Tesla Model 3 confuses police officer who thinks a computer is mounted on the dashboard

Friday, 5 October 2018

The future of cars may be filled with large displays, but as one Tesla Model 3 owner recently found out there will be a learning curve for those who drive the latest vehicles.

YouTube user Jon Hall posted a dashcam video of his interaction with a police officer last week highlighting the problem. In the video, Hall is seen talking to an off-camera police officer who seemingly took issue with the Model 3's futuristic dashboard, confusing the car's centre control display for a computer that was mounted onto the car.

While police officers now have laptops in their vehicles, a number of states have rules that prohibit ordinary citizens from doing so out of fear of distracted driving.

Tesla has gone all minimalist with the Model 3's dash, confusing at least one unsuspecting police officer.

Unlike traditional cars that have separate panels for the speedometer, air conditioning control, GPS and sound system, Tesla's latest vehicle has just one large, 15-inch display that manages all of the car's various functions.

**READ MORE

RHD production of the Model 3 isn't due until sometime in 2019, but there is a single LHD model on display in Tesla's Auckland store.

* Tesla and company CEO Elon Musk will pay NZ$60 million to settle fraud case

* Kiwis, the smaller, cheaper Tesla Model 3 is here. Sort of

* We tag along on Tesla NZ's first-ever Supercharger Rally**

The display also protrudes slightly, looking like a large mounted tablet rather than being flush with the dashboard like traditional in-car displays.

The video, posted on Saturday and spotlighted on sites like InsideEVs.com, has since gone viral, with over 1.1 million views.

Hall seems to have taken the traffic stop in stride, jokingly asking the officer to help him 'take (the display) off' after the cop tells him he can't have a computer mounted in his car. Hall then explains the screen's function as the brain of the car, much to the surprise of the officer who then let him go back on his way.

Tesla is far from the only automaker replacing dashboards with large displays. Toyota, for example, has replaced its centre dashboard with an 11.6-inch touchscreen on its Prius Prime in overseas markets with other manufacturers taking similar approaches.

So while this story had a happy ending, it seems that automakers have a lot of work to do to make sure everyone is aware of how the cars of the future will look.

- USA Today

* Comments on this article are now closed.