This First Look At The Tesla Model 3s Dash Controls Is Not At All Promising. Possibly the most controversial design decision of the Tesla Model 3, even beyond its Renault Caravelle like grille less face, is its instrument panel, which consists solely of a center mounted landscape oriented LCD screen. This tweeted video showing how the climate control air direction system works is one of the first real looks weve had at the Model 3s UI, and I really cant say Im impressed. That puts me in pretty direct opposition to noted rich guy Bill Lee, the Tesla investor who posted the video of the HVAC control interface, who called it genius. Look for yourself Okay, so lets just be clear about whats happening here. The series of actions taken by presumably Lees finger there are to direct the flow of air from the AC to the vents hidden in that dark horizontal band across the Model 3s dashboard. These controls are invoked by pressing the small fan icon at the bottom of the display, which then opens a window in the lower right corner of the screen. That window is divided into two panes, the left one having the basic climate controlsfan speed, temperature, facefeet airflow, etcand the right pane containing the interface to adjust where the air flows. Whether its time or an accident that has altered the appearance of your 1997 Ford F150, we can help you restore it with our broad selection of auto body parts. Top VIdeos. Warning Invalid argument supplied for foreach in srvusersserverpilotappsjujaitalypublicindex. Thats the focus of this little video, so lets focus on that as well. The interface consists of a horizontal bar, which I guess is supposed to represent the dashs vent bar, and an oblong thumb that can be positioned anywhere on the panel, and can also be split in two via a little button at the lower right. So, if Im understanding this properly, the position of the oblong represents where the airflow is directed And you can split it into two points I think theres a hell of a lot wrong with this UI. I have a background in UIUX design, if that helps add any value to what Im going to say, but Im pretty sure what Ill be pointing out are things anyone would notice. First, that thumb is needlessly low contrast why do a light gray control on a slightly less light gray background like that Is there a reason not to make it more visible, maybe use the blue color thats also in this UI designThe whole idea of the oblong is weird. I dont normally think of airflow as hitting a given point in space airflow is more of a directional vectorit flows out from a source, in some direction. Picking a point like that for where the air goes is not very natural feeling. Then, theres the question of how is this to operate while you drive The nature of a touch screen, drag to position interface is that it is entirely visual. Theres no tactile feedback, and you need your eyes to focus on the control to drag it about with your finger. With conventional physical vent controls, you never needed to take your eyes off the road that interface was entirely tactile. You could actually feel the flow of air, and you used your hand to direct vanes to redirect the air. Feedback was instantaneous and immediately understandable. Plus, these touchscreen HVAC controls are modal, in the sense that they dont always exist, and require the driver or passenger to enter a separate window to display the controls. While up, they obscure other controls and displays it looks like the audio system, in this case. This means that if the driver wants to redirect the airflow while the passenger changes the song, someones going to have to wait until the other is done. Thats not ideal. The whole ventless HVAC thing all seems like a design solution that invents a problem that never really existed. Chloride Software For Power Start 600 Lb here. Sure, it does look cleaner, but I never minded the look of most physical dashboard vents. Some even enhanced the interior design. Physical vents also gave visual information about the airflow even when the car or AC or heat wasnt on. You could see which vents were closed, which ones pointed one way or the other. They inherently retained the last used position, and allowed for airflow in more than two directions. The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the Model 3s HVAC solution isnt genius at all its stupid. Perhaps theres some manufacturing cost savings with the one long mono vent making the controls in software could be cheaper, but it also necessitates some sort of electric actuator to direct the airflow. Which is another thing, buried deeply and expensively inside that dashboard, that can break. I want to be clear that there are things I like about Teslas approach here, and Im not some traditionalist stuck in the past. I very much appreciate that theyre not falling into the usual trap of faking analog gauges, and I think an LCD screen can be designed to be a very effective instrument panel. Physical vent controls and vanes arent clumsy as Bill Lee suggests. Theyre really quite elegant. They take no extra power, they give direct and immediate feedback, they dont require taking eyes or attention off driving, they allow for greater flexibility of airflow directions, and theyre non modal, and dont lock out any other controls of the car. The Tesla Model 3s solution is less effective in every possible way. Thats a weird idea of genius, if you ask me. I/31lhkbmk4xL._SY355_.jpg' alt='How To Repair A Cracked Dashboard On 2012 Yukon Xl' title='How To Repair A Cracked Dashboard On 2012 Yukon Xl' />Jalopnik has been told that some area dealers dont favor this idea because they feel as if workers can become vested employees and use the pay minimums set by the. Possibly the most controversial design decision of the Tesla Model 3, even beyond its Renault Caravellelike grilleless face, is its instrument panel, which consists. Download the free trial version below to get started. Doubleclick the downloaded file to install the software. Motor Trend reviews the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee where consumers can find detailed information on specs, fuel economy, transmission and safety. Find local 2015 Jeep.