4 ms·

I have a Tesla, I use the dedicated buttons on the steering wheel without taking my eyes off the road to operate radio and cruise, what else are you constantly

I have a Tesla, I use the dedicated buttons on the steering wheel without taking my eyes off the road to operate radio and cruise, what else are you constantly changing that would require more buttons?

the_svd_doctor 3y ago
Climate control is an important one imho
zzleeper 3y ago
I heard a common complaint was wipers
- arethuza 3y ago
  So how do you turn on and adjust wipers in a Tesla?
- rurp 3y ago
  Omg this! I drove a friends Tesla recently and it started raining on the freeway. Neither of us could figure out how to turn the windshield wipers on. My friend eventually dug through the touch screen menu enough to find them. Turned out they were set on 'auto', which apparently doesn't mean that they turn on automatically in the rain. That was by far the scariest car situation I have been in for a while. If I had been alone in the car I never would have found the menu item while driving and could have easily crashed before pulling over. Even after we found two ways to adjust the wipers it was still the worst interface I have ever seen for a safety critical car system.
  - ody4242 3y ago
    The Model3 has a dedicated button for the windscreen wiper on the steering wheel, and then you can adjust with the scroll buttons. It certainly has a learning curve, and it would be better if you could rely on muscle memory for these things. I usually spend a couple of minutes when I drive someone else's car to get familiar with the controls, as the rear window windscreen wiper, light controls (especially fog light) can be tricky on old cars as well.
    - mancerayder 3y ago
      What do you mean a dedicated button? What year did they introduce this?
      - theluketaylor 3y ago
        The turn signal stalk has a button on the end. Small press activates the wiper. Large press cleans the window with washer fluid. Either press brings up the wiper menu on the screen to adjust frequency. I love my model 3 but the wipers are by far the worst feature. The auto sensing is awful in light mist, there are not enough different intermittent settings, and changing the speed is a nightmare.
        rurp 3y ago
        Yeah even once you know the controls driving through intermittent storms where you need to adjust the speed regularly is an abysmal experience.
    - rurp 3y ago
      I've driven I don't know how many dozens of cars in my lifetime and literally never had a problem finding safety critical controls outside of driving a Tesla. They took an issue that had been completely solved decades ago and created a problem for some combo of cost cutting and UX fad chasing. I think the offset touch screen controls are categorically worse than traditional cars in many ways, but hiding the freaking windshield wipers is the worst of them.
quest88 3y ago
Air temperature, circulation, direction, vents used, seat heat, radio presets, music source, navigating infotainment menus.
- appplication 3y ago
  My Volvo has heated seats behind a nested menu and I hate it. Tap the icon once, it brings up a submenu where you choose seat or wheel and then tap like 3 more times to set the actual temperature you want. Beyond being annoying, it’s dangerous. I feel like there should some core functionality that should be illegal to not have a physical button.
  - adhesive_wombat 3y ago
    It's especially sad for Volvo which used to pride itself on designing controls you could use with gloves on. Aside from the usual complaints about safety, distraction, generally poor UI design and the rest, touchscreens are a huge fuck-you to people with peripheral nerve damage. Also, it's 2023, nearly 2024, how are tablet displays still laggy by default?
    - appplication 3y ago
      Are any car companies actually pivoting back to tactile controls? Or is everyone going 100% in on screens?
      - harshalizee 3y ago
        Mazda. They've had dual input for a bit. Now they're fully going physical by ditching the touchscreen inputs. My Mazda 2020 technically has a touch screen, I've never had to actually use it
        mdekkers 3y ago
        I loved Mazda for a long time, but the past few years they appear to believe they are a luxury brand, and are pricing accordingly. They are not a luxury brand, I’m on my third car purchase since owning a Mazda, and every single time I consider Mazda my reaction is “lol, no”
mancerayder 3y ago
Um, windshield wipers that don't auto adjust? The voice controls are terrible, inaccurate and anyway you need to look at the console to see confirmation!
m463 3y ago
I would prefer a gearshift lever, and a turn signal stalk. and lights on/off/flash (look at new model s/x)

