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Tesla Model 3 Test Drive: Car Has Bite and Simple Interior (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader shares a WSJ article: A first peek inside Tesla's new Model 3 compact car revealed a starker, cozier interior than the more spacious and luxurious Model S. But as the sedan sped off, the experience felt similar. On Friday, the Silicon Valley auto maker showed off details of the all-electric sedan's interior for the first time (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternative source), allowing brief test rides with a roughly 10-minute spin around the factory. The Model 3 represents a milestone for Chief Executive Elon Musk, who has long wanted to create an electric car for the masses. He's betting the new vehicle can help fuel massive growth for his 14-year-old company, projecting Tesla will produce a half-million cars next year, after delivering about 76,000 Model S sedans and Model X sport-utility vehicles last year. The Model 3's exterior was revealed in March last year, but details about the interior have been scarce. The $35,000 sedan is noticeably bare bones inside -- gone are the displays and instrument panel behind the steering wheel and the numerous switches and buttons found in the cockpit of traditional cars. Instead, the Model 3 makes greater use of a video screen in the center dash that controls most of the car's functions.
Dashboard is ugly and doesn't look very driver friendly, but taste is subjective so fair enough...
My problem is that it is expensive and not as green as Tesla claims, but they will sell...
For what I see there, $17,000 strikes me as the right price, Tesla has made progress, but not there yet.
it can't be starker _and_ cozier
Does anyone else find it ironic that the most popular car on Slashdot is also the most difficult to hot rod?
It really is the Apple of automobiles.
How many hours until the phone app is hacked?
What about those of us who despise cell phones and don't own one?
You simply must have a way to unlock and open a door if the battery is dead.
The front fascia's lack of anything resembling a grille opening makes the whole thing look like a cheap plastic Chinese R/C car.
That dashboard looks like it was stolen from a 80s-era concept car and Elon velcro'd a giant iPad to it, made more starkly out of place by the complete lack of gauge cluster.
The most popular car on slashdot is the most nerdiest car created by a nerd ever what is ironic about that? You must be young to not remember that overall working on cars wasn't a nerdy thing. Jocks worked on their cars nerds played D&D.
The number of people who are shorting Tesla shares is astounding. You find them everywhere.
This interior is a joke, right? Right??? Am I looking at a fucking iPad glued to an almost empty dashboard? WHAT? NO INSTRUMENT CLUSTER? IS THIS A FEVER DREAM?
Do they not have a human factors engineering dept? Or did they hire all millennial Google rejects to fill their staff?
This thing looks like a fucking engineering disaster in the making. People are going to die from distracted driving staring at this tablet in the center of the dash. Do people not realize that the Fords & GMs of the world spend $$ into human factors research trying to figure out where exactly the little buttons on the steering wheel and instrument panel go, what they feel like, etc? There is a reason for this.
Do you remember when the President of the United States of America wasnâ(TM)t a sociopathic joke?
Trumpâ(TM)s a cunt. His voters a fucking losers. Discuss...
Volkswagen, is that you?
I take my children to see Madonna(..), but I never for once ever thought I was in the same business.Chris Rea.
I'm not surprised that the most high tech, all electric, legacy free car is the most popular on a tech news site.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Does anyone else find it ironic that the most popular car on Slashdot is also the most difficult to hot rod?
Not at all. Many people even engineers and tinkered sometimes just prefer something well made that does not need to be touched or modified.
Mind you there are plenty of people hacking at Telsas. It's just a different skill set.
The interior designer they poached from Volvo clearly hasn't had time to improve anything yet. Since he was only hired 6 months ago, this design pre-dates him, and you can tell. It's terrible.
All the display is to the side - so you have to look sidways and down to find out anything about the vehicle, even its speed. That means you are not looking at the road for longer.
The display is high gloss - so you have to look through reflections and highlights to read the screen, it is not shaded from outside light at all. That means you are not looking at the road for longer and get more eyestrain.
Trying to adjust any functions of the car without tactile feedback means you have to not only look to find what to press, but look to confirm the action happened correctly - so you spend longer looking at the controls and less at the road.
It looks like an ergonomic failure and an unpleasant car to drive which reduces safety by increasing driver distraction.
I don't even know if the seats are any good; the Model S seats certainly aren't.
Then there is "unlock via app". So, what happens if your phone and the car are not online to the Internet? The Model S app-unlock is via the Internet, not any short range connection like Bluetooth. Let alone if your phone gets r00ted and the app key is stolen. There's a backup physical key - but if I have to remember to carry the physical key all the time what is the point of app-unlock anyway? They might as well implement having a key you have to have near the car for more reliable unlocking and better security - like every other car manufacturer. This is just more Internet of Shit Things (that spy on you).
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled"
I'm always surprised what people will find to complain about. It.never.fucking.stops.
I'm pretty blind on my right eye. If this thing doesn't have heads up display, finding out my current speed would probably be less than ideal for safety.
From the article: "And the best part: when I pulled into park, I asked about the key. The car doesn’t haven’t one. You control the car through the Tesla app on your phone."
So this is the best part of the Model 3, a car that costs at least $35.000? Are you kidding me?
Signature deleted by lameness filter.
With electric cars, performance doesn't really matter. They'll all accelerate at pretty much the same pace. So it comes down to Styling, Ergonomics, and Range.
With range, the $35,000 is the same as the Chevy Bolt and will probably be less than the Nissan Leaf 2 and Opel Ampera-E. So a big collective meh there.
