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Tesla Releases First Official Photos of Model S Sedan

Posted by timothy on from the that's-a-lot-of-glass dept.

Thelasko writes "After several pictures of the Model S were leaked onto the internet, Jalopnik has the first official pictures of the Model S. One of its most striking features is its massive touchscreen in place of the center console."

12 of 378 comments (clear)

  1. American cars.... by tpgp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Quote from the third link:

    "it has a 3G connection all the time."
    "There's HD, AUX, USB and iPod input to the car"
    "there's no start button. You just sit there and wait for the car to detect your RFID presence."

    Keep on building kinda cool stuff that noone actually wants & they'll keep having their lunch eaten by the Japanese & Koreans.

    --
    My pics.
    1. Re:American cars.... by Jurily · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The RFID tag is also very interesting. When you walk up to the car, the Model S detects your RFID keytag and pops out the handles for you. When you want to start up the car, there's no start button. You just sit there and wait for the car to detect your RFID presence.

      WTF? What if I stand near my car and don't want it to open or start up?

      Sounds like a usability nightmare.

      the most interesting feature of which is that it has a 3G connection all the time.

      Yay, now we can have a moving botnet!

    2. Re:American cars.... by Idiomatick · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The RFID could be done properly. The handles pop out as you are within a meter of your door. Then the car starts while you are sitting. It isn't like a gas car starting isn't really a big problem. I don't know why if i'm sitting in the front seat I'd need the car to be off. The reasons you would shut off a car in that position aren't present in a full electric car.

    3. Re:American cars.... by tftp · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The reasons you would shut off a car in that position aren't present in a full electric car.

      Reasons like climate control and DRL and radio are present in all cars.

    4. Re:American cars.... by MadUndergrad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They (Tesla) can't make it affordable. That's why they have to make it luxury. No one will pay those prices without those extra features.

  2. Touchscreen in a car? by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Call me old fashion, but the center console of a car is a place where I prefer to have physical controls that don't need to be looked at in order to use. Perhaps they plan to back it up with some other type of UI, such as voice recognition or a HUD?

  3. Re:Cow of the future? by mark_hill97 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The cow is dying anyways for food. Why do we need to waste it's skin just so some hippies can feel better about it. The Native Americans used to pay honor to the animals they hunted by finding a way to use every piece of the remains, letting nothing go to waste.

    Besides, that's imitation leather anyways.

  4. Re:Boring! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If a "squashed jelly bean" happens to be the most aerodynamically efficient shape, then so be it, I'm glad. It's convergent evolution in action.

  5. Re:And... the electric car is still not quite ther by drago177 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ok, we get it. This car is almost, but ultimately, not for you. But I think it is for anyone who A) lives w/in 100mi from a repair shop, and B)
    1. likes public transport every once in a while, or
    2. has a 2nd vehicle, or
    3. lives with someone with a vehicle they can borrow, or
    4. takes long trips so seldom they don't mind the public transport

    OR, anyone who has enough money to afford sending the car off for repairs and has a concern for the environment, or doesn't like sending money to the middle east, where some ends up in the hands of al queida, or believes in global warming, or likes to show off their tech, etc.

  6. Re:Imagine buying one of those... by pudro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Want to know a bigger buzzkill? The realization that the touch screen sucks in a car. I realized that when I drove a 1987 Buick Riviera with touch screen controls (my first car, and it was over a decade old at the time). It's neat and all, but it is so much nicer to be able to feel the controls you are reaching for while driving down the road. Even once I was used to the controls and could change radio presets without looking, it was still a pain to do some things without looking (notably the climate controls). That is kind of important, and it pains me to see such a bad move (IMO) from a company I have been otherwise rooting for. Not a deal breaker by any means, just disappointing.

    --
    Freedom is assumed. Then they try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free.
  7. Re:And... the electric car is still not quite ther by smoker2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When was the last time you had to pay for tyres, licence, insurance, oil, maintenance, spares, hire vehicle, exhaust, brakes, lights, wipers, parking, speeding tickets etc ... on public transport.

    You can't compare the fuel costs of a car to public transport and complain about the price of public transport. Compare the real costs, including those caused to commerce by congestion caused by too many cars.

    I used to give a guy a lift to work, but he never once gave me a penny towards it, even though I asked. So I stopped doing it. Even if you pay part of the fuel bill, it doesn't mean you are covering the costs of the ride being available in the first place.

  8. Re:How do you *know* its locked? by MrNaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not a problem. Just don't sell one of these to Schroedinger.

    --
    I hate printers.