The Tesla dashboard design team

[Bangor Bob]

I'm just going to reiterate that I purchased two vehicles with central instrument clusters IN SPITE OF the control layouts. Not having the most common driver information (speed, remaining fuel/charge, status of headlights, turn signals) front-and-center is incredibly annoying. Current car has nearly everything in the instrument binnacle, and is worlds better to live with.

I guess at worst we can velcro an ipad behind the steering wheel with a bluetooth Canbus adapter wired to the car. Not exactly what you'd expect in a $35k car though...

 

[tga]

I'm just going to reiterate that I purchased two vehicles with central instrument clusters IN SPITE OF the control layouts. Not having the most common driver information (speed, remaining fuel/charge, status of headlights, turn signals) front-and-center is incredibly annoying. Current car has nearly everything in the instrument binnacle, and is worlds better to live with.

As a long-term (8 year) Mini driver, I can confirm this. Looking right and down vs just down is really annoying and aggravating. Until you've lived with it, it's hard to understand how much so.

Frankly, I think most of the people saying "it's fine, you don't need the dash" have (a) drunk to much Kool-aide, and (b) have no experience driving a car without one.

 

[theganjaguru]

I'm just going to reiterate that I purchased two vehicles with central instrument clusters IN SPITE OF the control layouts. Not having the most common driver information (speed, remaining fuel/charge, status of headlights, turn signals) front-and-center is incredibly annoying. Current car has nearly everything in the instrument binnacle, and is worlds better to live with.

I guess at worst we can velcro an ipad behind the steering wheel with a bluetooth Canbus adapter wired to the car. Not exactly what you'd expect in a $35k car though...

I agree!!! Will be reserving. However, really don't like having to look to the right to attain some basic info. Should be a small screen front and center or a HUD. Not a show stopper for me. The rest of the auto industry has some major catching up to do

 

[ummgood]

I used to have a 2001 Toyota Echo and I really disliked having to look over for speed as well. Plus there is something to be said for having the basic info available close in an uncluttered environment. Having the speed on the same screen with the map/other techie stuff is begging for people to get distracted. I can teach myself not to look over but it is hard if I am having to look over there to get my speed.

 

[SageBrush]

As a long-term (8 year) Mini driver, I can confirm this. Looking right and down vs just down is really annoying and aggravating. Until you've lived with it, it's hard to understand how much so.

Frankly, I think most of the people saying "it's fine, you don't need the dash" have (a) drunk to much Kool-aide, and (b) have no experience driving a car without one.

I may not be a good example since I adapt to interface changes without drama, but our Prius have center interface elements that work just fine.

I was mulling over this lack of an (almost) direct line of sight speedometer for people who tend to attract unwanted attention, and wondered if the car will "read" speed limits and notify the driver as directed.

 

[Drivin]

I just feel we're still going to see a cluster behind the steering wheel, in some form.

Looking at the slashgear video, that doesn't seem to be the case.
It is a design feature to not have the cluster behind the steering wheel.

 

[intrepidxc]

I was late coming to the TESLA party, but my wife and I just picked up a 2015 Model S 90D. We love this car and our other ICE has stayed in the garage in the 3 weeks we've owned the MS. I am very interested in the M3 as my wife and I leased the MS thanks to her employers liberal electrical vehicle lease program. Yesterday I reserved a M3 as soon as online reservations opened since this will be the TESLA priced right for owning.

I love the minimal interior in my MS, in fact I'm very happy I got one before the center console.

What I've seen of the M3 interior disappoints me, but I acknowledge it's early in the process. I dislike the floating screen and hope to see it integrated into the dash. Although, I don't like the floating screen I'll accept it. I hope the M3 has a dashboard similar to the MS or a good HUD.

I'm not sure if I'll end up passing on the M3 if the dash/HUD isn't included. I'll likely wait and see what the rest of the car looks like before deciding. Honestly, the advanced AP doesn't appeal to me that much, and I'd be very likely to buy a used MS (and probably buy out our current lease) if the M3 interior isn't to my liking.

To caveat what I just said, I'll also make it clear that I'm going to reserve a 2nd M3 tonight for my wife. Ideally this car will replace our leased MS in early 19. I'm confident that TESLA will improve the interior and that the interior we saw yesterday is just a prototype.

BTW, I've been lurking on these boards for a while. Thanks for all the great resources and information!

 

[Drivin]

Usually a prototype doesn't even have a motor or real suspension. Some prototypes don't have any interior at all. I'm just glad i got my reservation as early as i could.

The Tesla person in the video said "it represents the design direction we fully intend to take into production"

This is the design they are going with.

 

[malcolm]

Tesla is all about drifting away from the norm. Trying new stuff. Thinking outside the gorram box.

All this "okay - the drivetrain can be different from conventional vehicles but NO FURTHER!" is hysterically funny.

 

[Drivin]

Tesla is all about drifting away from the norm. Trying new stuff. Thinking outside the gorram box.

All this "okay - the drivetrain can be different from conventional vehicles but NO FURTHER!" is hysterically funny.

Exactly.
I reserved one for each of my kids - I think that they will like this design and not be encumbered by the past and tradition of instrument clusters and older design elements.

 

[tga]

Tesla is all about drifting away from the norm. Trying new stuff. Thinking outside the gorram box.

