Wired - What Tesla Needs to Fix Before It Gives Us a New Model S

[CHG-ON]

My my. This post seems to have gone south at page six. But I do love all the strong opinions. So keep 'em comin'! My few humble observations:

The interface is completely different. But I like what StevenM (sorry if I spelled it wrong) said. We get accustomed to it. Even after only a few days of driving my new girl, it is becoming more intuitive for me. I particularly like how easy it is to hit the controls button and climate control. I think it just takes a bit of time.

Regarding unlocking the doors: yes a bit odd. What I do if I am in park waiting for somebody is I press the brake, tap into drive and then in park. Takes two quick swipes of the finger and it's done. Simply pressing the park button did not seem to work for me. Don't know why. I actually guess that it's easier to do that than to look down to find a button on the door panel and press it, because the gear stalk is right in front of me. Seems to work for me. But I do get the idea that in some cases we have to make multi taps to do something like set the AC to recirc (which I do all the time because I'm obsessed), rather than just reach over and press the button that I know is right where I expect it.

I must say, I have had little time in my car. Just barely two weeks. I'll adjust and actually love that because it challenges me and keeps me bright. But I really, really miss the complete lack of storage for anything except a purse (no man bags for me!), cigs (nope) and receipts. Though I do love the spartan design.

Ahh, the price we pay for beauty.

 

[Brass Guy]

TDial, after 1 minute without opening any doors, the handles retract and the interior lights turn off. This is more obvious without tech, since my handles don't retract when I walk away unless I lock it. As chance would have it, there have been a few occasions when I come back to the car exactly 1 minute later and the handles retract as I try to reenter.

The car would not be locked, so you can extend the handles by touching them from the outside, cracking a door from the inside, using controls-> unlock, put the car in D R or N and back to P, or double-click the roof of the fob. All - if you don't know at least half of these methods, you don't know the car very intimately.

 

[Beckler]

Why not just get rid of the steering wheel as well and have "L" & "R" buttons on the touchscreen.

 

[CliffG]

Why not just get rid of the steering wheel as well and have "L" & "R" buttons on the touchscreen.

meh. too much latency. Okay, if we're gonna jump into that end of the pool, though, I kinda liked the control on the BD-5 - really simple: basically a joystick mounted on the right; you don't need a second one, though redundancy would be nice... with autopilot (in a D and later), you'll only use it for occasional control pressures anyway...

 

[HankLloydRight]

Forget the joystick.. how about just using eyeball tracking?

 

[islandbayy]

Forget the joystick.. how about just using eyeball tracking?

As you hit the pretty blond that you were looking at... or that shiny roadster that just passed you

 

[CHG-ON]

TDial, after 1 minute without opening any doors, the handles retract and the interior lights turn off. This is more obvious without tech, since my handles don't retract when I walk away unless I lock it. As chance would have it, there have been a few occasions when I come back to the car exactly 1 minute later and the handles retract as I try to reenter.

The car would not be locked, so you can extend the handles by touching them from the outside, cracking a door from the inside, using controls-> unlock, put the car in D R or N and back to P, or double-click the roof of the fob. All - if you don't know at least half of these methods, you don't know the car very intimately.

Very helpful. Thanks from a newbie!

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Forget the joystick.. how about just using eyeball tracking?

Mind control. That's the answer!

 

[AustinPowers]

+1 for a few more buttons.

Bottom row of the touchscreen can be replaced with buttons. It never changes, so nothing lost from the UI.

3 buttons needed in the back of the center console so that passengers can control the heated rear seats.

The sunroof animation is cool and everything, but sometimes I just want to reach up and press a simple switch to open it, instead of messing around in controls menu, or having to assign it to a steering wheel button that I normally use for something else. Too complex and distracting for an electric window opener.

Never thought I would miss having a button to open the trunk as well. Very useful when picking someone up who needs to put something in the trunk.

+1

A clean user interface and interior doesn't have to mean no buttons. Nor do buttons necessarily mean a "cluttered" interior. Take the current S-class for example. It has got e very "clean" interior, large screen for many functions, yet buttons for easy access to the most essential things. Having to navigate through menus to for example open the sunroof is definitely not user-friendly. Same goes for switching lights/fog lights on and off. And +1 for a button to open/close the trunk (not frunk, obviously).

 

[JohnQ]

Would a sticky on the side of the screen, like the HVAC and volume control is now, eliminate the need for hard buttons? Say, a configurable dock/floating palette that you can add a certain number of functions to? Would eat up real estate but you get configurability for different drivers and upgradability for new functions.

 

[CliffG]

Would a sticky on the side of the screen, like the HVAC and volume control is now, eliminate the need for hard buttons? Say, a configurable dock/floating palette that you can add a certain number of functions to? Would eat up real estate but you get configurability for different drivers and upgradability for new functions.

