Hey, I've always wanted to put a MOMO aftermarket wheel on one of cars, maybe this is my chance! Also, there's hope that the performance all wheel drive model 3 will have a better steering wheel.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I wonder what the international legality is of having no speedometer directly in your field of view

this has been flogged to death on multiple threads. it's legal.

 

[sparkypete]

I'm really starting to doubt I'll go for the Model 3 now. I think Tesla have just cut too much out with the design. This was their chance to make EV cars tempt us away from ICE.

The weirdmobile comments are spot on. Compromised trunk access, bland interior and I worry the trim is going to be cheap and nasty too looking at that steering wheel.

For the kind of money we'll be expected to pay here in the U.K., we can get so much more.

They would have been better off using the tooling to make Model S more affordable.

Can't risk buying a Model S now because if the Model 3 reservation holders like me bail out the whole company will be bankrupt. This gamble can only pay off if the car sells itself and makes people have to find the money to get one. I just don't feel it.

I will give them a chance to surprise me with the June/July reveal but my hope and excitement has all but gone.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Quite a few cars have central speedometers...

For example have you ever been in a mini?

And check out that baby screen in the middle surrounded by the speedometer, that's the navigation system LOL

Or how about the Ford GT see that gage mounted in the center / far right... that's the speedometer...

the old proverb about teaching a man to fish comes to mind.....teach him how to search old threads instead of us rehashing this conversation ad nauseum.

 

[Candleflame]

And continuing with my thought about the weird air vents, anyone else notice that Tesla's cars are morphing into weird mobiles?

One of the very common compliments Tesla got when the Model S was unveiled was how ordinary the car was. Sure it had gorgeous lines, but everything else about it was ordinary, which was a good thing. A normal sized front (even though it didn't need the space), a normal hatchback, normal seats inside.

Since then, we've gotten falcon wing doors, which can be very annoying. Door handles that you have to PRESS hard (and tell your friends how to open). Second row seats that don't fold flat. Weird buttons to open falcon wing doors that no one knows how to use. An all glass roof that lets in more heat than a regular roof and more glare than many people can tolerate.

Model 3 is going to continue this glorious tradition with air vents that look awful and might be impractical. A floating screen that just looks weird. Much less storage than even the tiny Chevy Bolt.

And the next car, a smaller crossover is rumored to have falcon wing doors too.

Tesla is very much in danger of losing the plot line...

you say that, but a single set of falcon wing doors to get into the Model 3 would have been really f***** sick.

 

[Garlan Garner]

you say that, but a single set of falcon wing doors to get into the Model 3 would have been really f***** sick.

Sure...for another $5- $10K per car Tesla could have done it.

 

[Candleflame]

Sure...for another $5- $10K per car Tesla could have done it.

just let me dream man.

 

[Garlan Garner]

just let me dream man.

Fair enough. Dream away.

 

[melindav]

I'm really starting to doubt I'll go for the Model 3 now. I think Tesla have just cut too much out with the design.

What has been cut since last march 31st?

 

[anticitizen13.7]

What has been cut since last march 31st?

Unsubstantiated and speculative fantasies of some reservation holders, by the look of it.

Even iPhone 8 hasn't been subject to as much speculation as Model 3.

 

[sparkypete]

What has been cut since last march 31st?

The promise that the controls in the prototype were not the final version and that the trunk access would be reworked. Also that the car would be the best car I could buy for the money.

 

[kzod]

OMG, I can't believe the gall of Elon Musk saying it would be the best car ever for $35k when it won't have the world's best ashtray. It should have every feature one could find in any possible car or truck. Very disappointed that this will merely be a better choice than an Audi, or BMW, but won't offer all the frills that one could find in a comparably priced Kia. I'm going to buy a used Lada instead and keep the money I save in my mattress.

 

[DrivingTheFuture]

I'm really starting to doubt I'll go for the Model 3 now. I think Tesla have just cut too much out with the design. This was their chance to make EV cars tempt us away from ICE.

The weirdmobile comments are spot on. Compromised trunk access, bland interior and I worry the trim is going to be cheap and nasty too looking at that steering wheel.

For the kind of money we'll be expected to pay here in the U.K., we can get so much more.

They would have been better off using the tooling to make Model S more affordable.

Can't risk buying a Model S now because if the Model 3 reservation holders like me bail out the whole company will be bankrupt. This gamble can only pay off if the car sells itself and makes people have to find the money to get one. I just don't feel it.

I will give them a chance to surprise me with the June/July reveal but my hope and excitement has all but gone.

Wow... Short the stock much?

