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It’s amazing how long it has taken car companies to copy the signature features of the Tesla: styling that doesn’t scream “ev vehicle”, over the air updates, lo

It’s amazing how long it has taken car companies to copy the signature features of the Tesla: styling that doesn’t scream “ev vehicle”, over the air updates, long range and large touchscreens. I am happy to see some real Tesla competition.

jaysonelliot 7y ago
Huge touchscreens are a cheap way to avoid the expense of designing an ergonomic dashboard. Manufacturers don't care that they're a UX nightmare, ruin night vision, or take the driver's attention away from the road. They just care that they're cheap, and give salespeople a "feature" to point out.
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  Bingo. I think a flat touchscreen is something of a cop-out. If I'm driving at 80kph or higher I don't want to have to look at a screen, I want to feel for a knob.
- johnbrodie 7y ago
  With all the regulation around cars and driving already, I'd love to see regulation around controls. It makes 0 sense to me to ban cell phones because they are distracting, but then allow giant touch screens in the car with no analog dials/switches for common features.
abawany 7y ago
Tesla still has some advantages afaict: on the Mach-E pre-order page, it seems that once you pick a trim, it's final; on a Tesla, it seems that things such as 'Autopilot' are available for purchase later on at a higher cost whereas someone ordering a basic Mach-E today will not ever have the option to get enhanced driving features.
inferiorhuman 7y ago
It’s amazing how long it has taken car companies to copy the signature features of the Tesla It's been covered a bit on HN but Tesla rather famously uses displays that are not suited for automotive use. I imagine part of the lag time is that Ford actually went with a display that's designed for the kind of heat cycles a center console display will experience.
marssaxman 7y ago
I would pay extra not to have any updates or touchscreens.
- ec109685 7y ago
  Updates have to be opted into.

jaysonelliot 7y ago

Huge touchscreens are a cheap way to avoid the expense of designing an ergonomic dashboard. Manufacturers don't care that they're a UX nightmare, ruin night vision, or take the driver's attention away from the road. They just care that they're cheap, and give salespeople a "feature" to point out.

blaser-waffle 7y ago
Bingo. I think a flat touchscreen is something of a cop-out. If I'm driving at 80kph or higher I don't want to have to look at a screen, I want to feel for a knob.
johnbrodie 7y ago
With all the regulation around cars and driving already, I'd love to see regulation around controls. It makes 0 sense to me to ban cell phones because they are distracting, but then allow giant touch screens in the car with no analog dials/switches for common features.

abawany 7y ago

Tesla still has some advantages afaict: on the Mach-E pre-order page, it seems that once you pick a trim, it's final; on a Tesla, it seems that things such as 'Autopilot' are available for purchase later on at a higher cost whereas someone ordering a basic Mach-E today will not ever have the option to get enhanced driving features.

inferiorhuman 7y ago

It’s amazing how long it has taken car companies to copy the signature features of the Tesla It's been covered a bit on HN but Tesla rather famously uses displays that are not suited for automotive use. I imagine part of the lag time is that Ford actually went with a display that's designed for the kind of heat cycles a center console display will experience.

marssaxman 7y ago

I would pay extra not to have any updates or touchscreens.

ec109685 7y ago
Updates have to be opted into.