Tesla Model S Deliveries

Canon PowerShot S100

ƒ/2.5

5.2 mm

1/30

They begin on Friday, as you may have heard on NPR this morning.

So I found it particularly surreal after the NPR interview when my car’s web browser defaults to the tesla.com site, and there is a picture of this very car the day before it went to the paint shop…. with a countdown clock to the official customer ship date and test drive tour.

Below that is a google map view, with live traffic updates. It’s a bit surreal to drive with satellite view zoomed in to the max. You can see the parking lot and nearby environs in a way that is so much more contextually interesting than a desktop big screen.

Another interesting cloud service is the album art display (here seen to the right of the speedometer, but normally on the big screen for me). No matter what the music source (radio, satellite, internet from overseas or personalized channels, bluetooth from your phone, or as in this case, MP3s on a thumb drive in one of the USB ports), the car sends a music sample for sound recognition and fetches a high-res image of the album art and the song’s metadata, so the song process bar and title are part of the display.

37 responses to “Tesla Model S Deliveries”

jurvetson

Jun 20, 2012 at 5:57 pm

zooming in… Everyone has one finger up… detail

& the countdown clock to Model S delivery at the bottom – with days, hours, minutes, seconds

my car coming out the paint shop, the next day…

putting on the license plate…

more photos from Tesla HQ delivery.

driving out through the Tesla ranks…

video from the camera in the foreground.

on display at the annual shareholder’s meeting

And the rest are coming.

On my last visit to the Fremont factory with Antonio, his car happened to be coming down the line, so I got a photo for him…

others.

Friday kicks off the official shipments and the first test drive tour. So excited!

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Jones L

Jun 20, 2012 at 7:11 pm

It’s beautiful!

also the assembling line is amazing.

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seatonsnet

Jun 20, 2012 at 7:12 pm

Pretty bare after all the rococo.

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McPHX

Jun 20, 2012 at 8:46 pm

I bet it still smells nice.

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solerena

Jun 20, 2012 at 9:58 pm

It does…I can smell and hear the color…

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rass999 denis laframboise

Jun 20, 2012 at 10:53 pm

I will get one exactly like this one…..in twenty years. Very, VERY nice piece of car.

denis

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Spaceaholic.com

Jun 21, 2012 at 1:12 am

Lots of cockpit distractions…hopefully wont translate to accidents

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linux-works

Jun 21, 2012 at 3:24 am

I also wonder if they went overboard on the distractions or the vid screens.

"just because you *can* does not mean you *should*."

I wonder how much study went into the options in the front dash. did they think it thru? how much thought and review and from how many different kinds of potential drivers? or, was it really just meant to impress?

user interfaces are hard to do well and even harder to hold back when so much is possible. but I wonder if this was just too much for a car dash.

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jurvetson

Jun 21, 2012 at 6:09 am

Quite a few people and focus groups and such, and like Apple, sometimes you go with a hunch. Also like Apple, the hardware is a minimalist vessel for code. So it’s easily upgradable and ties to web services.

I have not found the screen distracting. While parked, some of the information features are interesting. While driving, I use the big screen for a map and the dash screens for music and energy/regeneration monitoring (out of curiosity). The driver configures what goes where, and can have the dash areas go unused if so desired. Having had maps of various sizes in various cars, I think it’s safer to have it large and easy to see at a glance. As for the A/C and music controls, the touch screen is not much different than a dedicated set of dials, with the exception of tactile feedback if you are feeling for a knob without looking. Many cars have done away with the center console button profusion (I remember some older cars with an impossibly complex rows of buttons for everything, including all radio presets). The common fixed function knobs, like volume control, are on the steering wheel, or in the case of driving functionality, in the usual places on the paddles around the steering column.

They can upgrade the UI over the air, and offer new features to the installed base over time.

