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

[zroger73]

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.

In nine months and 13,000 miles of ownership...

With two, temporary exceptions, my automatic wipers have worked as well or better than those on vehicles I've owned with dedicated optical rain sensors. The first exception was when there were water spots on the windshield after a hand wash. The auto wipers kept wiping when the windshield was dry when light shined on it. The second exception was after one of the 2023.44.30.x releases when the auto wipers would not turn on in light rain or mist. The resolved in the next update. Outside of those two temporary exceptions, my MY's auto wipers have worked perfectly.

On delivery day, I set the cabin temp to 22ºC and haven't changed it. On one cold, wet day, I did have to manually choose defog for a few minutes. The seat and steering wheel heaters come on when I would normally turn them on when it is below 15ºC. I have not yet had to turn either of them on manually.

I have not had any issues with the automatic headlights or automatic high beams. The headlights come on when it gets dark, dim when there is traffic ahead, and turn off when it gets light. I have no yet encountered a situation where I needed to manually turn on or dim the headlights.

I don't have auto gear select, so I can't comment on that.

Auto speed limit? Now, that has been an issue for me. If the speed limit in the map database is wrong and the vehicle hasn't, can't, or didn't see a speed limit sign, I might be stuck having to accelerate manually or drive below the posted speed limit for miles.

 

[sleepydoc]

With two, temporary exceptions, my automatic wipers have worked as well or better than those on vehicles I've owned with dedicated optical rain sensors.

Not only does your experience not match anyone else who's used Tesla's 'auto' wipers, it doesn't match anyone who's used auto wipers on any car. I've never had a car with auto wipers that were better than passable, Tesla or otherwise, and certainly never had a car that came anywhere near having a system that I never had to adjust. If nothing else, I need to clear the salt spray off in the winter. If you don't believe me simply do a search for 'Tesla dry wipes' or 'Tesla auto wiper problem'

On delivery day, I set the cabin temp to 22ºC and haven't changed it. On one cold, wet day, I did have to manually choose defog for a few minutes. The seat and steering wheel heaters come on when I would normally turn them on when it is below 15ºC. I have not yet had to turn either of them on manually.

I need to change my temp on a regular basis, especially in the summer, when the direction of the sun plays a significant roll in how the car feels. I also need to turn on the defroster on a regular basis in the fall, winter and spring. Likewise I will routinely need to turn the seat heaters off because I get too warm and they're wasting energy. Now, living in Texas you probably don't get much cold weather that really requires a defroster or seat heater so that may play a roll and a mediocre 'automatic' system may be perfectly adequate for you.

I have not had any issues with the automatic headlights or automatic high beams.

The auto headlights probably work the best of all the systems but I routinely have days where it's light enough outside so they don't turn on but it's foggy, rainy or snowy. MN state law requires headlights to be on in inclement weather (apart from it being common sense) so I have to manually turn them on. Of course, this requires me taking my eyes off of the road and fiddling with the screen during cloudy, rainy or snowy conditions - precisely when you don't want to spend more time looking down.

Problems with the auto-high beams in Teslas are legend, too. (do a search for 'disco high beams.') Fortunately that issue has improved with recent releases but prior to this I would routinely need to turn the auto high beams off because oncoming drivers would get annoyed by my car flashing them.

Auto speed limit? Now, that has been an issue for me. If the speed limit in the map database is wrong and the vehicle hasn't, can't, or didn't see a speed limit sign, I might be stuck having to accelerate manually or drive below the posted speed limit for miles.

Fortunately this actually has a manual control and one can adjust it by rolling the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel. I primarily included it as another example of how 'auto' was far from perfect.

 

[Tronguy]

Funny thing: I've been tootling around with 2023.44.30.8 and 11.4.9 for a couple of weeks now, in rain, now snow.

The wipers have been working. No problems. No dry wipes.

I do get the impression from around here that the wipers are working for some people and not for others. But it's not a universal disaster.. as some would have it.

 

[zroger73]

Fortunately this actually has a manual control and one can adjust it by rolling the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel. I primarily included it as another example of how 'auto' was far from perfect.

My vehicle will not allow me to set the speed more than 5 MPH above what the vehicle thinks the speed limit is. Example: There's a 70 MPH stretch of road near me. The speed limit in the map database used by Tesla is 45 MPH. I cannot set AP above 50 MPH in this area until the vehicle sees a 70 MPH speed limit sign. If there's a tall vehicle like a truck to my right preventing my vehicle from seeing this sign, the incorrect speed limit will continue farther down the road.

