Tesla Owners, Let's Talk: Touchscreen vs. Physical Buttons - What's Your Take?

[laservet]

You wouldn't want to, but what do you do if the voice command doesn't work (as it sometimes doesn't)? Or if you're driving back from the dentist and half your mouth is still frozen and your speech is slurred? What if you use an incorrect word or phrase because you haven't memorized the exact language it wants (try using voice commands to "phone mom" instead of "call mom")?

Voice commands - as the technology exists now - are an unreliable alternative. They're nice to have, but don't rely on them being available and responsive.

My initial point stands, no matter what we think of buttons, they are going away for many reasons.

1) Cost. Sandy Munro, who was in charge of parts for Ford before starting Munro and Associates, said just managing an individual part cost the car company ~ $25k per year in addition to the cost of buying it from a supplier. But it isn't just the button, it needs a switch of some type to activate, and needs the wiring harness to extend to the button area. I just checked my wife's SUV, it has 59 buttons, 9 wheels or dials, and 4 stalks. Since each button is different from all the others, that is almost $1.5 million per year just to manage that inventory. Let's say between a button and the switch and wiring each button costs the manufacturer $10, that's an additional $590 in parts per vehicle. Plus the labor to install the parts, switches, wiring.

2) Complexity. More to go wrong, lots more potential points of failure. And more parts to stock for repairs.

3) Flexibility. Locking a function into a physical button, instead of a voice command or a selection on the screen, limits what can be changed or added to that function.

4) Future. The confluence of two disruptive technologies, EVs and autonomy, will eventually result in robotaxis. No buttons, no pedals, no steering wheel. That's the direction the industry is headed, buttons are being shed on the journey. Look at the dashboards of the new EV manufacturers and compare to the EVs made by legacy automakers. New EV companies, few or no buttons, a la Tesla. The cars that still have buttons are the EVs made by the legacy automakers, a holdover of old thinking, workers to employ installing buttons, a stockpile of buttons in inventory to use, and contracts with button suppliers to honor.

5) Impression. In China, the largest auto market in the world and the largest EV market in the world (60% of all EVs sold, over 90 EV manufacturers), car buyers see buttons as old fashioned, and infer that the software and the rest of the car is old fashioned and out of date. Legacy automakers who ruled the Chinese market not long ago are getting killed there now, nobody wants "old fashioned" cars any more.

 

[3sr+buyer]

It‘s been at least 15 years since I’ve owned any car where leaving the lights on AUTO isn’t perfectly satisfactory 98% of the time, daytime/night/brights. So I would never use a voice command to “turn on headlights” - one on your list

Automatic headlights generally work fine. The one instance they did not was the period of time when Tesla software did not enable automatically turning on headlights when the wipers were on (fixed recently). During that period of time, it was necessary to turn on the headlights manually, and the voice commands did not work for that.

 

[sleepydoc]

So today I was driving with FSD engaged and wanted to turn off the seat heater. I looked down at the screen long enough to turn it off and I got a “pay attention to the road!” warning.

There you go - even Tesla proves that a touchscreen is distracting!

 

[SDRick]

Not only is it distracting to find the right area to press on the screen when driving but it sometimes takes two or three attempts for the screen to recognize the input.

Does anyone have 100% success touching the screen only one time?

 

[drtimhill]

Does anyone have 100% success touching the screen only one time?

Does anyone have 100% success at ANYTHING ?

 

[sleepydoc]

Does anyone have 100% success at ANYTHING ?

I can report 100% success with the turn signal. On our 2011 odyssey I have 100% success with the gear shifter, turn signal and the temp controls. Without looking.

On my model y touchscreen it’s somewhere between 25 & 50% success. That’s with me looking.

 

[SDRick]

I can report 100% success with the turn signal. On our 2011 odyssey I have 100% success with the gear shifter, turn signal and the temp controls. Without looking.

On my model y touchscreen it’s somewhere between 25 & 50% success. That’s with me looking.

That's been my experience as well. I cannot remember the last time a physical turn signal, gearshift or button failed to work the first time and every time.

Well I guess that's good to know, I am also in the 25 to 50% success rate. I thought my failure rate with the touch screen was something I was doing wrong.

 

[Thirteen20WRX]

The only thing I miss physical buttons for so far is incremental changes. Binary stuff going on/off has not been an issue so far but I usually take a couple tries and a second or two of having my eyes off the road in order to adjust temperature or fan speed to the desired level. Selector wheels like those on the steering wheel are perfect for this function (I can select the correct volume for the sound system 10/10 tries, for example). Put me firmly in the camp that believes a redundant set of HVAC controls would enhance the user experience. Another possible UI solution would be to have the HVAC settings controlled by virtual rotary dials on the touchscreen menu with haptic response…not remotely a tech guy so I have no idea what kind of hardware cost per unit would be associated with implementing something like that. I just find the sliders with no haptic response difficult to navigate.

 

[zoomer0056]

I like the 2022 MSLR UI and lack of buttons design. Just one single thing would be to make the horn easier to activate. I've improved the horn button by putting a clear raised button on top in order to use it by feel. Every other interface is easy to use. And the yoke is the best steering wheel I've ever used.

