New Tesla Model Y And Model 3 Retrofit Adds Factory-Like Buttons

"The Tesla Model 3 and its crossover sibling, the Model Y, don't have physical buttons for most features. Owners need to rely on the central touchscreen to perform even the most basic tasks. A new third-party addon aims to fix that by adding a factory-like button bar under the touchscreen. Tesla's infotainment system is probably the best out there. It has buttery smooth animations, a well-thought-out interface and, more importantly, it just worksunlike some legacy automakers' systems, which sometimes need a reset or two to work properly. That said, Tesla's obsession with simplicity resulted in an unfortunate casualty: no buttons."

"The main attraction of the Ctrl-Platform is called the Ctrl-Bar 2. It has two knurled rotating knobs and eight buttons accompanied by their own little displays. The bar attaches to the bottom of the infotainment screen on the Model 3 and Model Y, and is powered from the USB port in the glovebox via a hidden cable. All the buttons can be customized to the owner's liking via a smartphone application. However, here's where things get interesting. While the first-generation product relied on the smartphone to send commands to the car, the second-gen model links directly to the car's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system, so the inputs are instantaneous and there's no need for the smartphone app or an internet connection, except for the initial setup."

Tesla Model 3 and Model Y lack physical buttons for most controls, requiring drivers to use the central touchscreen for basic tasks. The touchscreen interface is smooth and well-designed, but reliance on it can be unsafe. The Ctrl-Platform addon restores tactile controls by installing a factory-like button bar under the infotainment screen. The Ctrl-Bar 2 includes two knurled rotating knobs, eight buttons with individual displays, and mounts beneath the screen. Power is supplied from the glovebox USB port through a hidden cable. Buttons are customizable via a smartphone app. The Ctrl-Bar 2 connects directly to the car's Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system for instantaneous inputs after initial setup.

Read at insideevs.com