I rented a Tesla for a month. It was a giant pain in the a***
I rented a Tesla for a month. It was a giant pain in the a***
A major car rental company was renting Teslas out for about one-third the cost of a petrol car. We figured, how different could it be?
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What a whiny miserable article. Half the crap they're complaining about are common features on late model cars.
Are apprehension mounted 6 weeks before we got our car... come on...
Before driving it for the first time, I wanted to adjust the mirrors. Now, in just about every car I've ever driven there are switches to adjust the mirrors on the door by the driver's side mirror.
Not the Tesla. You have to go through the screen, find "mirrors", choose left and right and use this ball toggle thingy on the steering wheel to make adjustments.
This is the first issue cited. This is neither normal, nor convenient. It's an obvious cost saving measure and is part of the classically cheap low end feel only Tesla can provide.
Side mirrors? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Windshield wipers? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Odometer? Pain in the ass fake iPad app.
Etc. Etc. It's cheap, it's bad for usability. We all know this is like this to save a few bucks on screen design and UI buttons across the car.
Teslas are a colossal pile of shits. The article mentions problems with newer cars after 9 years ago - and yes, they are all colossal piles of shit too. All new cars are now moving towards demanding you auto update their software and hand over your sex life and location data, and when you do, they lock your car for 24 HOURS to update that shit.
The only answer is to go after cars older than 2010. They run better, way more reliable, last longer, don't spy on you and are way more comfy.
Which brands are locking vehicles for 24 hours for software updates?
Or, you know, Hondas. I bought one earlier this year (civic ehev) and it's what you would expect a modern car to be, with physical knobs and everything where you expect it. Not all new cars are shit.
I think you're hitting on a good cost savings measure. Get rid of the panel and make it an iPad app (sold separately and subscription required). I'll add they need to get rid of the steering wheel/pedals and put a USB port. Plug in your favorite Logitech controller (sold separately) and steer with a d-pad.
iPad would be infinitely more reliable, usable, and logically laid out than Tesla's trash software.
Personally, I really like the minimalism. The only physical control I've ever missed is for the windscreen wipers. And even there the automatic function has been getting a lot better lately. So yeah, cars are turning into computers. That doesn't just apply to Tesla, they just do it better. And it doesn't just apply to cars either, in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past twenty years and hasn't noticed.
I owned a Tesla for years, when it got totaled, auto wipers and auto high beams were still significantly worse than the Hyundai palisade that replaced it (on a vehicle that was well more than $10,000 cheaper).
I have CarPlay and buttons for mirrors and stalks for wipers and turn signals.
So yeah, cars are turning into computers.
Where's my Apple Carplay or Android Auto?
Where's my actual high-tech features, like Augmented Reality Heads Up Displays? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VN4K0aHk5Y
Telsa is already years behind Hyundai with regards to computer-features. Its not about shitty iPad screens anymore, Hyundai is beaming information directly onto the windshield and using computer-vision to track your eyeballs and line up that information with real-life cars in front of you to help you understand what the lane-assist is doing.
Do you really think car fans (and technology fans) are impressed by a low-cost iPad that can't even properly connect to a modern phone?
And it's also an issue that's no longer unique to Tesla. Everything is getting a tablet in the center console and all the switches are going there
The mirrors are adjustable via the console because driver profiles change their positions automatically along with the steering wheel and seat positions.
My 2010 Honda crosstour remembered seat and mirror settings for two drivers and the controls were in the normal places.
That exact feature existed before tablet sized screens, or even the concept of infotainment. Even better, key fob based automatic profiles have existed for decades, and it's something Tesla only recently added. Which is pretty typical of Tesla- Add a feature that has existed for 20-30 years, implement it in a shitty, slapdash manner, and make your
clapping sealsfans think you've done something revolutionary.Auto high beams, auto wipers, mirror and wheel adjustments, auto dimming mirrors, and so on. They all perfectly demonstrate this dedication to janky experiences.
There's no reason you couldn't have that feature and separate controls for the mirrors.
Big old man yells at cloud energy.