The promotion began on July 27, 2026, and is scheduled to run through August 10 across more than 70 markets. On supported vehicles, starting the car brings...
Users see the word “Tesla” and hit the down arrow without considering context or data. Tesla is a terrible company, and Musk is an egotistical, racist manbaby; those aren’t the only reasons why I won’t buy a Tesla, but they are a big part. The truth is that every big automobile manufacturer is bad when it comes to infotainment user experience and data privacy.
I won’t buy a Tesla, and most people I know won’t either. But when it comes to the US auto market, Tesla is consistently rated as one of the best user infotainment experiences, specifically because of the things you mentioned. I know someone who bought the 2026 Nissan Leaf, and they love it. I’ve ridden in it a lot and I think it’s a great car… except for the user experience. Every time the car is turned on a pop up covers most of the console advertising satellite radio subscriptions. There’s no way to disable it. Nissan is widely known to be the worst when it comes to user privacy, too.
Slate has my attention and I want them to disrupt the market. I’m considering buying one for my next vehicle, with the range being the only thing that hasn’t locked in my decision yet. I take several long (500+ miles) trips each year, and I would prefer to avoid having to use Tesla superchargers as there aren’t any other fast DC chargers along the route.
Yeah 100%. Ever since Elon went Republican everybody wants to hate him. I don’t blame them. It’s sad and IMHO short-sighted, but these days nuance doesn’t seem to be a big part of popular decision making. So something like ‘he’s a weird guy who works his people to the bone and he has shitty politics, but he’s overall doing things that are good for our society’ is too much to ask from most popular discourse.
It’s pretty clear that the other automakers really do not understand vehicle computing on a fundamental level. Even the supposedly connected modern cars are still using old infrastructure with tons of little can bus modules everywhere each doing one thing. And they are all supplied by the usual handful of companies like Delphi and Bosch.
If any of the automakers took a page out of Tesla’s playbook, namely design your own hardware and software, and focus on flat out building a better vehicle rather than figuring out how to nickel and dime every user, they would make a killing.
This could also be solved with regulation. And probably should be solved with regulation. Basically say that automakers are prohibited from extracting any personal data from a vehicle including driving data or location data, unless a. The user explicitly opts in (and an opt-in may not be required for any other functionality), and b. Extracted data may not be sold or shared or used for any purpose other than providing services to the user (such as navigation). And that in-car screens may not be used for any sort of advertising or promotion, unless a. The user opts in (and an opt-in may not be required for any other functionality), and b. Any advertisement on the display must include a clear way to permanently disable advertisements in two clicks or button presses.
The fact is nobody wants advertisements on their car and they know that
Users see the word “Tesla” and hit the down arrow without considering context or data. Tesla is a terrible company, and Musk is an egotistical, racist manbaby; those aren’t the only reasons why I won’t buy a Tesla, but they are a big part. The truth is that every big automobile manufacturer is bad when it comes to infotainment user experience and data privacy.
I won’t buy a Tesla, and most people I know won’t either. But when it comes to the US auto market, Tesla is consistently rated as one of the best user infotainment experiences, specifically because of the things you mentioned. I know someone who bought the 2026 Nissan Leaf, and they love it. I’ve ridden in it a lot and I think it’s a great car… except for the user experience. Every time the car is turned on a pop up covers most of the console advertising satellite radio subscriptions. There’s no way to disable it. Nissan is widely known to be the worst when it comes to user privacy, too.
Slate has my attention and I want them to disrupt the market. I’m considering buying one for my next vehicle, with the range being the only thing that hasn’t locked in my decision yet. I take several long (500+ miles) trips each year, and I would prefer to avoid having to use Tesla superchargers as there aren’t any other fast DC chargers along the route.
Yeah 100%. Ever since Elon went Republican everybody wants to hate him. I don’t blame them. It’s sad and IMHO short-sighted, but these days nuance doesn’t seem to be a big part of popular decision making. So something like ‘he’s a weird guy who works his people to the bone and he has shitty politics, but he’s overall doing things that are good for our society’ is too much to ask from most popular discourse.
It’s pretty clear that the other automakers really do not understand vehicle computing on a fundamental level. Even the supposedly connected modern cars are still using old infrastructure with tons of little can bus modules everywhere each doing one thing. And they are all supplied by the usual handful of companies like Delphi and Bosch.
If any of the automakers took a page out of Tesla’s playbook, namely design your own hardware and software, and focus on flat out building a better vehicle rather than figuring out how to nickel and dime every user, they would make a killing.
This could also be solved with regulation. And probably should be solved with regulation. Basically say that automakers are prohibited from extracting any personal data from a vehicle including driving data or location data, unless a. The user explicitly opts in (and an opt-in may not be required for any other functionality), and b. Extracted data may not be sold or shared or used for any purpose other than providing services to the user (such as navigation). And that in-car screens may not be used for any sort of advertising or promotion, unless a. The user opts in (and an opt-in may not be required for any other functionality), and b. Any advertisement on the display must include a clear way to permanently disable advertisements in two clicks or button presses.
The fact is nobody wants advertisements on their car and they know that