2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

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flapsmcgee

"The cruise control is turned on by pressing in on the stalk to the left of the steering column. Once you turn it on, a glowing green light reminds you it is on. Classy."

What is so special about that? My Subaru does that.

legacygt

I love that Tesla viewed the luxury sedan as a clean slate when they were designing this car. Obviously they were blazing a trail with the whole electric thing but they also chose to re-think every other aspect of the car. Integrating cruise control into the display is fantastic and so much more helpful than the typical backlit cruise control light that tells you absolutely nothing other than the fact that cruise control is on/in use. Did Tesla go too far with some of these types of flourishes like the virtual center stack and popout door handles? Yes. But I really appreciate that they gave a full engineering and design effort to every aspect of the car.

quadricycle

@legacygt: Well said. If they can keep that philosophy while gathering more experience building cars, it bodes well for their future. Personally, I don't like the huge center stack, but the graphics on the speedo are almost perfect. Very clear and informa

throwback

Is that the stalk from the Benz?

farvy_

@throwback: nope. That's not a Benz stalk. At least it's not the one in my C300.

Mercedes does function in a similar way, & has for years. You can adjust in 1 mph increments or up to 5 mph. It's a dedicated stalk - not combined with other func

schen72

@flapsmcgee: I believe the glowing green light he speaks of is at the end of the stalk itself. I've never actually seen any other car like that.

duck87

Apparently putting lights in various places is now considered great engineering effort.

133712

just FYI, that feature is on every Mercedes vehicle and the reason for this is because that cruise control stalk is lifted straight from the Mercedes parts bin

tokyorush

It is exactly the E and S class stalk. Works exactly the same way too, and it is dedicated to only cruise control. Just FYI. I use the CC on my Tesla the same way as the author, and think Tesla's implementation is good - mostly because MB does a good job here. The only other thing I would say is that the regen down hill helps the CC keep the car right at the designated speed without using brakes or eating extra power.

mayhemm

This was a strange post. They completely omit the fact that the Model S cruise control puts a physical mark on the speedo at the point it is set (which is unique and note-worthy) and instead focus on the on/off indicator which is found in many other vehicles...