After 60 years or more of legacy car manufacturers presenting radical concepts ie Ford Wrist Twist, but never daring to actually launch them. Or prototypes at car shows where the wacky unconventional steering wheel is a given it'll never make it to the production model.
It takes the new kid to actually have the balls to just do it. I expect it'll garner polar opinions, think Cybertruck, removing pinnacle display (model 3), removing all knobs and buttons. Also, all stalks are now removed.
This is on their website to order now, no option.
Left button for cannons, right for machine guns?
It's on upside down. It makes more sense to have a partial wheel with the upper portion. But then that would block the display. That looks like style over function.
Left button for cannons, right for machine guns?
Maybe more appropriate on the Messerschmitt kr200
that would make the classic 10 to 2 hand position kinda difficult
Touchscreens for the driver are useless and dangerous in cars. I know its not just Tesla but they have taken it to the extreme. Reliable voice control or gesture control might work though.
Is netflix and drive the new netflix and chill?
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
that would make the classic 10 to 2 position kinda difficult
Doesn't matter, I don't drive until my lunchtime Rioja wears off.
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
yes
Still prefer this
The Netflix screen says everything about the expected attention the driver will have towards other road users.
I imagine the steering is possibly not directly connected to the wheels. Then you don't need to fully rotate
Maybe more appropriate on the Messerschmitt kr200
I'd be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Is netflix and drive the new netflix and chill?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9039159/couple-sex-tape-driverless-tesla-motorway/
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Austin Allegro
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
A few here (although some are concept cars):
https://www.autocar.co.uk/slideshow/wildest-steering-wheels-ever-made-0
Where do you put the spinny knob that allows rapid turning like truck drivers?
The only knob in that car is the one holding the steering device.
Any idea how to do indicators? Or have they taken a leaf from BMW's book and made them optional.
The Tesla is not a car.
Its a design dreamed up by someone that spent their childhood playing video games and their teens online.
Cars should be designed by people that actually drive - not push buttons, people that know how to do a handbrake turn in a snowy car park, people that know what oversteer/understeer actually feels like, people that get excited about actually controlling a car, people that know how an engine works etc.
Bloody touchscreens in cars a dangerous, what's wrong with fiddling with a knob when you want to adjust the volume 🙂
That will be miserable to use, can see a few people changing their minds. Indicators on buttons has been done before.
I've got a Tesla, after a few weeks you forget how odd it all is inside and just get on with driving it. Just lately an update has move the speed display around on the screen which is mildly irritating. It's still just a glance away and you don't really take your eyes off the road.
I presume it's known that you can't have any of the in car 'entertainment' on whilst your driving.
He could of committed 100% & fitted some Jones Loop bars! Miles off the pace....I'm out :o)
Bloody touchscreens in cars a dangerous, what’s wrong with fiddling with a knob when you want to adjust the volume 🙂
Volume is on the steering wheel.
You're right though, SOME buttons & dials would be nice...
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal - or did i dream that somewhere??
Whatever Homer wants… Homer gets…
I can't help think that musk and his design team are a bit stuck in the 80's.
That steering device looks horrible to use
It takes the new kid to actually have the balls to just do it.
Citroen want a word.
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Citroen DS was sure to be a good one
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
Not immediately, now I can't unsee it!
Wasn't the introduction of tactile controls with a different shape / feel a key invention that reduced aircraft crashes? Avoiding things like raising the flaps instead of lowering the undercarriage just before landing. Aside from being confident you're adjusting the control you think you are it also allows for increased concentration on the job at hand (flying / driving) rather than looking at the controls.
Touch screens in cars seem to go exactly against that. You can't knock the climate control up a degree by touch along when you have to look at a flat, featureless screen with no tactile feedback.
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal – or did i dream that somewhere??
I wouldn't be surprised in the EU, but it's on the GB website order form now and I couldn't spot any alternative. So would seem a bit missleading if it's not legal. HeyHo I'm sure they'll easily complete the circle with demand or where vehicle type approval requires.
Wasn’t the introduction of tactile controls with a different shape / feel a key invention that reduced aircraft crashes?
