For the life of me, I can’t understand why this is. With all the studies and focus groups etc., why can’t they get this right? Does no one at Tesla (or anywhere else) speak up and say, “Well, this is a stupid design.” This is such a common gripe that you’d think they’d fix it. What am I missing?
A touch screen is so easy to modify and “optimize” for whatever task you are doing. I see why it’s appealing. But it gives no tactile feedback, so it always sucks while driving.
I’ve only driven one once but I suspect the rationalization is that the driver will use voice commands.
This issue is similar to one I see in every Microsoft product. I’m sure they have all these experts at HCI but in the end the interfaces are all designed to be by the engineers who design them, not real people who use them.
I met a guy at a party who was a car engineer of some kind, and he said those systems were designed with entertainment factors as the top priority, not driving safety or utility.
It figures. We’ve never taken driver training or competence seriously in the United States, so I don’t see why the carmakers would.
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Already posted by others, but I feel the view out the front of the Model 3 can’t be praised enough. Because there’s no engine up front, the cowl is low, and the bumper is lower still. It’s similar to the forward view from a mid-engine sports car. I’m disappointed that more EVs don’t have this, but most of them use reconfigured ICE chassis, in which the tall front was needed for an engine.
It’s light, at 4000 pounds. I know that’s heavy for a car this size, but it’s hundreds of pounds lighter than most of the EV competition. This pays off in range, braking, turning, and acceleration.
It’s so quiet. Nearly silent at city speeds. Easier to talk, easier to listen to the awesome stereo. And when you punch it, there’s no roar to annoy bystanders.
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It could be much quieter at highway speeds. The Ford Lightning beats it by several decibels. I suspect Ford has more experience with reducing road noise.
The paint could be tougher. It’s easy to scratch.
I could not figure out how to get the FM radio on, so eventually I hit the voice command button and said “FM radio.” It worked. Still frustrating.
And although it has a way to mark “favorites,” I still haven’t figured out how to just see my 5 or 10 favorite XM stations.
And , as I said before, I would like an “off” button for the audio. Is that too much to ask?
I only test drove one once and on the highway I wasn’t paying attention to noise. But a lot of highway noise has to do with the tires, not the car.
^ This. My 4Runner has three big knobs to control the heat and air conditioning. I know where they are and don’t have to look to adjust. I imagine that many new cars use voice control for that.
Not dissing my 4Runner, it does have voice control for some stuff, but you often still have to look at a screen to complete the task. It’s kinda gooffy, But I’ll admit that I really haven’t tried that hard to get used to it.
I’ll diss my 4Runner now though. The GPS controls absolutely suck. Was at an airport and had a specific address to go to. We where parked and tried to put in the address (after finally getting the screen to show a map). We gave up. I did it on my phone in about 30 seconds and handed the phone to my wife in the passenger seat. She would navigate, I would drive.
I have had built-in GPS on two Toyotas and an Infiniti and they all suck. Before every phone had a GPS I used a dash-top Garmin unit that was great. Now Google Maps works great. I don’t know why the auto manufacturers couldn’t get it right.
My next car will have Android auto. Let the car makers specialize in making good cars. Let Google, etc., specialize in good GPS. And let them talk to each other, so the car can show me directions provided by Google.
(There’s a similar Apple interface.)
Why is that? I think Android auto can be replaced by my phone and a clip-on holder but then again my research consisted on 30 seconds in the audio shop.
I currently have a clip on holder, and it works well enough. But I’d prefer to use the larger screen that comes with the car, and the car’s audio.
So functionally, same as using the phone and aux? The difference is just in the interface?
The difference is in having everything integrated into the car’s system instead of hanging a phone in front of your air vent right next the screen that’s already there.
Exactly.
Thanks for the confirming of my opinion. I’ve been a GIS professional for 30 years, and the Toyota systems leave me scratching my head. What they need is a better user interface. It’s the UI that sucks.
Absolutely. The menu navigation UX is terrible. If I select a destination I can’t edit it. I have to go back to the top menu and go through the Edit menu. Things like that. Once you have a route set up it’s fine.
Just want to say that we are talking about Toyotas with the shitty UI interface with the GPS. And I’m sorry if I hi-jacked a thread about Teslas.
Hmm… That article says that claims were made in an advertisement. I thought Tesla didn’t advertise.