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I just got a new car (not a tesla), it has it has controls that have dedicated buttons, it does have a touchscreen, and turn signal stalk, check. gear stalk? that's been gone ages ago. I have a/c control buttons, radio dials, volume knob. Don't have a spare, but that's standard. They used to pack a real full size tire before they started with that extra small spare tire crap, then finally they just give you a kit that can repair your tire. The touchscreen is not small, and no there's not a lot of tiny targets crowded too close together. They're fairly spread out and all the controls are about 3 finger widths apart. Not everyone gets a tesla.

> - don't get a flat tire if you care about your time. If you can't change a spare, nvm.

Is it harder to change a spare on a tesla compare to other cars?

Probably because you don't get a spare tire so you have to wait until road side assistance comes to you.

... what does roadside assistance do in that scenario? They can't be carrying spare tires of every variety, and the equipment to fit them.. this just sounds like a terrible non-solution to a solved problem.

I don't think they care, my Mustang came with a fix-it kit and that's it

No donut or anything. Goop and an air pump made by Honda

Most of the time the car is put on a car recovery truck and driven to a garage.

That's the case for most cars post 2017

Yeah, my 2015 car came with an optional spare wheel which eats up a significant part of the not very big trunk. Haven't used it the last 9 years so I get why people opt for the repair kit. The chance of having a tire leak probably depends a lot on the quality of the roads where you drive.

> - it is dangerously hard to use any control that doesn't have a dedicated button. The touchscreen in a moving car is a moving mess of tiny targets crowded too close together

No it isn't.

> - even if you have a dedicated control for say wipers, you will still curse interval wipers.

Sensor-based wipers fail to predict rain regularly. I discussed this topic recently with a friend, her Mercedes has the same problem and it does have a sensor.

> - if you get a newer car, you (basically) won't HAVE any dedicated controls. no turn signal stalk. No gear stalk - PRND - it will guess for you (really)

That's a valid point. But it remains to be seen how much of a problem this is. Certainly other manufacturers (Volkswagen ID.4 for example) cramp many more buttons on the steering wheel.

> - some functions - tesla doesn't care about, and never will.

Like what?

> - don't get a flat tire if you care about your time. If you can't change a spare, nvm.

Most modern cars don't have a reserve tire. Not sure what you're talking about.

> - going forward - cram all controls/settings and information displays into a small ipad. You are all peons, you get less control/safety/information because tesla wants fewer warranty claims.

It's still wrong if you repeat it multiple times.

I’ve literally never seen a car without a spare tire. It’s usually hidden underneath the trunk these days. I assumed it was law?

EDIT: never mind, I see Teslas come with a repair kit instead. (I suppose by modern car you might mean electric.) TIL

At least in Germany most manufacturers do this - and not only for electric cars. Many modern cars do not contain a spare tire. And this has been widely reported for at least 10 years now.

I generally find it really strange that so many articles single out Tesla to complain about issues that apply to many new cars. But maybe the US market is very different and maybe in the US Teslas really are very different from other cars.

My 2012 car has no spare tire, you are instead mandated to use run-flat tires (on those, you can still drive 80 km at a lower speed). This is pretty common.

My 2022 Mercedes has no spare tire, and there's no room for one under the trunk bed. I was told the tires are run-flat tires. Which I guess is fine for some short distance, but after that, I'll be SOL. Really wish there was a spare. And I'm sure when the tires need replacement, they'll be much more expensive than the regular non-run-flat ones.

Common for different reasons, remarkably annoying

Buy a Mustang with bigger brakes or wheels, you get the same treatment

>No it isn't.

Touchscreens demand I look away from my surroundings, because I will never know where anything is nor if I did whatever I wanted to do correctly. That is fundamentally terrible as regards safe driving.

Can you give an example of something that really needs to be adjusted on the touchscreen while driving that cannot be adjusted using the buttons on the steering wheel on the Model 3? I never ever need to do this.

Additionally the lane keeping and adaptive cruise control on the highway are rock solid, so even if you would look briefly - for example at the navigation system, just like in any other car - not much can happen.

