Speed Control Suggestions

[Doug_G]

Since the Model S is so quiet, there will be no audible feedback on your speed like an ICE car, or even a Roadster. Leaf owners tell me it's all too easy to get going too fast unless you use the cruise control. But of course unless it's adaptive cruise - which isn't available on the Model S - you can't use it in traffic. Sounds like a recipe for speeding tickets.

I think there is a trivial solution: a simple app for the touchscreen. Whenever the car exceeds a certain speed it goes "bong". It should have buttons to turn on different thresholds, which would all be user-programmable. (I'd make them toggles so you can leave them on if you like.) You might set up buttons for freeway, regular highway, and city streets.

So let's say you pull onto an 80 kph highway. Everyone goes a bit faster than that, so you'd have a 95 kph button (or whatever works for you). Now if your car ever exceeds 95 kph, you get a polite "bong" to let you know.

I think this simple feature could save Model S owners a lot of speeding tickets.

[bonnie1194]

Maybe that will be one of the first apps for the car that you'll be able to upload!

[dsm363]

Excellent idea. I'm hoping that since one can actually see the speedometer easily (taller drivers at least) that it should be less of an issue.

[Doug_G]

Next suggestion - it would be very nice if the cruise control showed its setpoint on the speedometer screen. It makes it so much faster to set the cruise control to your intended speed.

I frequently notice how much more convenient this is when driving my Infiniti. The adaptive cruise control has a setpoint display, but the conventional cruise control does not. Sometimes I have to switch over because heavy rain disables the adaptive cruise (water absorbs radar microwave frequencies). Whenever I do that, I have to spend a lot more time fiddling with it to get the speed where I want it. This means more time glancing down at the speedometer instead of keeping your eyes on the road. With the setpoint display I can quickly dial it to the speed I want and then ignore it.

[AnOutsider]

Should be trivial as many cars have this already (including the Karma)

[NigelM]

Silence is golden.....

[vfx]

Next suggestion - it would be very nice if the cruise control showed its setpoint on the speedometer screen. It makes it so much faster to set the cruise control to your intended speed.

I frequently notice how much more convenient this is when driving my Infiniti. ///.....

Agreed on the Infiniti programmable CC. Really makes it easier.

Don't care about a speed bong. Just learn how to drive.

[Beavis]

The speed of the other cars on the road and the speedometer itself aren't enough?

[SByer]

My wife's E350 wagon has cruise control that digitally displays the target speed and the stalk bumps it up and down by 1mph. All cruise controls should do this.

In the Roadster, unconsciously going too fast isn't really a problem, but that's because there's always that wind noise (though it's so much better with all the updates - before, going even 65mph raised a cacophony of whoosh). Consciously going too fast? Well...

[ahimberg]

GPS/Maps integration could do it. My phone's nav software (Nokia Drive) has a configurable beep at X above the speed limit (2 of them, one for low speeds, one for interstate).