The new Tesla Model 3 ‘Highland’ has been the center of almost all conversations about electric cars in recent days, even though the last auto show is being held in Munich and there is news to bore. But it is that little by little some of the key changes that have been carried out in this new Model 3 2024 are being uncovered, and there is one in particular that nobody is understanding. The question is very clear: is it a botch, or a genius? The debate is served, and there are opinions on both sides of this interesting change that the brand has carried out with the restyling.
Although the Tesla Model 3 2024 is undoubtedly much better than the version before the restyling, behind this update of the model it is well known that there is a strong reduction in production costs. To make it cheaper to manufacture, Tesla has had to make risky decisions, such as getting rid of the turn signal and ‘wiping’ levers behind the wheel, as well as the ‘gear’ selector. Fewer buttons are cheaper to manufacture, but may in some cases compromise ergonomics, as previously seen with the Model S and Model X, which underwent the same evolution. This is where the ‘crux’ of the matter is because it is where the most striking change they have made to the Tesla Model 3 2024 appears.
The gear selector button on the roof is another Tesla genius?
Now, with the Tesla Model 3 Highland, to select the gear you have to resort to the touch screen because there is no physical control that was previously installed precisely to fulfill that function. Now, what happens if, for whatever reason, the screen fails? Or, without it suffering a hardware or software failure, what would happen if it breaks and we cannot use its functions? Well, in these cases there is an “emergency” control, and everyone has been surprised because it is placed on the roof, instead of occupying a space in the center console, which is the most frequent.
In an electric car, such as the Tesla Model 3, this gear selector serves, as in a conventional car with an automatic transmission, to select whether the car drives forward, backward, or stays in parking mode. And this, as we said, is now done from the screen, but Tesla has made the surprising decision to put physical control on the roof. A good idea since, indeed, at some point, there could be a problem with the screen, and the control is replicated so that the vehicle can continue to be used.
Now, what is occupying all the conversations of the last days is the singular place that they have chosen to place this auxiliary command. It is located where the central rearview mirror, which is also where the emergency lights are placed. Is it a solution to the ‘botch’ of having decided to do without the usual physical control for these functions? Or is it one more ‘genius’ from Tesla? What is clear is that, at least, the control is duplicated, and, if the screen fails, which is not something frequent in Tesla electrics, at least we are not going to be stranded without being able to use the vehicle.
At the level of ergonomics, indeed, it is possibly not the best location. However, in these vehicles the selector will only be used when stationary, so resorting to the roof is not going to hinder driving to a great extent, except in the parking lot and until we get used to its position. And that, is only if the control of the screen fails, which is something that a priori should not happen at any time. Come on, it is not as relevant as it is being painted on social networks, where criticism was going to rain down on a car that has improved enormously and without raising a single euro in price .
