So for the record, I had a non-EV car scream bloody murder, barely drivable, ABS triggering randomly, 10 warnings whenever you turned it on, and in the end it was one little burnt out sensor that caused it all.
I wouldn't buy a tesla considering all the dodgy stuff that has come out, but non-EVs are just as susceptable to the printer analogy.
I've had my car's transmission go out and keep putting itself in limp mode (won't go above 40mph) but I could still actually drive it and open the doors and windows. I just read an article of a woman who got locked into her Tesla because the fucker started updating. That's a problem literally no other cars have, nor should they.
The woman was an idiot then, because the car has manual levers to open the doors, for cases just like this, or total power failure. It's required by law in most countries, if not all.
She wasn't locked in - the update said not to to open any doors or windows during the update, so she didn't. She could have at any time, but she didn't want to risk bricking her car. I understand where she's coming from, but I also think she was nuts for waiting THAT long.
That kinda sounds like it might break some kinda law? A fire safety requorement comes to mind, but I'm not sure if it actually applies to cars and not just buildings.
But yes, you're right, a car you can't get out of at all times is a car no one should have.
I went through flight school in my mid-teens. The layout of aircraft controls are pretty tightly regulated per the FARs, things like the shape, texture and color of the throttle lever is set by federal law so that pilots don't mistake it for another by look or feel. Because "I'm used to the throttle being black and the mixture being red, but in this plane..." is a terrible reason to slam into a neighborhood.
I do not think it's morally right for the fail safe door latch to be different from the normally used door latch. If you are panicked because of an emergency or something, the way you're used to opening the door should be the way the door opens. You should not have to think "The car is on fire! I gotta get out! And because this is a fancy car that thinks electronic mechanisms are luxurious, the normal door release is not functioning in the event of an electrical failure. Fortunately I remember where the emergency latch is and how to use it."
I’ve spent a lot of my career amidst / adjacent to ergonomics experts and I have a feeling you’re 100% correct here. Industrial designers talk a lot about external and internal conventions and I’d wager this is one.
For the last couple decades car manufacturers have been doing everything they can get away with to remove standard typical controls from cars. Put everything in the touch screen. Stalkless column. Let's win the award for least comprehensible gear shifter this year.
Like didn't the guy who played Chekov in JJ Abrams' Star Trek fanfic die under the wheels of his SUV because the gear shifter was confusing?
The thought of people getting into a multi ton vehicle capable of going a hundred miles per hour, and not reading the manual is absurd to me, this applies to all cars.
American cars aren't exactly wonderful. Each of the big 3 has some specific vehicles/configurations that are reliable, and the rest is terrible.
The last time Ford made a reliable vehicle was the panther bodies with the 4.6L engine. That engine is damn near invincible. They got very good fuel economy for a V8 too