Regarding looking away - in Europe we are taught in driving school to look over our left shoulder when changing lanes. So we take the eyes of the road ahead FAR longer than a brief peak at a touchscreen. Yet this is deemed to be acceptable and safer even in a car that does not keep the lane and does not automatically break if there is an obstacle in front.

>using the buttons on the steering wheel on the Model 3?

I suppose I should clarify I am speaking generally, I don't own nor have I ever driven a Tesla. I have, however, had to deal with touchscreen controls in recent years.

>even if you would look briefly

>a brief peak at a touchscreen.

The thing about touchscreens is they demand more than just a "brief" "peak". I need to look at it, obviously, and also devote considerable attention and mental processing to comprehending what's on the screen and then moving my hand and finger as necessary.

I can't rely on muscle memory or peripheral sensory feedback, because nothing is ever in the same, consistent place on a touchscreen nor is there any useful tactile or auditory feedback. I must decipher the touchscreen every time and hope to dear god the shitsilicon running the thing can process my input in a timely and reliable manner (spoiler: it won't).

One time, the touchscreen controls for the AC locked up and stayed broken until I turned the entire car off and back on when I was done with that leg of driving.

Touchscreen controls in a car are a driving hazard, I would argue worse than "text and drive" smartphones.

The fact is that you don't have to look at all, because the Tesla touchscreen does not have modalities. (There is a drill-down menu that you NEVER need to open during driving). Everything else is accessible in exactly the same spot at the bottom of the screen and no looking is required.

Additionally, as I said, the steering wheel buttons handle everything that matters, so there is no need to even interact with the touchscreen at all during driving.

Let's look at the interactions in detail:

- Most controls of the car are done using physical controls. This includes left and right blinking, reversing, steering, lights, wipers, honking, the acceleration and break pedals, windows, seats, doors, opening compartments, audio and media controls, autopilot and lane keeping, camera controls.

- The only things where interaction with the touchscreen is preferable are (a) setting a destination in the navigation system - for going home or to work this is literally a swipe gesture on the main screen, usually done before the car is started and (b) adjusting the heating or temperature. For this there are two buttons at the bottom of the screen, always in the same location. However I always have them on auto and there is simply no need to fiddle with this, ever. If it's important to you it can be configured to be on the steering wheel as well.

- I think people who think that constant adjustment of the temperature settings is necessary are used to driving cars where this is not sufficiently automated. I have seat and wheel heating set to auto and that works just fine. I have set my temperature to 20 °C and it feels comfortable in summer and winter. Why would I want to change this while driving?

- Setting a new destination in the navigation system can be done using voice. This is not great but will certainly be improved. A modern system like Whisper should handle this easily. In any case, why would anyone want to do this while driving? And in any case it will be the same issue in any other car, because this simply requires typing out letters which is difficult.

> I would argue worse than "text and drive" smartphones.

Obviously holding a phone and typing out text on a tiny keyboard that certainly has to be looked at takes far more focus than touching a pre-defined spot on a huge fixed screen. But as I said this is never needed.

So do buttons and sticks. Esp if it's not buttons you use all the time.

> don't get a flat tire if you care about your time.

can you elaborate on this?

No spare tire in the trunk, like nearly all newish cars.

> - if you get a newer car, you (basically) won't HAVE any dedicated controls. no turn signal stalk. No gear stalk - PRND - it will guess for you (really)

What? How do you signal a turn then? How do you change the gear?

> How do you signal a turn then?

Buttons on the steering wheel. It's not very usable when you're trying to indicate while turning (like around a roundabout):

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/tesla-steering-wheel-mode...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA2dSHu-hns

> How do you change the gear?

Via the touch screen or buttons in the overhead console:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h6CgpHMuqC8

They are both dumb design choices.

Oh no. Thank you. Will never get a Tesla.

It concerns me to know that these vehicles are on the road around me. What a mess. I’ve never seen such a blatantly ridiculous gear shift control in my life.