I wonder how many of these wishes for tactile certainty would be satisfied by something like this plus "home" locators on the frame around the display. If you could feel and find the "home" locator, you'd know where the pertinent screen area is without looking at it or with peripheral vision, similar to how a touch typist knows where his fingers are when on the home keys on a keyboard. I'm often looking for and planting an anchor finger on the frame before using the screen.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I like that idea -- each of the four corners has a 1/4 circle fixed button, which you can customize to do whatever you want. Wouldn't be too intrusive to the current UI, provides tactile feedback (hitting the "corner" with your finger) without looking down, maybe along with a confirmation sound or beep, and doesn't require any hardware changes. I could easily see those being used for door lock/unlock (of course), sunroof open/close, trunk pop, and maybe setting air suspension "Highest".

 

[CliffG]

Similarly, and in the spirit of "a man's reach should exceed his grasp", I wonder if the kind of technology used by Leapmotion could be used to teach one's car to understand gestures without even having to touch the touchscreen. Probably too distracting now, but with more refinement in the autopilot software (so the driver can look away momentarily, in the absence of a HUD system), maybe not in the future.

(Sorry guys - I couldn't resist taking another bite out of this one...)

It's not as refined as anyone would like, but if you replace the projector with either an app on the 17" screen or a HUD, then a sixthsense interface could be pretty cool; here's a TED talk about it. Hell, even Spacex has shown some interest (albeit in a different implementation, in a different context) - anyone remember this demo about exploring approaches to 3d design?

 

[scott jones]

(Probably already mentioned) But, put 6 actual buttons (or so) below the bottom of the screen, or heck on the side, and allow the user to program them.
But even though those buttons are raised, they still have an LED face, so they can be changed by the user in the menu.
Then everyone could pick which functions are most important to them. It sort of exists on the steering wheel, but to a much lesser extent.
I personally have my fan control set on the right steering wheel scroll wheel, as its much quicker that way to raise and lower.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Re 6. More cupholders

I was surprised to see that rear cupholders are now available. Well, they would be but they're out of stock:
Shop Tesla Gear Backseat Cup Holders

 

[HankLloydRight]

Re 6. More cupholders

I was surprised to see that rear cupholders are now available. Well, they would be but they're out of stock:
Shop Tesla Gear Backseat Cup Holders

Holy crap! $150 for cup holders?!?!

Wow.

 

[JohnQ]

Re 6. More cupholders

I was surprised to see that rear cupholders are now available. Well, they would be but they're out of stock:
Shop Tesla Gear Backseat Cup Holders

They've been there for quite a few months now, I remember the design and pricing discussion back then.

@HLR, that does include installation though :tongue:

 

[sbronle1]

Brilliant suggestion. Kind of strengthens common sense for those that have none.

 

[sbronle1]

How come no one has brought up the seriously flawed windshield wiper control totally hidden behind the steering column? If there is another thread on this please let me know. Initially I did not like not having a center console and actually placed my name on a mailing list to get one. My P85 was delivered in May and was told the consoles would be deliverable in late July. I have not heard back from them yet but have since changed my mind. It rains a lot here in Florida and I have the wipers on an auto setting but it would still be nice took glance down to see the setting. That is not possible unless I bend down to look or turn the steering wheel.

 

[CHG-ON]

I like that idea -- each of the four corners has a 1/4 circle fixed button, which you can customize to do whatever you want. Wouldn't be too intrusive to the current UI, provides tactile feedback (hitting the "corner" with your finger) without looking down, maybe along with a confirmation sound or beep, and doesn't require any hardware changes. I could easily see those being used for door lock/unlock (of course), sunroof open/close, trunk pop, and maybe setting air suspension "Highest".

Great idea. There is plenty of screen real estate to do exactly that. I normally anchor my hand against the bezel with a finger for stability before pressing a soft button. Having definable buttons in the corners would make that quite easy to do without taking my eyes off the road.

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Holy crap! $150 for cup holders?!?!

Wow.

And they are crap. They could do better.

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How come no one has brought up the seriously flawed windshield wiper control totally hidden behind the steering column? If there is another thread on this please let me know. Initially I did not like not having a center console and actually placed my name on a mailing list to get one. My P85 was delivered in May and was told the consoles would be deliverable in late July. I have not heard back from them yet but have since changed my mind. It rains a lot here in Florida and I have the wipers on an auto setting but it would still be nice took glance down to see the setting. That is not possible unless I bend down to look or turn the steering wheel.

They have thankfully reversed the placement of the stalks on the left of the steering wheel. So I can easily see the turn/wiper stalk and, though not too easy, can see the settings of the wiper. But I have another gripe...the washer jets spray this useless single stream of fluid on the windscreen, which essentially does nothing. Many of my other cars mist the entire screen so that when I do wipe, the whole screen is wet, thus avoiding unnecessary dry spots, which scratch the heck out of the glass. It's so bad that if I am driving slowly, the washer fluid sprays this little blob that then slides right down the screen and offers no washing ability at all. I'm trying to figure a fix because a good clear screen is a necessity for clear vision. Seems like such a basic concept to me.

 

[tdelta1000]

Summary of the article:

Adaptive Cruise Control - Done

Active Safety Features (Blindspot detection, lane keeping systems, cross trafic alerts) - Done

Disable touch screen while driving - I say no because it kills the other functions

Add buttons. - Maybe only for the door locks. Placement in the front doors only

Better storage space. Maybe door pockets

More cupholders - Aftermarket has this covered