 

[Zythryn]

Not only does your experience not match anyone else who's used Tesla's 'auto' wipers, it doesn't match anyone who's used auto wipers on any car.

The use of absolutes is generally a bad choice if you want your position to be thoughtfully considered.
Their experience matches this member of the “anyone” group, with most cars I have had.
Likewise, the auto temp setting has worked very well for us as well.

People that don’t have issues tend not to post about it. People that are having issues are far more likely to post about it. As such, it is not surprising that you got the impression that this is a universal issue.
But that may not be the case, just because you don’t read about good results.

 

[sleepydoc]

Funny thing: I've been tootling around with 2023.44.30.8 and 11.4.9 for a couple of weeks now, in rain, now snow.

The wipers have been working. No problems. No dry wipes.

I do get the impression from around here that the wipers are working for some people and not for others. But it's not a universal disaster.. as some would have it.

For most people the auto wipers were an absolute disaster for a few months, enough that Elon actually commented on it. They were bad enough that someone who said they did't have issues was met with utter incredulity, even from people who recognize the variability among Tesla experiences. Fortunately one of the more recent updates seems to have fixed the issues. I'm on the same version as you and it have noticed a huge difference with the last update. Prior to this it was bad enough that I frequently had to turn off FSD just so I could turn off the auto wipers.

The use of absolutes is generally a bad choice if you want your position to be thoughtfully considered.
Their experience matches this member of the “anyone” group, with most cars I have had.
Likewise, the auto temp setting has worked very well for us as well.

People that don’t have issues tend not to post about it. People that are having issues are far more likely to post about it. As such, it is not surprising that you got the impression that this is a universal issue.
But that may not be the case, just because you don’t read about good results.

While I don't disagree with your position in general, I have yet to talk to anyone driving any car, of any make who has found their auto wipers to be perfect. My previous car was a 2017 Audi A4. The auto wipers on it were about the best I've used and were still far from perfect, so in this case I think an absolute statement was warranted/reasonable.

As far as Tesla goes, see my comment to Tronguy above - some of the recent software versions were truly awful when it came to the wipers, even accounting for the negative forum posting bias you describe.

The thing is, your point actually proves my point - that 'auto' settings aren't absolutely perfect and therefore don't obviate the need for a good interface.

 

[sleepydoc]

My vehicle will not allow me to set the speed more than 5 MPH above what the vehicle thinks the speed limit is. Example: There's a 70 MPH stretch of road near me. The speed limit in the map database used by Tesla is 45 MPH. I cannot set AP above 50 MPH in this area until the vehicle sees a 70 MPH speed limit sign. If there's a tall vehicle like a truck to my right preventing my vehicle from seeing this sign, the incorrect speed limit will continue farther down the road.

What software version do you have? Is this on TACC, AP or FSD? Or all of the above? Mine has a setting that will let you automatically select xx MPH above the limit but you can still use the scroll wheel to change that. There are some times with it gives a 'speed limited for road type' message, or something to that effect, but those have been pretty rare, IME.

 

[zroger73]

What software version do you have? Is this on TACC, AP or FSD? Or all of the above? Mine has a setting that will let you automatically select xx MPH above the limit but you can still use the scroll wheel to change that. There are some times with it gives a 'speed limited for road type' message, or something to that effect, but those have been pretty rare, IME.

All software versions from the 2022.x that my '23 MY came with all the way up to 2023.44.30.8 today. FSDb did not have this limitation, but AP does. I have never tried just TACC.

 

[sleepydoc]

All software versions from the 2022.x that my '23 MY came with all the way up to 2023.44.30.8 today. FSDb did not have this limitation, but AP does. I have never tried just TACC.

I've used TACC and FSD pretty much exclusively for the last 12-18 months. I haven't used plain AP in quite some time so I'll have to disable FSD and try it to see if it behaves differently. I can't think of anything off hand but have you looked through the settings to see if there's something causing it?

 

[zoomer0056]

TACC, AP or FSD?

TACC is one feature of AP. Many people say AP when they mean Autosteer.

 

[Midpack]

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.

