Replacing physical controls with touch buttons continues to be an incredibly dumb idea. Luckily several other manufactures who hopped on the trend are realizing it was a bad choice.
this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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Is nobody gonna mention this horrible KITT steering wheel?!? That damn thing is dangerous.
Yeah round wheels are not a fuckin style choice. It’s so you can grab it anywhere in any situation. This steering wheel looks fuckin deadly
They are the worst drivers by infractions. Dead wheel is a culling tool.
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The only way a yoke would make sense is if it was drive by wire and could vary the ratio of the wheel dynamically depending on speed.
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It’s great for Tesla, for one reason - modularity.
If your input/control has a physical button, that immediately needs independent wiring, assembly steps, A THOUGHT OUT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PLAN, another BoM item to build the car/widget, and usually markings that limit its use for other functions (present and planned).
Tesla can bury controls and change interfaces as much as they like on the main touchscreen, or even add new features. It’s still trash for driver usability except when parked for all the obvious reasons, but hey they get to ‘push’ new features over cellular networks as they’re developed. Y’know, instead of selling a complete product in the first place.
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For those that don't want to read the article:
Tesla is going with buttons on the steering wheel instead of a stick to the left of the wheel
Tesla is going with buttons on the steering wheel instead of a stick to the left of the wheel
Its even worse than that. The buttons are smooth surface (like a touch screen) with haptic feedback. These are truly a horrible idea:
If I had one of these Tesla cars I'd look into retrofitting the stalks back in.
Holy shit that's worse than how the article put it
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Wtf, seriously? I've tried using media buttons on the steering wheel during a turn. It's not reliable in the slightest, because it's a moving target.
Does the non circular steering non-wheel never go past 90 degrees or something?
I once accidentally dialed 911 from my steering wheel phone buttons while pulling a turn. Surprised the shit out of me and the dispatcher didn’t sound like this was the first call of the type. This is a fucking terrible idea.
Tbf you are supposed use the signal before turning wheel
Covered in the article. In Norway you are required to signal when exiting a roundabout. It's a fair concern.
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In addition to roundabouts, there are plenty of freeway exists that loop around where you can be at an extreme turn and need to initiate a lane change. Or making a right turn into a gas station after a left turn at an intersection... lots of use cases.
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Tesla’s reasoning for going away with a method universally used for signaling turn for decades is that it enables them to remove a physical part, the stalk, and it believes activating a turn signal will soon be unnecessary with the advent of self-driving.
Why the hell do billionaires keep laughing in our faces? I swear every time one of them or their companies opens their mouth, it's like they're making fun of us, the poor people.
"We care about your privacy" — (they don't) "a turn signal will soon be unnecessary" etc.
a turn signal will soon be unnecessary with the advent of self-driving
That's like not including a stick for the manual transmission, because the automatic one is just around the corner.
I wish I possessed this kind of optimism in my daily life :D
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The new Tesla Model 3 should be banned from the whole of Europe until they put the indicator stalk back. It is virtually impossible to safely and legally traverse a roundabout without it.
How do people indicate without it? Is the car supposed to automatically turn it on once it senses you leaving the lane?
It has little buttons on the wheel for left or right instead of a stalk. Problem is when you're going through a roundabout you're twirling the wheel around so it is almost impossible to to know where the buttons are at any given point in time. A stalk stays put, the buttons are anywhere depending on where the wheel is at. I think this video demonstrates it most clearly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBFxbKTEWu8
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In the article it says they replaced it with force touch buttons but the driving instructors all found the buttons to be disorientating and dangerous on roundabouts whilst trying to turn the wheel. The stalk makes for a mich more fluid and less distracting method.
Tesla believe that no turn signals will be needed once they perfect self deiving cars (likely never....)
What the fuck is the point of an indicator after you’d already started the action. That light ain’t indicating any more about the driver than the fact that they bought a Tesla after 2022, and that tells you everything you need to know about them.
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Tesla’s reasoning for going away with a method universally used for signaling turn for decades is that it enables them to remove a physical part, the stalk, and it believes activating a turn signal will soon be unnecessary with the advent of self-driving.
Spit my drink up a bit when I read that.
Meanwhile Teslas are quickly building a reputation of being impossible to repair, so replacing an industry standard component that never breaks for a digital system is a great way to keep the title.
will soon be unnecessary with the advent of self-driving.
by next year, they said for the umpteenth time this decade.
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Yeah, it's not designed with roundabouts, (i.e. road infrastructure designed with logic and common sense) in mind.
It was designed to cut costs and hope fanbois would think it was innovation. It's so dangerous a change it should be banned in countries where drivers are expected to properly indicate while traversing roundabouts.
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Leak of Tesla's next-gen Steering wheel:
What? Physical controls? It'll be a touch screen.
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I didn't realize Tesla's even came with turn signals. They must be hard to find because they never get used.
I swear to god Tesla drivers are going for the worst drivers award.
Just let your fucking car drive itself if you cannot.
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Tesla fucking up traditional driving controls only make sense if their self-driving system is working so the driver has no need to touch the steering wheel except in rare case. How good is Tesla's full self driving these days?
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I am more concerned about why the Witcher 3 is featured on the car's screen. Does it double as a PC?
Edit: Spelling
Tesla has the highest accident rate of any car brand. And Tesla intends to remain number 1 in that regard
Rapid acceleration, with your eyes pointed a center touch screen. What could go wrong?!
they are the most advanced company in cost-cutting. They will put everything in 10 sub menus on the screen instead of costly buttons. And the people are confused, they see big screen they think cool. But having metal physical buttons and crowns with haptic feedback is just on another level 🤤. Especially those crowns where theres a silent click that you feel with every turn. Feels so fricking good damn.
Can we just ban them entirely? Horrible cars.
Why is The Witcher featured on the Tesla screen?
The center screen is basically a fully functional tablet (video streaming and all), in addition being the the only console in the car. Tesla has tried to differentiate themselves with this. I personally do see some appeal, particularly as most cars have absurdly under-powered infotainment systems that simply shouldn't exist. If one is going to include one, the menus should at least scroll smoothly and screens load quickly.
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Yikes, that is incredibly dangerous. Hopefully, they get recalled to fix that issue. No turn signal stick is going to cause a lot of accidents if people are unfamiliar with the car or are spinning the steering wheel and pressing the wrong button (or no buttons, because it's too difficult).
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