sowbug
Member
I think the v.7 dashboard looks ugly and sparse, but I understand why Tesla did it.
Version 7 is the autopilot release. With an autopilot car, you're going to be very tempted to find interesting things to look at, because keeping your car between the lines won't be taking up 70% of your brain anymore. So they're trying to make the main dash as boring and, yes, as useless as possible.
Consider OP's list of things removed. None of them have anything to do with safe driving. Power consumption doesn't. The date, time, and temperature certainly don't. The trip meters don't. The odo doesn't. Then consider what they kept. Speedometer. Surroundings. Battery capacity. Mode (PRND). And then two widgets to minimize the temptation to become even more distracted by fiddling with the touchscreen. All of these are directly relevant to driving or else a heads-up display compromise.
I can just imagine Tesla designers a couple years ago writing two columns on a whiteboard. The left column was the minimum necessary for safe driving. The right was everything else. The left column became Version 7.
Tesla is training people to keep their eyes on the road, while simultaneously taking a great step toward making that unnecessary. It's a mixed message, but we're in a funny time, tech-wise. Ten years from now people will be raging about the steering wheel being removed and replaced with a margarita blender, and some of us old-timers will recall this thread where we debated the loss of the clock.
Version 7 is the autopilot release. With an autopilot car, you're going to be very tempted to find interesting things to look at, because keeping your car between the lines won't be taking up 70% of your brain anymore. So they're trying to make the main dash as boring and, yes, as useless as possible.
Consider OP's list of things removed. None of them have anything to do with safe driving. Power consumption doesn't. The date, time, and temperature certainly don't. The trip meters don't. The odo doesn't. Then consider what they kept. Speedometer. Surroundings. Battery capacity. Mode (PRND). And then two widgets to minimize the temptation to become even more distracted by fiddling with the touchscreen. All of these are directly relevant to driving or else a heads-up display compromise.
I can just imagine Tesla designers a couple years ago writing two columns on a whiteboard. The left column was the minimum necessary for safe driving. The right was everything else. The left column became Version 7.
Tesla is training people to keep their eyes on the road, while simultaneously taking a great step toward making that unnecessary. It's a mixed message, but we're in a funny time, tech-wise. Ten years from now people will be raging about the steering wheel being removed and replaced with a margarita blender, and some of us old-timers will recall this thread where we debated the loss of the clock.