UI Suggestion: Cruise Control without gear lever

[KariK]

One thing that bugs me about M3 User Interface is the Cruise Control (CC). Whenever I want to restart the CC I need to move my right hand off the steering wheel and reach behind it to slam down the gear lever. One, that is a safety issue as I am supposed to have both hands on the steering wheel. (I think that is why all ICE cars I know of have the CC controls on the steering wheel.) Two, the gear lever needs to really be pressed down hard so I have about a ten percent failure rate, which I only notice as my car starts slowing down suddenly after I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal.

I think a better way would be to use the right thumb wheel on the steering wheel to fully control the CC. For example, twisting the thumb wheel to right would restart the CC and twisting it left would disengage it. Then I could leave the gear lever alone and just use my right hand thumb to fully control the CC. The gear lever functionality could be left as is so people who are used to using it could keep doing it. I do not think the right thumb wheel left or right twist actions are currently used for anything.

 

[Watts_Up]

I think a better way would be to use the right thumb wheel on the steering wheel to fully control the CC.
For example, twisting the thumb wheel to right would restart the CC and twisting it left would disengage it.
Then I could leave the gear lever alone and just use my right hand thumb to fully control the CC.
The gear lever functionality could be left as is so people who are used to using it could keep doing it.
I do not think the right thumb wheel left or right twist actions are currently used for anything.

The right wheel allow you to adjust the setting of the speed by scrolling up and down (up to 18 miles per hour I believe),
and the distance from the car in front of you by moving left and right. This is very useful in bumper to bumper type of traffic.

Note: I like that the steering wheel is not overcrowded with buttons like many other cars.

 

[Ejl80]

One thing that bugs me about M3 User Interface is the Cruise Control (CC). Whenever I want to restart the CC I need to move my right hand off the steering wheel and reach behind it to slam down the gear lever. One, that is a safety issue as I am supposed to have both hands on the steering wheel. (I think that is why all ICE cars I know of have the CC controls on the steering wheel.) Two, the gear lever needs to really be pressed down hard so I have about a ten percent failure rate, which I only notice as my car starts slowing down suddenly after I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal.

I think a better way would be to use the right thumb wheel on the steering wheel to fully control the CC. For example, twisting the thumb wheel to right would restart the CC and twisting it left would disengage it. Then I could leave the gear lever alone and just use my right hand thumb to fully control the CC. The gear lever functionality could be left as is so people who are used to using it could keep doing it. I do not think the right thumb wheel left or right twist actions are currently used for anything.

Why do you take your hand off the wheel to flick the gear shifter? Just use a finger.

 

[PLUGZIN]

Your idea is interesting; but As noted by WattsUp; the right wheel toggle is already used for the TACC distance setting. Maybe there is a proble with your stalk. I only need to lift a finger to flick it down once for TACC and twice for Autopilot. Mine doesn’t require much force; certainly not a “slam”. I suggest you take it into service.

 

[RTPEV]

Yeah, was going to say the same thing @PLUGZIN said...maybe you have a problem with your stalk if you have to SLAM it down and have a 10% failure rate. Mine requires extremely little effort. And let's be honest, if you are in a position to put cruise control on, I don't think taking one hand off the wheel for less than a second is a safety issue.

As for other cars' cruise control behavior, on many cars I've owned, the control is also on the stalk and/or there is an on/off switch that always defaults to off when you start the car, so you have to manually turn it on. I think Tesla's implementation requires the least effort to engage of any of the cars I've owned in the past 20 years or so.

 

[willow_hiller]

I went from an AP trial, to no AP, and finally back to purchasing AP, so I can confirm that while TACC/AP does not require the stalk to be fully depressed, non-AP cruise control does not activate unless the stalk is pushed down all the way.

Not sure whether this is intended or just an oversight...

 

[sduck]

You should send your request directly to tesla, they don't monitor these forums.

I don't like it, as it's such a simple matter to engage TACC/AP in it's current configuration. Once you've had some time with your car you'll get used to it. And it's a pretty major interface change, which goes against Tesla's interface design philosophy - they've got a huge user base used to using it the way it is currently - changing things to suit a small percentage of users isn't going to happen.

 

[Big Earl]

One thing that bugs me about M3 User Interface is the Cruise Control (CC). Whenever I want to restart the CC I need to move my right hand off the steering wheel and reach behind it to slam down the gear lever. One, that is a safety issue as I am supposed to have both hands on the steering wheel. (I think that is why all ICE cars I know of have the CC controls on the steering wheel.) Two, the gear lever needs to really be pressed down hard so I have about a ten percent failure rate, which I only notice as my car starts slowing down suddenly after I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal.

I think a better way would be to use the right thumb wheel on the steering wheel to fully control the CC. For example, twisting the thumb wheel to right would restart the CC and twisting it left would disengage it. Then I could leave the gear lever alone and just use my right hand thumb to fully control the CC. The gear lever functionality could be left as is so people who are used to using it could keep doing it. I do not think the right thumb wheel left or right twist actions are currently used for anything.

The drive stalk doesn't need to be slammed down to engage cruise control. I gentle click down to the first detent is all it takes. Autopilot is two gentle clicks down to the first detent. Disengaging is a gentle click up to the first detent. All of this can be done with both hands on the wheel unless, perhaps, you have really small hands or short fingers.

 

[SDKoala]

One thing that bugs me about M3 User Interface is the Cruise Control (CC). Whenever I want to restart the CC I need to move my right hand off the steering wheel and reach behind it to slam down the gear lever. One, that is a safety issue as I am supposed to have both hands on the steering wheel. (I think that is why all ICE cars I know of have the CC controls on the steering wheel.) Two, the gear lever needs to really be pressed down hard so I have about a ten percent failure rate, which I only notice as my car starts slowing down suddenly after I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal.

Do you have a medical condition like arthritis or amputated fingers that keeps you from using your hands normally? I'm genuinely serious because activating the gear stalk definitely doesn't require removing your hand from the steering wheel to reach behind it. It definitely doesn't require you to "slam" the stalk. Do you have the same problem controlling the turn signal stalk? Every time you want to signal, you reach around the steering wheel? Like pretty much everyone else that has replied, I just use one finger to move the stalks while keeping my hand on the wheel at the same time. My wife with small hands has no problems.

If you want to be sure TACC has engaged, a quick glance at the screen will show you definitively if it's been activated. I do wish there was an option for an audible confirmation that it has toggled like when Autosteer is activated/deactivated.

There is no "twisting" action on the thumb wheels. Click right/left are already reserved for changing following distance and scroll up/down set the speed. I'd argue that twisting the thumb wheel, even if it was available, would actually be more difficult than pressing the lever since that would require removing a hand from the steering wheel entirely.

 

[towndrunk]

My mother-in-law was notorious for going for drive, then walking in the door with a turn signal in her fist. This happened time after time. Apparently she was slow to learn to use a finger to signal a turn and instead used a tight-fisted approach.

 

[KariK]

Well, my car does not have AP software, so I was unaware the right thumb wheel left and right actions were used for something. And as willow_hiller confirmed, on my car the CC start requires a fairly firm push of the gear lever. I guess I need to play with it some to see if there is some better way to do it than just slamming it. I am getting along with age, but so far I have not walked in with the gear lever in hand (but then, it's the memory that goes first... ).