A future UI feature I’df like to see is a "Make it Hot" button. This is for some ladies I know who insist on overriding every automatic AC feature until they get warm. So the button would pump max heat and seat heaters until it was unset, and then all would resort to auto. This would save a ton of button presses for our family use case. =)

By the way, I think the seat heaters are something out of this world. I don’t think this amount of heat is possible in a gas-burning car (those cars can pump waste heat through the vents, but the car seat heaters run off the little 12V lead acid battery). With many kW of electrical power at the Tesla’s disposal, they can really pump the heat.

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linux-works

Jun 21, 2012 at 1:37 pm

I respectfully disagree 100% with touchscreens in a car.

but I hate TS’s and think they are for lazy programmers who can’t decide on real physical buttons and want ‘everything to be possible’.

did they truly offer (for internal testing and review) some tactile button based controls? I bet they – very swiftly – just declared touchscreens to be ‘too cool to not do’ and that was that. (am I wrong?)

I do see the allure of it, but I honestly think that TS’s in a car is really the wrong way to approach the control aspect and human interface.

then again, I’m NOT the target customer of this car and I fully admit that I’d never have that much video on my dash.

(fwiw, I just ‘wasted’ money on an hp15c calculator *because* of its high touchability and very stable interface. 100% buttons, nothing ‘soft defined’ (no bitmaps that change depending on context) and even though everyone and his brother has ‘smartphones’, HP still decided there was a place for those of us who prefer real buttons.)

its somewhat religious (lol) but give me tactile switches with button defintions that don’t keep changing and I’ll take that over ‘you can do anything with this!’ style touch interface. especially when I need to reach for something in a car and only have a split second to take my eye away from the road. you can’t feel with your hands. touch screens NEED your eyes there and that’s my point of why I think this design was done for the wrong reasons.

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Airkat

Jun 21, 2012 at 2:43 pm

As a reservation holder, I’m quite happy they did the touchscreen. Can’t please everyone, of course, but just giving some positive feedback from the other side of the fence.

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Chucil

Jun 21, 2012 at 2:58 pm

The smartcar is a beauty in red. Does it have a Siri type of app?

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Resh B.

Jun 21, 2012 at 3:12 pm

They once thought that installing a radio in car was very distracting and dangerous, but we still have it in our cars. It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out. It must be so much fun sitting in the passenger seat and messing with everything! 🙂

On the topic of TS vs. buttons (and sliding into off-topic), am I the only one with this gripe – With my good old cell phone, I could press just one key without even looking and speed-dial my husband. But with my iPhone (and presumably any smart phone) -> slide to unlock, (enter passcode if there’s one), touch Phone icon, go to favorites/contacts tab, then select name, select phone number to call, and then call. All I want to do is make a darned phone call with one touch of a button. Why can’t I do that??? And don’t even get me started on voice-activated calls. You still have to touch several screens, and consider yourself very lucky if that darned thing got the name right! 🙂

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bike-R

Jun 21, 2012 at 4:53 pm

Distractings arrrays, wold find it hard not to look at the screens while driving and who knows what would happen…..BTW does the Car TALK????????? for that kinda money it should recite HAMLET…..

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linux-works

Jun 21, 2012 at 5:21 pm

(puts on UI designer hat)

if you insist, I would have one screen and it would retract out of the way when the car is parked/closed or when the screen is not used. putting it out of the way and keeping the dash ‘clean’ and simple would be a better design.

the screen also seems quite exposed. what if someone’s elbow hit that thing? how kid friendly is it to have those screens up there? if hit by mistake, is that a trip to the repair shop? how much functionality do you lose if one of the screens ‘goes out’ ? hopefully nothing *essential* (?)

imnsho, the perfect marriage of computer and car is a car that does not seem like it even has a computer in it. if passengers want a tablet, they’ll bring their own tablet. drivers don’t need tablets.

embedding too much ‘computer features’ in the onboard car system just does not seem prudent to me.

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Mycophagia

Jun 21, 2012 at 5:41 pm

just add some digital touch screen to the steering wheel controls and we’re all set!

