The Tesla driver is amazed!
10/10/2023
Contrasts don't get much starker than this: on the left, the center console of the Mercedes-Benz 600 SEC from the early 1990s; on the right, a modern Tesla. Traditional car enthusiasts miss clearly labeled buttons with haptics and feedback in the Tesla, but also in many other modern vehicles. The Mercedes can certainly offer enough of these. We counted them, there are 65 push or rocker buttons, plus four rotary controls and a "joystick", as well as the automatic selector lever, of course. And this is only in the center console; other controls are located in the doors, on the roof, on the seat, in the rear and in other places.
What at first glance feels like an "overload" is actually quite manageable in reality. Of course, the Mercedes-Benz is not (completely) blindly controllable, you have to look carefully to find the right button. But the arrangement of the buttons is quite logical and the functions are probably almost all possible without a glance at the manual and a long search.
Want to realign the interior mirror? Simply move the joystick to the left of the automatic selector lever to the middle position and the mirror can be adjusted.
Do you want to fold down the rear head restraints? Just tap the second rocker switch at the top left. Even the air conditioning is easy to adjust and a glance at the center console is enough to switch on the seat heating.
Well, the trip computer may be more demanding and programming the auxiliary heating doesn't seem intuitive at first glance, but it's not witchcraft either.
And with the Tesla? People who deal with computers (and tablets) on a daily basis will certainly get to grips with it, but without looking it will be difficult to quickly select the above-mentioned functions. And if the road is also uneven, then a touchscreen is not the last word in wisdom. The wealth of functions of a Tesla is probably even better than that of a 1990s S-Class coupé, but that's what you can expect after 30 years ...