 

[DR61]

I have a feeling I am going to like the new minimalist look of the M3 dash. Picture from the 1960's driving my 1961 Mini Cooper 997cc. Wish I had another pair of those Jim Clark driving gloves...

 

[JRP3]

Anyone concerned with a centrally located screen can do the same experiment I did. Attach a smartphone in the approximate spot of the upper left hand corner of the Model 3 screen to your existing vehicle, run a GPS speedometer app, and drive around. After a few minutes you should realize that it's actually more easily visible than having to look down between the spokes of a steering wheel at a conventional dash layout. It's simply a better design, and I was one of those people who once thought they would never buy a vehicle with a centrally mounted speedometer, or ever use a phone without physical buttons. Wrong on both points.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Here is a close-up of the steering wheel lightened up a bit.

It is not the same wheel as seen at the original launch, but it looks like the same steering wheel seen in the Tesla stadium event in the autumn of last year. It seems to be a completely new design and not based on the Mercedes Benz wheel Model S/X use. It also looks to use plastic or darker metal accents in addition to the chrome. Finally, the buttons look like a couple of rollers only, instead of the Model S/X buttons and rollers.

The stalks look the same as they have and look to be a diversion from the Mercedes Benz stalks of Model S/X again.

Of course unknown if this is the final wheel or not.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Anyone concerned with a centrally located screen can do the same experiment I did. Attach a smartphone in the approximate spot of the upper left hand corner of the Model 3 screen to your existing vehicle, run a GPS speedometer app, and drive around. After a few minutes you should realize that it's actually more easily visible than having to look down between the spokes of a steering wheel at a conventional dash layout. It's simply a better design, and I was one of those people who once thought they would never buy a vehicle with a centrally mounted speedometer, or ever use a phone without physical buttons. Wrong on both points.

What puzzles me here is, the centrally mounted speedos are generally seen on old cars, weirdmobiles and/or very cheap cars where optimization has taken that route. Also on modern cars, predominantly, the placement of the central speedo is on the dash, not in front of the dash like on Model 3 - or there is a secondary digital speedo behind the steering wheel like on the Mini Cooper.

I wonder, if a central speedo is such a great idea, why this hasn't taken hold more?

By the way, tried what JRP3 suggested on my Model X and absolutely hated it. The speedo seemed to be too close and too right. Had it been on top of the dash like on a Prius, that could have worked (but on the Model 3 it is not). Not to mention Autopilot stuff etc. being even further down.

As for Model 3, I will hold judgement on the ergonomics until I sit in one, but the preliminary sentiment is certainly that this feels like an unnecessarily risky move. Why re-invent this wheel when you have a drivetrain and fueling culture to re-invent too...

 

[JeffK]

What puzzles me here is, the centrally mounted speedos are generally seen on old cars, weirdmobiles and/or very cheap cars where optimization has taken that route. Also on modern cars, predominantly, the placement of the central speedo is on the dash, not in front of the dash like on Model 3 - or there is a secondary digital speedo behind the steering wheel like on the Mini Cooper.

I wonder, if a central speedo is such a great idea, why this hasn't taken hold more?

By the way, tried what JRP3 suggested on my Model X and absolutely hated it. The speedo seemed to be too close and too right. Had it been on top of the dash like on a Prius, that could have worked (but on the Model 3 it is not).

It might have more to do with the simplicity of modern electronics. Many instrument panels have a single connector in the back for data and power. Moving something from this central location usually adds complexity. In the past when things were wired separately it likely didn't matter as much. That's just a guess though.

 

[dhanson865]

Get a suction cup mount instead? Plenty of dash surface now to use suction cups.

You'd have to mount to the windshield or on the drivers door. There's no visible room on the dash between the steering wheel and the center screen.

 

[dhanson865]

Anyone concerned with a centrally located screen can do the same experiment I did. Attach a smartphone in the approximate spot of the upper left hand corner of the Model 3 screen to your existing vehicle, run a GPS speedometer app, and drive around. After a few minutes you should realize that it's actually more easily visible than having to look down between the spokes of a steering wheel at a conventional dash layout. It's simply a better design, and I was one of those people who once thought they would never buy a vehicle with a centrally mounted speedometer, or ever use a phone without physical buttons. Wrong on both points.

Yes now tell us where we can mount our cell phone on the dash? No front face vents to clip to, the Center screen is in the way for a dash mount. Only thing left I'm seeing is mounting the cell phone from the windshield similar to a radar detector mount but I'm not sure if that's a good place for it or if the USB charging cord will be routable in any reasonable way if you do.