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linux-works

Jun 21, 2012 at 6:06 pm

how about some stable (not changing) indicators on the dash for turn-left and turn-right and a *good* audible design that lets you run on that, alone.

if a mapping app is done very well, it should not need the drivers to look even once at the map. you pick destinations and it tells you how to get there; but primarily *audibly* and not visually.

maybe for next version? 😉

q: what do we know about driving? we know that we are able to drive and listen at the same time; but its not at all accepted that its ok to drive and see other things at the same time (on the dash). there are new laws in many countries that stop movies from being shown to drivers if the car is in motion.

its obvious for programmers and designers to have high res zoomable maps with hardware accel, for the ‘gaming generation’. but I wonder if that’s the best and safest way to get driving directions info to drivers.

in fact, just yesterday there was a Frontline pbs documentary on how badly humans really multitask. people think they can; and the study showed they were full of it 😉 their performance went down. gee, when you split your time between more and more things, do you *think* that the context switch adds no overhead?

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sbove

Jun 21, 2012 at 8:04 pm

incredible that Americans are making the cars of the future in Silicon Valley!!!!!!! Never lose sight of how awesome that is.

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sbove

Jun 21, 2012 at 8:10 pm

ps: really excited to see a few of these out on the road around SF…and then go test drive one. Up here in Mill Valley have recently sighted a Fisker, a bunch of Leafs, the usual Tesla model 1s …and way too many new/jurassic ferraris, lambos, maseratis, porsche panameras (ugliest car of the century)…each of which should be all-electric by now…

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solarc

Jun 21, 2012 at 11:48 pm

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works] As a reservation holder of over 2 years (#2078) I am absolutely dismayed with Tesla’s decision to leave the 17" TS as the only control on the dash besides the steering wheel. I am 100% with linux-works.

I have hard time imagining constant stream of updates in the software. It’s one thing to put up with iOS or Android updates or Windows security patches and totally different to also have that in the car. I recall horror stories of my friend being stranded in a SAAB whose engine control module shut down the ignition because of a burned tail light.

I am not a huge fan of iPhones or iPads and the similarities are not in Tesla’s favor.

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jurvetson

Jun 22, 2012 at 5:19 am

Guessing you might not be an early adopter of the fully autonomous Google cars… =)

The shift of key automobile functionality to software happened long ago (with mechanical backup in many cases, like steering and braking). Sounds like a bad software partitioning design in the SAAB, and customers will not like that. But consider how many mechanical failures have stranded people, and we don’t call it a horror story – just a bad design or a “low quality” car company. Countless car starting problems have come from mechanical failures, such as fuel pumps and cables/connectors to fuel and emissions systems (as has been my experience). It’s relatively rare that you take your car in and hear that whatever problem you had was fixed with a software upgrade.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works] – Yes, there are audible directions from the Nav system, and for the turn indicators. Tastes differ here. Personally, I hate audible directions and written directions. I only go by map. This might relate to visual thinking styles. So, luckily, the software layer allows me to adjust the Nav system volume down to faint audible cues, or off altogether.

And I’m totally with you on the HP calculators. It’s all I ever use. I like the buttons, and love the horizontal aspect ratio, battery life, and RPN-native design. I also cling to the two-thumb keyboard buttons on my blackberry.

Why is that? Is it because we are old school, or romance the past (I vividly remember getting my precious calculator on my first day on the job at HP). We don’t like that answer, right? We just know that the button design is perfect for our needs, and elegant, and missing for all the jaded new users who never experienced it. And we respect how hard it was to get it right.

So why are we vastly outnumbered by button-free iPhone fans? One major reason is that any physical instantiation becomes rapidly antiquated when competing against a software and services layer. As new users go beyond email as the killer app, the device has to be fluid to keep up. It was obvious that the physical instantiations of Nokia and Motorola and the giants of just a few years ago had to be scuttled in a race to catch up with Apple.