With Styling, it's a 4 door Fastback (not a Sedan, as there is no boot). Many say it looks great, but from the profile, I think it looks like two parallel lines going from lower to higher. The front looks too small for the rear. Like the cephalothorax and abdomen of a spider. The grill also looks under designed. Yes, it doesn't need to have one. But they should at least make it more ascetically pleasing by making it look like it doesn't need one. From pictures it seems that there is a flat surface there just waiting to have it punched out for a grill. Maybe some front license plates with cat pictures will make it more appeasing. The glass roof is nice, but nothing new.
Interior Styling and Ergonomics is abysmal. Many folks have chimed in on this, and I'll have to agree with them and not waste my time. I think it will appease the Tesla fanboys though. They seem to be the type who own iProducts. A HUD display and a smaller tablet, recessed into the dash with a couple buttons to control things would be much better IMO.
I think the interior design hinges on the future of Autodrive. But I don't think the tech will be there for another decade.
All in all, I'll stick to my ICE. Wake me up about 10 years from now if Tesla doesn't go out of business, cars are full auto, and the range (or network) can get me around 500miles on a charge (or quick charge) at highway speeds. But by then, every major manufacturer will be making electric cars in bulk. And most of them won't look so retarded.
Another butt ugly tesla with design ques from 2-3 different good looking cars and slapped together with all the cheapness of a low cost GM
The exterior is decent for a car in that price range.
The interior though! That is horrible. No tactile controls at all. All the driver instruments mounted in the middle of the car so the drive has to glance sideways to see them. Even the beset anti-glare screens have problems in direct sunlight at certain angles.
That looks like someone just wanted it to "look high tech" and damn any actual usability or human factors. The worst part is it doesn't even look nice.
They really need to rethink the interior.
Quit pretending that they do. The amount we're taxed is the fault of the congress.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Thanks! Your check is in the mail.
> created by a nerd
Elon Musk is a cult leader like Steve Jobs, not a nerd. Please turn over your geek card.
Stick yours up your ass & light it on fire.
Musk programmed & sold a video game when he was 12 & has a B. Sc. degree in Physics. Jobs needed Wozniak to build him a circuit board that could play Pong so he could get a job at Atari.
And it's because they don't actually make that, Subaru does. The entire mechanical design is Subaru, as is most of the engine and interior. Toyota just contributed the fuel injection system, external styling and the laughably outdated, 1980s red LED clock.
False. The number of shorts orders is actually small. The difference is that these orders are massive. Most have been placed by oil and car companies, along with ppl like kock Bros who stand to lose 10s of billions when oil and car companies stock plummet.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Everything operated by the touchscreen is the #1 reason why I hate Tesla and will never buy one. From a usability perspective, it's the dumbest possible thing you can do and the very definition of everything wrong with getting Silicon Valley to design anything.
I sat in a Model S, and I thought just that was a disaster. Operating anything other than the wheel and pedals is ridiculous. I was hoping the Model 3 would have a more traditional interior because the vehicle was designed to be a bit more mainstream, but it looks like menu navigation while trying to keep your eyes on the road is here to stay.
That interior is so ugly. I am at a loss for words other than to say, "ick." $35K and that is what they have? I guess I am too much of a gadget guy, but that is just... too simplified and I don't want to have to look to the right for my HUD, I want it in front of me.
Electric-only just doesn't make sense to me, unless you can afford an extra car and don't mind be pinned down by charging station restrictions and having to wait around. Tesla, Bolt, Leaf, etc., no way, I'm not going to limit my road trips or be delayed over charging.
I'll take a 3-year just off-lease Chevy Volt (not EV-only Bolt) any day for half to a third of the cost and no roll-off-the-lot loss in value. For my local commute, I'd be 100% electric. For road trips, good as a gas engine for range.
Looks neat however this is not the "electric car for the masses". Only the $49k version is shipping between now and Q3 2018. When the $35k version does ship after Q3 2018 the $7.5k federal tax credit will no longer be available for Tesla.
Moreover Tesla has no product in their roadmap that will be cheaper then the model 3.
The cars that are closest today to being the "electric car for the masses" are the Chevy BoltEV, Nissan Leaf and Hyndai Ioniq. Get them before their respective federal tax credits run out and you'll have an affordable electric car.
Overall I'm surprised I'm underwhelmed by the Tesla model 3 reveal. I remember when the Roaster, S and X all came out they surprised/impressed/excited me by pushing the envelope on what an electric car could do.
I was hoping with a whole new powertrain, battery, electronics and a slippery body the base model 3 would beat the Hyundai Ioniq in efficiency or beat the Chevy BoltEV in range.
The model 3 looks like a nice car but it is neither the affordable EV nor does it push the envelope in what a EV can be. This is certainly not the model T of the EV era.
and ponzi scheme stock without merit, tailored for egotistical people.
OOOH! Touchy much? LOL
PlaynBass
I'm waiting for enough idiots to short Tesla to bring down the price basis to where I first bought in. That's only because I don't have an accounting degree to keep up with all the rules on when I can spend my Roth IRA investment account. Just lazy, I suppose, but I am hoping the shares will eventually increase to the point that I will be able to afford at least a used Tesla 3... or that the price will come down enough so that I can afford to buy one. I personally never liked working on cars, even when they were repairable by shade-tree mechanics like me...
PlaynBass