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These cars exist purely to be a rung in the price ladder to get you to spend $5,000 more on a car with actual features. They did the same thing with the RWD Cyb

These cars exist purely to be a rung in the price ladder to get you to spend $5,000 more on a car with actual features. They did the same thing with the RWD Cybertruck and I don't actually believe they ever shipped any before cancelling it. If people do end up buying these I really hope they know what they are giving up. Something as simple as "seat controls" were deemed too costly and are now driven by software on the touch screen. I used to give the "software defined car" a bit of leeway on some of the omissions / transition to screen, but these cars are the extreme and I wonder if legislators are going to allow this. For example, I checked on the Tesla Japan and Tesla Europe websites and it doesn't look like these are for sale.

marssaxman 11mo ago
That's interesting. The other removed features all sound like things I would prefer not to pay for anyway: from the article on The Verge, "front and rear light bars, panoramic glass roof, power mirror folding, the second row display, and puddle lamps" - what even are "puddle lamps," I've never heard of such a thing? But moving even more ordinary, everyday functions into their already-annoying touchscreen would really irritate me. It's not likely that I would want to buy a Tesla anyway, though; the design ethos is not for me.
- moogly 11mo ago
  Puddle lamps shine light from the bottom of the side mirrors or bottom of the doors to (if they are useful) light up where you put your feet when getting out of the car or (if they are less useful) project your car brand's logo at a much worse position in front of the open door.
  - marssaxman 11mo ago
    Thanks! I have seen those, but didn't know the name.
guywithahat 11mo ago
They definitely shipped some RWD cybertrucks, there was one on the lot when I bought my Y. Frankly I would have got a cybertruck if I could afford it, and the RWD version had more range and was cheaper, making it desirable in my eyes. I see no reason why moving the seat controls to a screen would deter buyers
_23sd 11mo ago
I don't expect most drivers will miss the seat controls. Tesla syncs your seat settings to your profile, so the main drivers never touch the controls, just the passenger. But that's easy for me to say when I already know what driving one is like, this is yet another thing that makes Teslas and EVs intimidating to someone driving one for the first time. Otherwise it doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice for $5k. I like the glass roof but not that much.
- supportengineer 11mo ago
  >> "intimidating" Seat controls should be on the seat. That's just logical.
  - iknowstuff 11mo ago
    What else? Should screen brightness of your phone have a physical slider somewhere by the display? Your computer fan speed? Why would this one-and-done setting saved per driver profile and synced across yours teslas require physical controls? It’s a nice to have but clearly not a requirement.
    - supportengineer 11mo ago
      You've probably had a "limited" amount of life experience, if you never move your driver's seat. With touch screen controls, there's a lot of "friction" to adjust your seat, so you probably just "suffer" instead. Can you see that if there was less "friction" to adjust your seat, you might do it more often?
      - iknowstuff 11mo ago
        Sounds like u gotta go for the variant that has it while I couldn’t care less. In other words, good choice by Tesla
  - tim333 11mo ago
    My merc puts them as physical buttons in the shape of a seat on the arm rest. Which works better than on the seat as you can see them and don't have to grope around to find them.
dzhiurgis 11mo ago
So which of those features you’d pay 5k for? I’m not gonna drop 5k on a radio.

marssaxman 11mo ago

That's interesting. The other removed features all sound like things I would prefer not to pay for anyway: from the article on The Verge, "front and rear light bars, panoramic glass roof, power mirror folding, the second row display, and puddle lamps" - what even are "puddle lamps," I've never heard of such a thing? But moving even more ordinary, everyday functions into their already-annoying touchscreen would really irritate me. It's not likely that I would want to buy a Tesla anyway, though; the design ethos is not for me.

moogly 11mo ago
Puddle lamps shine light from the bottom of the side mirrors or bottom of the doors to (if they are useful) light up where you put your feet when getting out of the car or (if they are less useful) project your car brand's logo at a much worse position in front of the open door.
- marssaxman 11mo ago
  Thanks! I have seen those, but didn't know the name.

guywithahat 11mo ago

They definitely shipped some RWD cybertrucks, there was one on the lot when I bought my Y. Frankly I would have got a cybertruck if I could afford it, and the RWD version had more range and was cheaper, making it desirable in my eyes. I see no reason why moving the seat controls to a screen would deter buyers

_23sd 11mo ago

I don't expect most drivers will miss the seat controls. Tesla syncs your seat settings to your profile, so the main drivers never touch the controls, just the passenger. But that's easy for me to say when I already know what driving one is like, this is yet another thing that makes Teslas and EVs intimidating to someone driving one for the first time. Otherwise it doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice for $5k. I like the glass roof but not that much.

supportengineer 11mo ago
>> "intimidating" Seat controls should be on the seat. That's just logical.
- iknowstuff 11mo ago
  What else? Should screen brightness of your phone have a physical slider somewhere by the display? Your computer fan speed? Why would this one-and-done setting saved per driver profile and synced across yours teslas require physical controls? It’s a nice to have but clearly not a requirement.
  - supportengineer 11mo ago
    You've probably had a "limited" amount of life experience, if you never move your driver's seat. With touch screen controls, there's a lot of "friction" to adjust your seat, so you probably just "suffer" instead. Can you see that if there was less "friction" to adjust your seat, you might do it more often?
    - iknowstuff 11mo ago
      Sounds like u gotta go for the variant that has it while I couldn’t care less. In other words, good choice by Tesla
- tim333 11mo ago
  My merc puts them as physical buttons in the shape of a seat on the arm rest. Which works better than on the seat as you can see them and don't have to grope around to find them.

dzhiurgis 11mo ago

So which of those features you’d pay 5k for? I’m not gonna drop 5k on a radio.