So the reason I still use a RIM is that I still use it primarily for work email, and the two-thumb tactile feedback of buttons makes it better for that. Same for the HP calculator. Calculator speed contests are always won by buttons and RPN. I doubt that will change. But almost nobody cares about that.

You mentioned the simple fixed display of the HP calculator. Yes! Think about that use of precious real estate. Mostly input, very little output. That describes the classic calculator. And for many email cases (especially the early days of personal email, when a message usually warranted a reply, and writing takes longer than reading), input and output time was roughly symmetric. Corporate broadcasts, commercial mail, and media-rich newsletters shifted that balance. So for some, touchscreen email is preferred because they consume much more than they enter.

And of course, for a new generation consuming apps and rich media, the input/consumption equation has shifted dramatically to consumption. Email is an afterthought, at most.

So that brings us back to the car. I think the input/output ratio may guide the screen versus button debate. I want the map to be on a rich media screen. The volume control for the radio does not need visual feedback, and so I like having the physical button near my two thumbs – just like the calculator and blackberry.

A sea of buttons is a nightmare to me… and I think it will look just as antiquated in a few years as a Nokia phone does today… Here is a 2011 model dash:

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/mycophagia] — your request for touch screens on the steering wheel is being answered. I saw them in the Model X and thought they were so awesome. =)

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linux-works

Jun 22, 2012 at 5:15 pm

options make sense.

I was thinking: how about a user cavety for users to be able to install things they want? in the old days, the rectangle cutout of the car radio was one way but now, its mostly an integrated dash with all car brands (sigh..).

they have 2 large spots there on the dash; one could be a hide-away screen and the other could be a user installable area, DIN sized. it could be a map pocket (old term, lol) for those that want just space there, or a 2nd screen for those who demand such things.

in the same way, the TS interface could be swapped for a hard button style one, for those that liked that (such as myself).

btw, the button cluster photo you showed is NOT what I had in mind 😉 that was ugly as can be and unusable as can be. how do you feel your way to the right button? some ‘stylist’ went nuts there but his style is, uhm, not to everyone’s taste, shall we say. this is not a proof that it can’t be done well; its more a proof that goofy designers are let loose, regularly, on commercial designs with no talent other than to ‘make things sleek looking’. which is one element of UI design but NOT the main one by any stretch.

you don’t ever want a ‘sea of buttons’. the layout should have some geometry that is irregular and easy to spot the central things you need to regularly get to. break up the geometry; stop trying to make things ‘balance’ by making a uniform cluster. its also a typical eastern approach; give an n by m matrix of identical looking buttons and then label them. BORING! and not usable as it could be. break up the pattern, make it easy to spot the sections of the buttons entry area you need. I don’t know the proper term for it, but when you look at a geometrical arrangement that is not symmetrical and synthetically arranged, the mind’s eye can remember that layout and identify it very quickly, even under stress. but on grids of buttons, its too much ‘searching’ to do and that defeats the whole idea on CUSTOM user interfaces.

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jurvetson

Jun 22, 2012 at 5:58 pm

a thought-provoking discussion. thanks,. meanwhile the release happens in a few hours, and a live video feed will start here at 3:30pm PST.

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solerena

Jun 22, 2012 at 6:18 pm

Very cool car… Only can say: wish I can have one…In future I want Google car, voice or even mind activated…if it will fly and sail…even more fun:) what the point in being frozen in the past, take the best from the past and go forward:)

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bike-R

Jun 22, 2012 at 7:22 pm

Well, you have one cool car but can you talk to it? Poor KITT is gonna be jealous and maybe your car can SKYPE KITT Car and talk CPU’s! BTW is he intived to the vid FEED? 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKCiJhA7qVo&feature=related

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bike-R

Jun 22, 2012 at 7:49 pm

And can your car interface with a IPAD type of tablet or call your cell phone and say it needs attention? Would be really cool for it to interface with the owners that way…Wonder if the A-I aftermarket for autos is developing that tech?