Absolutely, every thing Tesla do to the interior of their cars appears to make them less safe. I can use pretty much all the controls in our VW by feel. The touch screen radio was a big step backward (our old one still had station present buttons and physical play/pause). touch screens are disaster in car - I'm really surprised that no-one has done some (what would be simple simulator research) studies to show how dangerous it is.
Rectangle steering wheels make a lot of sense in an F1 car where they don’t do full rotation from lock to lock. They make little sense even in Hypercars, but in a normal road car they are utterly pointless. Sure the wheels are probably drive by wire and not mechanically connected to the steering wheel but still how would that work. How would you select full lock on that wheel, without some annoying hand movement required.
Idiots! Just doing stuff for the sake of “cool”! Can you imagine if a Volvo designer/engineer went over to work for Tesla? They’d blow a gasket within 5 mins into the job! 😄
“Mr Musk our market lead is falling now we’re not unique in selling EVs, should we produce better quality cars?”
”No, go whacky release project 242X”
”But Mr Musk that was just a silly concept to get journalists attention it was never meant to bel launched”
“Don’t make me drop you in the shark tank, I said go whacky!”
Still prefer this
My first thought before I even opened the thread.
Austin Allegro
... for about five minutes. The notorious squircle steering wheel that everyone thinks they remember was only ever used for like the first year of production.
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Not a car, but motorbike.
It's hard to see in this picture, but rather than a classic handlebar it's more like a plane's control with the grips 'up/down'. Reduces width.
I've ridden this bike and doesn't take long for it to work AND make sense.
The Tesla steering wheel looks like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
The Tesla is a solution that pretends to solve a real problem.
What would be better is a big sign on your house showing how much fossil fuel electriciy you are using - sort of like a green/red pie chart.
Then peer pressure will get everyone thinking about the impact they are having.
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal – or did i dream that somewhere??
I wouldn’t be surprised in the EU, but it’s on the GB website order form now and I couldn’t spot any alternative. So would seem a bit missleading if it’s not legal. HeyHo I’m sure they’ll easily complete the circle with demand or where vehicle type approval requires.
think i may be confused with motorsport regualtiosn, MSA states a continuous rim, ciruclar or D shape being allowed - but that Tesla doesn't look like it fulfills that criteria..
That Citroen DS interior is fantastic. You can keep your Teslas, I want a DS (original one, obvs).
I'm liking the performance figures, though.
THe Plaid+ does 0-60 in <1.99s!
I've got a Tesla too. Whilst I agree in principle with the view that a touch screen control is less safe than something you can clearly feel, I have found the practical disadvantage to be pretty modest. I pretty much never touch the AC, for example, and volume's on the steering wheel. And I suspect the person who constantly twiddles with AC/radio knobs is a fair bit less safe than the one who doesn't, whether those knobs are a touchscreen or a little switch an arm's length away. There are so many examples of differences between one car and another where one way of doing it is slightly more or less safe that this is hardly unique, but rarely do these points come up.
I guess for some proof one should look at frequency of accidents. Tesla likes to point out that such figures for their cars are very low, although I haven't seen anything recently on that.
Dunno how you do indicators without stalks though? I'm interested to see how that works. Ditto the regular occurrences of a quick windscreen wipe, light dip (Tesla's auto wipers and auto dipping are poor, frankly), some aspects of cruise control etc. I like the gear stalk mine has too, I find it very intuitive in parking, 3 point turns and whatnot. And I quite like an actual steering wheel. So my gut feel is they've gone way beyond doing what's really advantageous to the driver here, but I'd like to have a go and wouldn't be surprised if doing so proved me wrong.
Dunno how you do indicators without stalks though?
With a knob, about the fifth pic in the series:
Earlier Austins with semaphor arms had even more basic switches.
accidents. Tesla likes to point out that such figures for their cars are very low
How many of their cars are on the road? Ford/GM/VW group probably have the most accidents. Does that mean they are unsafe or there are more about?
You usually measure fatal accidents per billion miles.
Teslas are very low because they can't go very far 🙂