All this "okay - the drivetrain can be different from conventional vehicles but NO FURTHER!" is hysterically funny.

Which is all well and good, as long as you don't scare away buyers with your unconventional thinking. The Secret Master Plan does require mass user adoption...

 

[JohnQ]

Take a look at where the speed readout is on the center screen. It's directly to the right of the driver's right hand on the steering wheel. It's still a simple flick of the eyes, just as if you were looking down between your hands. I doubt that's going to make or break someone's decision once they've actually test driven the car.

The question for me is about clutter and how easy it is to pick that information out from the many other things on the screen. But that's a refinement issue.

 

[wraithnot]

I actually think the single wide screen in landscape mode could work IF the screen position can be adjusted so the top of the screen is in the correct spot for drivers of different height. At least for me, it's the angle that I have to divert my eyes from watching the road ahead to looking at info on the dash that is the issue. As long as the top left corner of the screen is reasonably close to where I normally look when driving, it will be just fine for me. But this requires a screen that can move up and down to accommodate drivers of different heights. Steering wheels can have all sorts of adjustments- why not large displays in cars?

 

[K-lein]

Hi,
I kind of like the path Tesla has chosen for interior design, but I am part of those who prefer seeing important driving information straight and centred in the driver's view rather than offset on the side.

At first when I saw the car's interior and saw the missing driver's instrument cluster, I expected Elon Musk to announce the car having some kind of heads-up display. Maybe someone from Tesla in the test cars reminding people it was missing from the early prototype, but I was not expecting them to use a single screen and implement the instrument cluster on the centre console as a design decision. I am clearly not convinced.

The small elliptic steering wheel is unusual too. I have always driven cars with round steering wheels, so I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, however Tesla showing a steering wheel without any button is really shocking and confusing.
I'd rather have seen a model S or model X wheel than this button-less draft wheel.

 

[wraithnot]

A cockpit like interior is preferred for a true sports car, but in the case of the Model 3, I think simplicity is better. I currently commute in an i3 which has a pretty minimalist interior and now that I've driven the car for a year I love it. Way less distracting and easier to use. I'm sure it will change between now and production, but I expect that Tesla will keep the minimalist design.

We also have an i3 (which will be going back to the BMW dealer at the end of the lease) and I agree that the interior looks pretty great (at least in Giga world trim). But I find it far less functional at displaying information than the interior of our Model S. I also really dislike the driver's display since so much real estate is taken up with old-fashioned idiot lights instead of a larger LCD display. If the Model 3 interior can adopt some of the style of the i3 interior while maintaining the functionality of the Model S interior then I think it will be a home run.

 

[stopcrazypp]

The current design is not a huge issue for me (nor is the lack of a traditional instrument cluster), but I think it needs at least a HUD if they keep the current design.

Having to look right to see my speed is not very practical, and in general I don't really like center mounted instrument clusters in the first place.

 

[acentre]

The current design is not a huge issue for me (nor is the lack of a traditional instrument cluster), but I think it needs at least a HUD if they keep the current design.

Having to look right to see my speed is not very practical, and in general I don't really like center mounted instrument clusters in the first place.

 

[AudubonB]

There was a comment in one of this thread's early posts regarding "room for HVAC vents", or some such.

I note that in one of last night's ride videos, the Tesla driver could be heard pointing out that the innovative dashboard "allowed us to create those vents for superior airflow through the entire cabin"<=====my wording, not his, but he said something similar to that.

 

[ilovemycoffee]

The lack of gauges reminds me when Apple removed the floppy drive from the first iMac. Huge uproar, but in hind site, smart.

 

[Twiglett]

I'm sorry but as much as I like the exterior, that dashboard is a disaster. Are we back in the 70s now, predicting how modern "stuff" will look in the year 2000? I realize it's still in prototyping stage but I fear the main thing, and only thing, that will change is the gigantic screen will be vertical instead of horizontal. I always thought a 17 inch square screen looks totally out of place in a car, including the Model S and X, and I look at computer screens all day. I don't need to stare at one also in my car and IT staring back at me. I'M HERE, LOOK AT ME!! Because it's a big, square, FLAT glass surface it's impossible to integrate it into anything and just looks ridiculously out of place. Maybe when flexible screens become mainstream, such a huge display surface can be smoothly integrated into a dash. But now....yuk. It's the automobile interior design equivalent of this:
http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2011/royal_wedding_hats/wedding_hats_01.jpg

At least the Model S and X had other things on the dash to take away the attention from that monstrosity, but if this is going to be the dash (with some small alterations) of the Model 3, it is really, really ugly. Please reconsider Tesla.....take some inspiration from Mercedes for example:

This looks more Tesla than Tesla. Even the screen has a "T" shape and is perfectly integrated into the ensemble and is more than adequate size, for a car screen. A dashboard of a car is not ment to be a copy of my desk. I am not at my desk, and I'm not in a 70s sci-fi set inspired living room either. I'm in a car. I'm going somewhere, I'm traveling, I'm looking at stuff in my surroundings, at the real world. It's one of the main points of driving and traveling, or is this a wrong assumption? I can live without a giant screen while in a car. I see those everywhere already.

sorry but Merc cockpit is revolting - all of the single function buttons and business - no thanks