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Chucil

Jun 22, 2012 at 7:51 pm

Some sensors to help driver avoid accidents would be nice.
Happy release!

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Jonathon_Wright

Jun 22, 2012 at 8:23 pm

Stunning the future is now

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solarc

Jun 22, 2012 at 11:59 pm

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson] Steve – your photo of the "button fest" dash is the other side of the car UI spectrum. I don’t favor that either… Most of the cars I have driven in my life (and that may not be too many) all had a haphazard array of screens, levers, buttons, knobs, switches, lights, blinkers 🙂

There has to be a happy middle. I was hoping Tesla would have that middle. I still hope that I will learn to love the 17" TS that they have there.

BTW just watched the Model S launch streaming live from the Fremont factory. It is amazing that Elon seemed so very humbled by the event, noticeably more than George and Franz. I am constantly impressed by Elon but I guess it’s not surprising to be impressed by a man of his caliber.

Can’t wait for my test drive in Palo Alto 🙂

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jurvetson

Jul 5, 2012 at 8:47 pm

Enjoy!

By the way, this is how they ship the shizzle…

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jurvetson

Jul 14, 2012 at 4:13 pm

Oh, this is so funny:

The popular SF racing video shows the same button dash that I posted above (a 2012 Ford Fiesta)…

but, but they added a lot more buttons and levers…. =)

Oh, and coincidentally, Elon described a similar driving experience on Sand Hill Road…

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jurvetson

Mar 23, 2013 at 5:31 pm

…and fast forward to today… an amazing review in Road & Track

"The Model S isn’t just the most important car of the year. It’s the most important car America has made in an entire lifetime."

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linux-works

Mar 23, 2013 at 11:52 pm

once there is an affordable car that regular working people can afford from tesla, THAT will be a landmark car.

this is certainly a great tech achievement but its still too exclusive to be a ‘game changer’ and certainly NOT something that rates ‘entire lifetime’ kind of description.

and for electric cars to really be more than a curiosity, there HAS to be charging stations at a lot more places than there are now. or battery-swap stations and cars that are standard enough to be able to swap batteries across makes and models.

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jurvetson

Mar 24, 2013 at 7:12 am

yes, Tesla is building charging stations across the U.S and Canada like you request, and they are free forever as a bonus (since we don’t actually need any of that, but most people think we do, so let’s just take that issue off the table by making theoretic road trip dreams a freebie). The Tesla Model S already had more range than is needed. For 4 years now, I have never charged anywhere but home. And yes, the car price will come down with Gen3. For now, the total cost of ownership for for an entry level Model S is lower than a Ford Taurus. With an typical experience curve, no more innovation is needed to meet your goals.

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linux-works

Mar 24, 2013 at 3:58 pm

people don’t always think of total cost of ownership. and you still need to be able to afford the purchase price just to enter the game. the savings come later but the day-0 hurdle is very real and I would have a hard time justifying such an initial ‘buy’ price, personally.

free refills (lol) is a nice perk but I’m fine with paying for juice; as long as the juice is easy to find and is not a stress issue (omg, I’m runnning low and I -need- to refill!).

what good would lightbulbs be if there weren’t ‘everywhere’ access from wall sockets?

electric cars without an ‘everywhere story’ on recharging is the #1 stopper for adoption of cars like this.

is industry enough to get the infrastructure going? I don’t think it is. this would be something that the government should be involved in and invest real money in.

of course, the gas and oil lobby would do all it could to slow or outright stop progress in this area. they have too much power and are not about to give any share away. fix this and we can move forward, for real.

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mrfroodfrood

May 2, 2015 at 10:26 am

Great image and map location found in car simple awesome invention of map location device. http://www.latitleloan.com/apply/

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seatonsnet

May 2, 2015 at 4:21 pm

Steve will love this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/11576788/Mars-astr...

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Tesla Model S Deliveries

37 responses to “Tesla Model S Deliveries”

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