Never having driven a Tesla, I'm legitimately curious how much of a difference the infotainment makes.
The onboard system of my Chinese BEV is not great to be honest (rest of the car works well) but it has Android Auto so it navigates and plays my media.
Since as a sole driver I have to keep my eyes on the road at all times, it seems possible that passengers could benefit but I would like to have some first hand reports.
Or is it common for some people to sit in the car and use the infotainment just for fun?
i've rented electric cars for the last three years and own a Model 3. massive difference.
yes, the tesla doesn't have buttons. however, basically every common operation you'll do can be done in five actions or less.
if i want to navigate somewhere with our tesla, i simply tap the navigation search bar, enter the destination like I would on Google Maps, select and drive. Or i can share the destination with the Tesla app from Google or Apple Maps.
It's at least four taps with CarPlay to do this...and you're hoping that it doesn't crash mid-drive (like it's done to me so many times before). Google Automotive actually does a really great job here, but that's only shipped with select cars.
i can swipe left or right on the cabin temp to adjust upwards or downwards. many cars have dedicated controls for them, but some, like the Kia EV6, use that strip for multiple uses, so you think you're changing cabin temp, but you're actually adjusting sound volume.
ADAS (Lane Keep Assist, Autosteer, adaptive cruise, etc) is where the Tesla experience shines most brightly. On EVERY OTHER CAR, configuring ADAS involves navigating a labyrinthine maze of menus, guessing what a bunch of acronyms mean (LKA, HDA, VCC, etc. Toyotas are the worst at this), and, when it's on, figuring out if it's actually on (autosteer is the worst about this) and hoping you'll develop muscle memory in changing speed and stuff from the steering wheel.
On Teslas, you single- or double-tap the gear stalk or press a button on the steering wheel. To configure, tap the car, tap "Autopilot," go nuts. The only acronym in this menu is FSD, and it's spelled out (full self-driving). the small speed indicator turns blue if traffic-aware cruise control is on; the wheel on the display turns blue if autosteer is on; and the display shows you its view of the world at all times.
The onboard system of my Chinese BEV is not great to be honest (rest of the car works well) but it has Android Auto so it navigates and plays my media.
Since as a sole driver I have to keep my eyes on the road at all times, it seems possible that passengers could benefit but I would like to have some first hand reports.
Or is it common for some people to sit in the car and use the infotainment just for fun?
(I swear that I'm asking in good faith)