the_svd_doctor 3y ago

Climate control is an important one imho

zzleeper 3y ago

I heard a common complaint was wipers

arethuza 3y ago
So how do you turn on and adjust wipers in a Tesla?
rurp 3y ago
Omg this! I drove a friends Tesla recently and it started raining on the freeway. Neither of us could figure out how to turn the windshield wipers on. My friend eventually dug through the touch screen menu enough to find them. Turned out they were set on 'auto', which apparently doesn't mean that they turn on automatically in the rain. That was by far the scariest car situation I have been in for a while. If I had been alone in the car I never would have found the menu item while driving and could have easily crashed before pulling over. Even after we found two ways to adjust the wipers it was still the worst interface I have ever seen for a safety critical car system.
- ody4242 3y ago
  The Model3 has a dedicated button for the windscreen wiper on the steering wheel, and then you can adjust with the scroll buttons. It certainly has a learning curve, and it would be better if you could rely on muscle memory for these things. I usually spend a couple of minutes when I drive someone else's car to get familiar with the controls, as the rear window windscreen wiper, light controls (especially fog light) can be tricky on old cars as well.
  - mancerayder 3y ago
    What do you mean a dedicated button? What year did they introduce this?
    - theluketaylor 3y ago
      The turn signal stalk has a button on the end. Small press activates the wiper. Large press cleans the window with washer fluid. Either press brings up the wiper menu on the screen to adjust frequency. I love my model 3 but the wipers are by far the worst feature. The auto sensing is awful in light mist, there are not enough different intermittent settings, and changing the speed is a nightmare.
      - rurp 3y ago
        Yeah even once you know the controls driving through intermittent storms where you need to adjust the speed regularly is an abysmal experience.
  - rurp 3y ago
    I've driven I don't know how many dozens of cars in my lifetime and literally never had a problem finding safety critical controls outside of driving a Tesla. They took an issue that had been completely solved decades ago and created a problem for some combo of cost cutting and UX fad chasing. I think the offset touch screen controls are categorically worse than traditional cars in many ways, but hiding the freaking windshield wipers is the worst of them.

quest88 3y ago

Air temperature, circulation, direction, vents used, seat heat, radio presets, music source, navigating infotainment menus.

appplication 3y ago
My Volvo has heated seats behind a nested menu and I hate it. Tap the icon once, it brings up a submenu where you choose seat or wheel and then tap like 3 more times to set the actual temperature you want. Beyond being annoying, it’s dangerous. I feel like there should some core functionality that should be illegal to not have a physical button.
- adhesive_wombat 3y ago
  It's especially sad for Volvo which used to pride itself on designing controls you could use with gloves on. Aside from the usual complaints about safety, distraction, generally poor UI design and the rest, touchscreens are a huge fuck-you to people with peripheral nerve damage. Also, it's 2023, nearly 2024, how are tablet displays still laggy by default?
  - appplication 3y ago
    Are any car companies actually pivoting back to tactile controls? Or is everyone going 100% in on screens?
    - harshalizee 3y ago
      Mazda. They've had dual input for a bit. Now they're fully going physical by ditching the touchscreen inputs. My Mazda 2020 technically has a touch screen, I've never had to actually use it
      - mdekkers 3y ago
        I loved Mazda for a long time, but the past few years they appear to believe they are a luxury brand, and are pricing accordingly. They are not a luxury brand, I’m on my third car purchase since owning a Mazda, and every single time I consider Mazda my reaction is “lol, no”

mancerayder 3y ago

Um, windshield wipers that don't auto adjust? The voice controls are terrible, inaccurate and anyway you need to look at the console to see confirmation!

m463 3y ago

I would prefer a gearshift lever, and a turn signal stalk. and lights on/off/flash (look at new model s/x)