Some people like Tesla’s latest revision to the user interface, and some don’t. I’m in the first group.
How quickly they forget
I’ve gone through every version of Tesla firmware since Version 7. Once you get used to one, the previous version fades from memory, as is quickly becoming the case with Version 10.2 of blessed memory.
We forget what was wrong with Version 10. It was cluttered. There was a bar across the top with buttons to push, and a bar along the bottom with buttons to push — in fact there were so many buttons that one had to focus (read: stop looking at the road and ponder) on what you wanted. Many things that are infrequent settings (like Bluetooth pairing) took up visual space all of the time.
I like the less cluttered touchscreen. It’s more focused on driving and music, and less on settings.
Where did it go?
This is the short-term frustration. I learned where all those things were: the odometer, the tire pressure, the dash cam viewer, the seat heaters, Bluetooth pairing and other stuff I’m quickly forgetting. I’m the first to admit that I couldn’t find the dashcam recording viewer (it’s an app with an icon that looks just like the live dash cam viewer except for one tiny red dot). I couldn’t find the tire pressure (it’s on the service menu and doesn’t show up until the car is driven a little — like before). The seat heaters are under the climate controls. The Odometer is on the Controls | Trips tab. The other settings are on the main controls screen.
One cool thing is that you may not need a setting that you used before; for example, seat heaters. There is a setting for them to turn on automatically with the cabin climate control. How cool is that?
One might say that they don’t want to go to a second screen to save dashcam footage, but there’s a voice command for that — you don’t have to go anywhere.
I think placement of things before was rather ad hoc. This is more intentional.
“I used to know where everything is and now I don’t know where anything is.” I get that, but it goes away quickly.
New stuff
Far and away, my absolute favorite new feature is the automatic display of the rear-facing side camera display when the turn signal is activated. That’s a huge safety plus. It’s one setting that everyone should make.
The Light Show is cute to show to other people. Now you don’t have to have a Model X for a show. I don’t really play games on my car, so the new ones don’t excite me.
The app bar at the bottom is customizable and remembers your recent selections. I like that, and I put the web browser down there. On a long trip, I can quickly refer back to the energy graph.
Overall, I’m happy.