My only real problem with Tesla is my problem with Apple. They have this one vision of what a device should look like and because of marketing it takes forever for anyone else to say, maybe there's a market that wants a different sort of design. So I got smartphones with no option for a physical keyboard (I miss my old Motorola slide out keyboard from a decade or so ago). Touchscreens can be great, but just as often are infuriating - the amount of times you can't just hold onto it without accidentally changing something is a real pain. I need somewhere for one hand to hold the tablet without touching the touchscreen, ideally on all 4 sides. If I wanted to set my tablet on a table and tap at it, I'd use my laptop or a real computer.
Tesla is in negotiations to license FSD with several major legacy automakers. So the reality is that, over the next 5-10 years - almost every automaker will start using FSD - because no one else is remotely close to autonomous driving. This will go the same way NACS/SC access went - Ford signed first - then all the other dominos fell - and almost every other legacy automaker, as well as EV only automakers like Lucid and Rivian, have switched or are switching to NACS connectors - and can now use the Tesla SC network. FSD will go down this same route. Once autonomous driving comes to market starting later this year and on into 2026 - any automaker who doesn't go down this path - will be
dead. Game over, dead man walking. Just a matter of how long they can survive at that point. This is a sea change - much like going from horses to cars - when the FSD tech can drive 20 times safer than any human - it'll become mandatory eventually - humans will no longer drive. Yes, I realize this sounds like pie in the sky - but it's closer than almost anyone realizes, and once it goes mainstream - game over.
For example, every Tesla
drives itself off the factory floor after being assembled - no human in the vehicle - as soon as its "born" it self-drives to the parking lot for shipping to sales centers. This is happening every day, all day, today:
x.com
So, once other legacy manufacturers start licensing FSD - you'll be able to buy an autonomous vehicle from whomever you want - using whatever interior design you prefer - and it'll simply use Tesla tech for autonomous driving (including the 8-9 fully integrated cameras that FSD requires to be installed on the vehicle).
Same with the cars now - everyone thinks a huge touchscreen and nothing else is best. NO - I don't want the car to be unable to be operated partially by feel so I can keep my eyes on the road. I also don't want one somewhat fragile screen to be all that lets my car operate that almost certainly costs thousands of dollars to replace. If I bang one dial too hard, I can live without that dial, I can likely replace the plastic over for a hundred or two including labor, but even more important I can change the temp or the radio or the volume without looking away from the road.
It's not a matter of everyone thinks. For any SDV - in order to make everything OTA software upgradable - this is the best approach. Everything, and I mean everything, is voice controlled - you don't have to use the screen
at all to do anything in the vehicle. Want to change the temperature, hit the voice button on the steering wheel and tell it what you want to change. Want to change the music, or switch to another media, whatever you can think of really, just use your voice. You literally never have to take your eyes off the road - and if the car is driving itself via FSD - there's no real risk in doing so anyways if you want to use the screen. You can also configure "buttons" on the screen as needed, or you can purchase third party physical buttons - often called the S3XY buttons - that are fully configurable and can do whatever you want them to do. You can also configure the buttons/scroll wheels on the steering wheel to do whatever you want them to do for often used features - want a scroll wheel to move the temp up or down? Change it to do so, want that scroll wheel to control wipers? Change it to do so. It's all configurable however the owner wants based upon their personal preferences.
I want FSD, but I want it to be legally recognized that the vendor is now liable for crashes cause *I'm not driving*. Till then, I won't "trust it" to let me take my eyes off the road - cause the manufacturer tells me not to. So I still need heater and radio etc controls that I can use by feel.
Voice control is all you need. Physical controls are no longer necessary. I get what you are saying, but it's old thinking using old tech. Sometimes change is a good thing.
If someone made something like a Honda Pilot Trailsport that was an EV and could charge up on my road trips in 10 minutes or so, and cost the same or less than the gas vehicle - it'll become top on my list in 5-10 years cause I don't love dealing with gas, oil changes, etc. Wasn't there in 2024 but we'll see where we get to. Though maybe in 10 years I won't be driving to timeshares all the time anymore who knows.
Rivian's R2 will hit markets in 2026 at the same price point as the Honda Pilot. GM already has the EV Trailblazer and Equinox are already available in this segment as well, along with the VW ID4, Volvo, Polestar, and others. In 10 years cars will drive themselves - so you won't be driving anywhere unless you want to drive manually for whatever reason. This change is coming much faster than people think, and it's a sea change moment for all vehicles.
