Having to look down and over to see the speed seems like a big change from basically every other car on the road.
Is this even within regulations in most places?
Is this even within regulations in most places?
I have used a GPS speedo on my screenmounted device for years, and looking down and forwards for my speed seems unnatural now.
You get used to it.
The Mini has a tiny LCD screen just above the wheel showing all the same information as the center dash cluster:
http://i.imgur.com/fxa308W.jpg
Specifically, above the wheel you have to see total range, speed, and fuel/battery status.
Plus, directions/speed will be shown in the top-left of the screen.
This will be interesting.
So Germany could very much block the Tesla Model 3 from EU roads.
Huh? How does that work? What happens if Germany denies the Model 3, but France approves it? The EU collapses?
Merkel's enforcers have a stern word with the French administration, who will then cave in. As always.
http://i.imgur.com/fxa308W.jpg
Specifically, above the wheel you have to see total range, speed, and fuel/battery status.
As I knew someone that owned a 2012 prius that has literally nothing behind the driver's wheel (along with my wife's old saturn, but I'm almost positive that wasn't sold in europe).
Actually now that i'm thinking about it, it seems about 30% of the cars in my life have had the main dash cluster in the center of the car!
The Prius has an above-the-wheel driver display (source: I drive one, and have been in every generation of Prius sold in the US, and my wife drives a Prius C) in addition to the center console touchscreen.
It's higher, and nearer the centerline, than the old behind the wheel displays, but that is to allow your eyes to not come as far from the road in looking at it.
That's quite different (in a sense, diametrically opposed) from having the only display be a center-console touchscreen that isn't above the wheel.
But again, either way I'm confident that Tesla is going to be within regulation. They are already getting so much scrutiny/bikeshedding about the center display, I can't imagine them not following the required laws. With so much attention on it, it'd be silly to have it all get fucked up by not having the screen positioned a few inches differently.
[0] https://electrek.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/model-3-interio...
[1] http://ourautoexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2405-Toy...
It's not a similar eyeline (it's maybe only a little lower, but also not as far back from the driver; you are looking down toward the wheel not at the road past the wheel to see that display.)
> But again, either way I'm confident that Tesla is going to be within regulation.
"Not in violation of the law" is a pretty low bar, but, yes, I'm quite sure anywhere they actually deliver the Model 3 it will probably clear that bar, at least for obvious things like display position.
Considering Tesla has actually lobbied to a few European governments to change the law, it seems like they try to attack the problem from that side instead of actually fixing it on the hardware side.