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European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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Some Teslas have their windscreen wiper settings on the touchscreen.
That's the funniest thing I've heard today
I think the latest models also have the gear selector (or whatever they're called for automatics / EVs) on the touch screen, so you need to swipe up to put it into drive.
So... the entire car is bricked if that screen malfunctions and the car is not usable by those with poor motor skills in their right hand?
Or left hand for right-hand drive cars, but yes.
I watch the CarWow channel on YouTube and they review a lot of EV's, and the host struggled with it - it would take him several attempts to get it into drive as he'd swipe up but not all the way so it would never actually engage. I guess in that case a software fix could be applied to make the control more sensitive but it's still fucking stupid to have it there in the first place.
Also for more WTFs, on that same channel, they do these challenges where they drive a bunch of EVs on a route and see which one goes the furthest, which has the closest range to what the manufacture claims it'll do and what happens to the vehicle when it runs out of battery. There was an instance where the Tesla ran out of charge, but they couldn't open the recharging port because the little door is electronic.
Making it “more sensitive” could be awful. Imagine the carnage of suddenly dropping into reverse because a shirt sleeve brushed the button while reaching for something else.
Critical controls all need to be physical. Period. Putting something like rbgd mood lighting on… okay. That kinda makes sense.
But anything a driver might need while driving…. Dont have to reinvent the wheel. Which, is probably the biggest issue with Tesla’s. They were more interested in finding new ways of doing things than doing things well.
Nope, there are alternative buttons, but I agree it’s not an improvement that they have removed the stalks.
Eh, many automatics nowadays just have electrical switches to change between p, n, d and so on, if those break it's the same... Normally a switch would be more reliable still than a screen, but this is Tesla we're talking about...
Holy shit that shouldn't be legal
It’s actually one of my biggest gripes …. Washer and single wipe are on a control stalk but wiper speed is on touch screen.
I think the theory is that wipers are automatic so you don’t usually need to control them manually, but that automation doesn’t work very well or maybe the rain sensor doesn’t work very well
The problem with automation is usually that while it can do 90% of the cases well, and that's where it brings value, for safety critical stuff, like critical car components, there needs to be a way to quickly and easily override it.
In the 1994 Ford Mondeo I used to drive, if a truck with a poorly secured load and a questionably awake driver was barreling down the highway at 110-120 in a rainstorm, if I wanted to get the car ready to pass, it was one move to click the wiper into "wipe for your life" mode before the truck started to powerblast the windscreen with water splashing up from the tires.
I'm not sure if I could do that in a Tesla, especially since if it does it only when it would already be needed, that's too late. And the thing is, even if the automation did work, how do I know 100% it does work when I do something that would be dangerous if it did not work?
Actually just now on my way home discovered a new feature ….
If I click the button for a single wipe, it also pops up the wiper dialog on the touch screen, so all the configurations are right there. You have to act fast before it disappears , so it’s possible that it’s always been there but I didn’t look at the screen right after pressing the button. Anyway, that greatly simplifies the process. While the controls are still touch screen at least I don’t have to click through the menu to find the controls
You can use the left scroll wheel on your steering wheel to adjust the wipers once you've pressed for a single wipe. Just click it right for more, left for less. No need to look at the screen at all really. There's a little graphic on the wiper controls showing you this.
Is that what the little arrows onscreen are meant to say? I’ve been trying to click on them, since it is a touchscreen and I expect to click on controls
Edit: sweet . Thanks for the tip. I think the timeout was just too fast for me to have discovered it
...while you're driving...
I’d be okay with it if the auto wiper function worked great, but they decided to drop the rain sensor and use the autopilot cameras for it instead and they simply haven’t been able to make it work.