 

[Midpack]

Not only is it distracting to find the right area to press on the screen when driving but it sometimes takes two or three attempts for the screen to recognize the input.

Does anyone have 100% success touching the screen only one time?

I agree, I basically do everything using AUTO (lights, wipers, climate) and voice commands for everything else underway. I made that decision before I bought the car. Voice commands on the MY are FAR better than the Hyundai, Honda, Subaru and Toyotas I’ve owned - I was forced to use the touchscreen or buttons MORE in those cars than my Tesla, it was “distracting.” There‘s not much I can’t do with Tesla voice commands, and most of those more obscure things I can do while parked before or after my trip.

 

[patmurphey]

So today I was driving with FSD engaged and wanted to turn off the seat heater. I looked down at the screen long enough to turn it off and I got a “pay attention to the road!” warning.

There you go - even Tesla proves that a touchscreen is distracting!

Have you tried moving seat heat and steering heat to auto? It works fine modulating levels to cabin heat requirements.

 

[shahryaran]

Touch screen: 1
Physical button: 0

 

[sleepydoc]

Have you tried moving seat heat and steering heat to auto? It works fine modulating levels to cabin heat requirements.

Have you noticed how auto doesn't work 100% of the time?

Physical button: 1
Touchscreen: 0

 

[Midpack]

Have you noticed how auto doesn't work 100% of the time?

Physical button: 1
Touchscreen: 0

So if it's not perfect, it's useless (like any car is perfect)? Proof by exception...

The seat heaters and steering wheel heat can be changed with voice commands if/when AUTO isn't satisfactory.

 

[ChiefRollo]

Hey Tesla enthusiasts! We all love the sleek touchscreen of our Teslas, but do you ever miss the good old physical buttons? You know, the kind that gives you that satisfying click feedback. Sometimes, while I'm driving, I find myself longing for the simplicity of a button I can press without taking my eyes off the road.

What about you guys? When you're cruising in your Tesla, do you prefer the high-tech vibe of the touchscreen, or do you sometimes wish for the tactile feel of physical buttons? And what if there was something that could strike the perfect balance between the two?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts and experiences on this! Maybe together we can figure out what makes the ultimate driving experience.

Do you miss your BlackBerry as well? Haven’t thought of mine in years.

 

[zroger73]

Have you noticed how auto doesn't work 100% of the time?

No?

 

[drtimhill]

I can report 100% success with the turn signal. On our 2011 odyssey I have 100% success with the gear shifter, turn signal and the temp controls. Without looking.

On my model y touchscreen it’s somewhere between 25 & 50% success. That’s with me looking.

I'm not sure I'm on board with these touch screen issues. First, other cars are still festooned with buttons all over the place .. I rented a Ford as few weeks back and they were all over the place .. with mysterious symbols some of which I never did figure out. I counted 74 (really) buttons and switches all over the cabin. AND there was a touch screen.

Not sure feeling around with your fingers all over that mess is much better than the touch screen.

However, pretty much anything I need from my Tesla while driving I can get using voice commands, and it seems to me that these will ALWAYS win over any hand-operated control since (a) you dont need to take your eyes off the road, and (b) you dont need to take your hands off the wheel. And Tesla has a damn good repertoire of voice commands, far more than I've seen on any other car to date.

 

[sleepydoc]

and it seems to me that these will ALWAYS win over any hand-operated control

I’ve made numerous posts about the shortcomings of voice commands. They are a nice addition but cannot substitute for a poor interfaces. just yesterday I tried to use voice command to turn off the seat heater and instead it set the cabin temp to 'lo'

No, voice commands do not 'Always' win over a hand operated control. not only that, they frequently lose.

No?

Ok, let's go through this - auto wipers? Fail. Auto cabin temp? Fail. Auto seat heaters? Fail. Auto Headlights? Fail. Auto gear select? Fail. Auto speed limit? Fail.

I'm not saying they are always wrong, simply that they are not always right. if you say they are you either haven't been using them or you are lying.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Looks like a recent software update made it easier to change the wiper settings by feel (press the wiper button, then move the left scroll wheel left or right), a useful thing when you are not satisfied with the auto-wipe behavior (which sometimes seems like it is always one setting below where you want it to be). Auto-headlights now work well since a software update fixed the headlights-on-when-wipers-are-on functionality.

However, climate settings are a case where adjusting by feel is desirable, and is not easily done in the Tesla climate UI.

 

[sleepydoc]

I'm not sure I'm on board with these touch screen issues. First, other cars are still festooned with buttons all over the place .. I rented a Ford as few weeks back and they were all over the place .. with mysterious symbols some of which I never did figure out. I counted 74 (really) buttons and switches all over the cabin. AND there was a touch screen.

Not sure feeling around with your fingers all over that mess is much better than the touch screen.

However, pretty much anything I need from my Tesla while driving I can get using voice commands, and it seems to me that these will ALWAYS win over any hand-operated control since (a) you dont need to take your eyes off the road, and (b) you dont need to take your hands off the wheel. And Tesla has a damn good repertoire of voice commands, far more than I've seen on any other car to date.

don't mistake physical controls (or touchscreen) controls for good interface design. As I've repeatedly said. it's possible to have bad design with both and the fact that there are bad physical controls does not prove that touchscreens are better.