99% of the controls and information (speed) are on a panel that you have to divert your eyes from the road to view or manipulate while driving. When I'm driving my gas engine car I divert my eyes a fraction of the distance to glance at the speed or other gauges, and it offers analog knobs in addition to the touchscreen interface. Tesla's design isn't just minimalist, it's dangerously poor design.
Also, for the premium price of a Tesla, I expect things like the weather stripping and other basic features to top quality. They aren't--far from it in fact. All of the other EVs I drove had some elements of that same "all digital" poor design, but none of them had any apparent defects in the basic structure of the vehicle, or the poor steering, etc. And they were comparably priced (Rivian) or less expensive (the others, save Mercedes).
The eye deflection required to view the speed on a Tesla is comparable to that required to view it on most cars. You just have to flick right rather than down. And that's an easier, more natural deflection for humans -- there's a reason that TV's and movie screens are wider than they are tall.
Now if you were complaining about Tesla's dearth of physical buttons you wouldn't get any argument from me...
On my Toyota I can adjust the AC witb three knobs without looking.
In fact the Bulbs are burnt out for the backlights and I just never bothered to take the dash apart to fix.
The radio is a little more conplicated since it’s a CarPlay model. But all the functional controls are on the steering wheel (volume, next/last etc). So short of answering a call, or changing from a podcast to Plexamp I rarely have to divert attention.
Minimalist is a matter of taste. But when it's obvious it's done for cost cutting and not even done well it's a problem. Tesla QC and functional design is quite frankly terrible.