Incredible. Who has even said any feature works perfectly? Red herring…

I’ve found the auto features work well far more often than not, some better than others. I have yet to have an issue with auto cabin temp, seat heaters, headlights or speed limit. Actually wipers have been OK, though I’m aware there are circumstance they don’t work very well, like every other car I’ve owned with rain sensing wipers. No one expects perfect, don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. At least with Tesla software updates features might improve, I’ve never had another car that improved…

 

[laservet]

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!

“Turn off seat heater.” “My ass is hot.” No need to look at the screen.

 

[dgpcolorado]

“Turn off seat heater.” “My ass is hot.” No need to look at the screen.

I often use variants of those commands. "Set passenger seat heater to medium." Turn off driver's seat heater." "Turn off steering wheel heater."

I've been using split heat in my car because my spouse gets cold more easily than I do, so my auto climate in winter is set to 65º for driver side and 70º for the passenger side. When driving alone, the car knows to ignore split climate because nobody is in the passenger seat.

For me, the most critical voice command is "Defogger on." With two of us, plus snow tracked in on the floor mats, and freezing temperatures outside, the windshield fogs at times. Using the voice command is easy and there is no need to fuss with the screen. Another command I use a lot is "turn climate off." Again, no need to look at the screen. One day my spouse had cold feet so I was able to just say "passenger's feet are cold" and climate control adjusted to blow heat on her feet. Easier than having her adjust the climate controls.

Over the years I've become a fan of the Tesla voice commands.

 

[zroger73]

I've used TACC and FSD pretty much exclusively for the last 12-18 months. I haven't used plain AP in quite some time so I'll have to disable FSD and try it to see if it behaves differently. I can't think of anything off hand but have you looked through the settings to see if there's something causing it?

This afternoon, I verified that TACC will let me set any speed, but AS limits speed to 5 MPH above what the vehicle thinks the speed limit is.

 

[sleepydoc]

This afternoon, I verified that TACC will let me set any speed, but AS limits speed to 5 MPH above what the vehicle thinks the speed limit is.

So if you steer yourself you can go as fast as you want but if Tesla’s doing the steering nanny mode kicks in!

 

[patmurphey]

...For me, the most critical voice command is "Defogger on." With two of us, plus snow tracked in on the floor mats, and freezing temperatures outside, the windshield fogs at times. Using the voice command is easy and there is no need to fuss with the screen...

You can also program defrost to the left steering wheel button...

I'll have to check the list in controls in the car to see if you can just defog with the button.

 

[sleepydoc]

Incredible. Who has even said any feature works perfectly? Red herring…

It’s not a red herring at all. The argument was that the Auto setting eliminated the need to use the touch screen and therefore any concerns with the usability of the touchscreen were irrelevant. For this argument to hold the Auto setting need to be near-perfect. I’ve shown how none of the auto settings are anywhere near perfect thus the argument fails.

Just a few hours ago I had to turn the fan down because the cabin temp was fine, I just didn’t want the cool air blowing in my face. Did the auto setting fail there? Yes - because it still required me to use the controls which is the metric of interest here.

“Turn off seat heater.” “My ass is hot.” No need to look at the screen.

do I really need to enumerate tall the ways voice commands fail yet again?

Over the years I've become a fan of the Tesla voice commands.

I use them fairly regularly and agree that Tesla’s implementation is better than pretty much any other car’s system I‘ve used but they’re far from perfect. Yesterday I tried to use a voice command (I think to turn on my seat heater) and it set the cabin temperature to ‘Lo.’ Later on in the same trip it completely failed and wouldn’t do a thing. My wife drives my car only occasionally and hasn’t learned all the voice commands - for her the interface Is critical.

 

[sleepydoc]

You can also program defrost to the left steering wheel button...

I'll have to check the list in controls in the car to see if you can just defog with the button.

It’s a bit ironic - people are trying to argue that we don’t need physical controls yet Tesla themselves implicitly admits we do by allowing us to add a function to a physical button!

 

[drtimhill]

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.


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.

Auot wipers work fine for me after the latest fix. Auto headlights are good enough to leave on all the time and pretty much forget about.

Are YOU always right? If not, then aren't you are bad as these items, by your own logic?

NOTHING is always right. I find voice commands work 90% of the time and that means 90% of the time I dont need to worry about buttons OR the touch screen. Oh, and if it gets it wrong, I just say it again. Doesnt sound too hard to me.

 

[sleepydoc]

Are YOU always right? If not, then aren't you are bad as these items, by your own logic?

Um….not following your logic here. See my post above. How often I’m right is irrelevant to the argument.