4 ms·

Buttons and Knobs Are Coming to the Tesla Model 3 and Y

10 points by tomohawk 4y ago

akerl_ 4y ago
I admire their ingenuity, but the fact that this requires a round trip from the device to my phone to the cloud and back to the car (and consequently, requires that both my phone and the car have cell service) renders it basically a non-starter for me.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- nikau 4y ago
  This looks a bit nicer, but a product called "S3XY Buttons" has been around for a while that does similar things but uses the obdII port instead.
  - akerl_ 4y ago
    How does that work on the Model 3? To my knowledge, it doesn't have an OBD2 port.
    - detaro 4y ago
      Apparently there is an easily available plug connection with the needed bus access behind a panel that you hook into with an adapter.
- majormunky 4y ago
  For being such a high tech car, its unfortunate that there isn't some sort of API that can be used to directly control things, even if its just things like the climate control, etc. As a side note, my 2019 Subaru Crosstrek can't seem to show the backup camera, and deal with me turning the physical radio volume dial down at the same time. I think the computer in a car should be up-gradable.
  - akerl_ 4y ago
    This is one of the reasons that CarPlay is a base requirement for any new car I buy. I want to delegate as many smarts as possible to a device that can be replaced.
tpmx 4y ago
> The aftermarket is stepping up to deliver buttons and knobs to augment Tesla’s touchscreen-only controls. For a second I thought Tesla had gotten a clue.
- toomuchtodo 4y ago
  They sold 1.3 million vehicles last year without buttons totaling $71B in revenue with a 28.5% gross profit margin. They’ll be fine and appear to have sufficient clue. https://tesla-cdn.thron.com/static/GZR0GS_TSLA_Q4_2022_Update_PVPJAG.pdf https://tesla-cdn.thron.com/static/GZR0GS_TSLA_Q4_2022_Updat...
  - kevinventullo 4y ago
    Consider the possibility that this is solely due to their dominance in battery tech, and despite rather than because of their uh… creative UX.
    - BrownSol 4y ago
      I can attest to this. Only bought a Tesla because of the batteries and supercharger network. Once the supercharger problem goes away, I’ll be buying a different brand EV
    - toomuchtodo 4y ago
      Right, which means it’s an immaterial concern until it’s causing customers to go elsewhere. Until then, the customer clearly doesn’t care enough to not buy the vehicle. Demand > supply. That’s all that matters. Opinions don’t drive financials, sales do. I understand this is an inconvenient truth for those with strong opinions on the topic.
      - kevinventullo 4y ago
        I mostly was saying this as someone who strongly considered buying a Tesla but was sufficiently underwhelmed with the test drive experience that I went with a different make. But maybe you’re right, they don’t need me as a customer.
buffington 4y ago
> The Ctrl-Bar doesn't send commands to the vehicle directly. It instead connects via Bluetooth to the driver's smartphone, which must be running the Tesla app What kind of insanity is this? It's almost like they want it to fail so they can say "see, no buttons is better." Every time I get in my model 3, I have to manually reconnect my phone over Bluetooth. About a third of the time, the Tesla app crashes. Edit: I mistakenly thought Tesla was releasing this. They aren't. Doesn't change what I said, though it makes a bit more sense now.

10 points by tomohawk 4y ago

I admire their ingenuity, but the fact that this requires a round trip from the device to my phone to the cloud and back to the car (and consequently, requires that both my phone and the car have cell service) renders it basically a non-starter for me.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nikau 4y ago
This looks a bit nicer, but a product called "S3XY Buttons" has been around for a while that does similar things but uses the obdII port instead.
- akerl_ 4y ago
  How does that work on the Model 3? To my knowledge, it doesn't have an OBD2 port.
  - detaro 4y ago
    Apparently there is an easily available plug connection with the needed bus access behind a panel that you hook into with an adapter.
majormunky 4y ago
For being such a high tech car, its unfortunate that there isn't some sort of API that can be used to directly control things, even if its just things like the climate control, etc. As a side note, my 2019 Subaru Crosstrek can't seem to show the backup camera, and deal with me turning the physical radio volume dial down at the same time. I think the computer in a car should be up-gradable.
- akerl_ 4y ago
  This is one of the reasons that CarPlay is a base requirement for any new car I buy. I want to delegate as many smarts as possible to a device that can be replaced.

tpmx 4y ago

> The aftermarket is stepping up to deliver buttons and knobs to augment Tesla’s touchscreen-only controls. For a second I thought Tesla had gotten a clue.

toomuchtodo 4y ago
They sold 1.3 million vehicles last year without buttons totaling $71B in revenue with a 28.5% gross profit margin. They’ll be fine and appear to have sufficient clue. https://tesla-cdn.thron.com/static/GZR0GS_TSLA_Q4_2022_Update_PVPJAG.pdf https://tesla-cdn.thron.com/static/GZR0GS_TSLA_Q4_2022_Updat...
- kevinventullo 4y ago
  Consider the possibility that this is solely due to their dominance in battery tech, and despite rather than because of their uh… creative UX.
  - BrownSol 4y ago
    I can attest to this. Only bought a Tesla because of the batteries and supercharger network. Once the supercharger problem goes away, I’ll be buying a different brand EV
  - toomuchtodo 4y ago
    Right, which means it’s an immaterial concern until it’s causing customers to go elsewhere. Until then, the customer clearly doesn’t care enough to not buy the vehicle. Demand > supply. That’s all that matters. Opinions don’t drive financials, sales do. I understand this is an inconvenient truth for those with strong opinions on the topic.
    - kevinventullo 4y ago
      I mostly was saying this as someone who strongly considered buying a Tesla but was sufficiently underwhelmed with the test drive experience that I went with a different make. But maybe you’re right, they don’t need me as a customer.

buffington 4y ago

> The Ctrl-Bar doesn't send commands to the vehicle directly. It instead connects via Bluetooth to the driver's smartphone, which must be running the Tesla app What kind of insanity is this? It's almost like they want it to fail so they can say "see, no buttons is better." Every time I get in my model 3, I have to manually reconnect my phone over Bluetooth. About a third of the time, the Tesla app crashes. Edit: I mistakenly thought Tesla was releasing this. They aren't. Doesn't change what I said, though it makes a bit more sense now.