Central Driving Position

[madquadbiker]

Hope this topic hasn’t been covered before, in all likelihood the CT will be using cameras instead of mirrors, Honda have shown it is possible and legal to do so here in the U.K. with the launch of there Honda E model which uses cameras only, so maybe there’s an opportunity to position the driver in the middle seat, no need for left and righthand drive versions of the truck, this would also make it easier and cheaper to produce.
For purely selfish reasons and the fact that right hand CT’s are going to be as rare as hens teeth having it designed this way maybe I and the rest of the orders from countries that drive on the right won’t be at the back of the queue.

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[CyberMoose]

I don't see positioning the driver in the center seat to be a thing. I think it would just complicate things and also make it harder on the driver. I would not want to always slide over to the middle seat everytime I get in my vehicle. You also have to consider comfort; no one really wants to be in the middle seat in a vehicle because people like their arm rests and their leg room. If you have the driver in the middle seat, anytime you have two people in the front, they will be fighting over an arm rest or leg room.

Even if you solve that problem, the driver is on the left in countries that drive on the right and the driver is on the right in countries that drive on the left. This is for safety, when you are making a turn that crosses on coming traffic, you want to have a good view of everything on that side of the vehicle.

It would be nice if we didn't have to make different cars depending what country it's going to, but I don't see that changing anytime soon. Hopefully on mars, we can all agree what side of the road to use.

 

[VolklKatana]

Hope this topic hasn’t been covered before, in all likelihood the CT will be using cameras instead of mirrors, Honda have shown it is possible and legal to do so here in the U.K. with the launch of there Honda E model which uses cameras only, so maybe there’s an opportunity to position the driver in the middle seat, no need for left and righthand drive versions of the truck, this would also make it easier and cheaper to produce.
For purely selfish reasons and the fact that right hand CT’s are going to be as rare as hens teeth having it designed this way maybe I and the rest of the orders from countries that drive on the right won’t be at the back of the queue.

One interesting thing to consider would be the central screen itself. In my older Model S, the screen is definitely angled toward the driver, and not parallel to the bumper. I wonder if the center console is in fact parallel on the CT or angled?

 

[Crissa]

There's no lack of leg room or potential arm rests in an ev with a center seating position. There is no transmission in the way.

The Semi uses a center seating position.

-Crissa

 

[CyberMoose]

Yes but the semi is seated very high above the actual road with even bigger windows than any Tesla. This actually isn't unique to tesla either, other companies have made similar designs because a Semi can cause a ton of damage if the driver doesn't have enough vision to change lanes or turn.

The semi also doesn't have three seats in the front of the vehicle, so arm rests and leg room wouldn't be a problem. I'm saying if you have a center driving position and a second person in the front, they are now right up against eachother. Now I suspect that the cybertruck will probably have a higher percentage of female owners than regular trucks which i believe a statistic showed it was about ~80% men, but I still think men will be the majority owner. I think most men would prefer a large space, such as a middle seat or center console, between eachother for comfort.

If a company came out with a vehicle that had a more narrow front end, where a driver could be positioned in the middle with windows on either side like the semi, that would be more likely.

 

[Bigvbear]

I don't see positioning the driver in the center seat to be a thing. I think it would just complicate things and also make it harder on the driver. I would not want to always slide over to the middle seat everytime I get in my vehicle. You also have to consider comfort; no one really wants to be in the middle seat in a vehicle because people like their arm rests and their leg room. If you have the driver in the middle seat, anytime you have two people in the front, they will be fighting over an arm rest or leg room.

Even if you solve that problem, the driver is on the left in countries that drive on the right and the driver is on the right in countries that drive on the left. This is for safety, when you are making a turn that crosses on coming traffic, you want to have a good view of everything on that side of the vehicle.

It would be nice if we didn't have to make different cars depending what country it's going to, but I don't see that changing anytime soon. Hopefully on mars, we can all agree what side of the road to use.

Although these are all good points, the Tesla Semi has a center driver position.

 

[madquadbiker]

Yes but the semi is seated very high above the actual road with even bigger windows than any Tesla. This actually isn't unique to tesla either, other companies have made similar designs because a Semi can cause a ton of damage if the driver doesn't have enough vision to change lanes or turn.

The semi also doesn't have three seats in the front of the vehicle, so arm rests and leg room wouldn't be a problem. I'm saying if you have a center driving position and a second person in the front, they are now right up against eachother. Now I suspect that the cybertruck will probably have a higher percentage of female owners than regular trucks which i believe a statistic showed it was about ~80% men, but I still think men will be the majority owner. I think most men would prefer a large space, such as a middle seat or center console, between eachother for comfort.

If a company came out with a vehicle that had a more narrow front end, where a driver could be positioned in the middle with windows on either side like the semi, that would be more likely.

Any McLaren F1 owners out there?

 

[Crissa]

I guess CyberMoose hasn't smashed into a car while merging like I've had an idiot in an F 150 do.

Why is the left best when it's said the offside position is more likely to be mis-seen? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3494462/

Anyhow, I find the argument against a center position somewhat weak and traditionalist, rather than fact based. I can't say which is better, tho changing drivers' habits may produce short-term negatives that outweigh long-term benefits.

-Crissa

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

"Here's your Big Mac and Fries, Sir."

"OK, let me just unbuckle my seat belt, shuffle over here, Ok, great, now back to the middle with this tasty burger, buckle up again, ahh. All set."

No thanks.

 

[showmemo]

"Here's your Big Mac and Fries, Sir."

"OK, let me just unbuckle my seat belt, shuffle over here, Ok, great, now back to the middle with this tasty burger, buckle up again, ahh. All set."

No thanks.

lol... ditto that for the bank drive thru

 

[Mabrrr2]

Hope this topic hasn’t been covered before, in all likelihood the CT will be using cameras instead of mirrors, Honda have shown it is possible and legal to do so here in the U.K. with the launch of there Honda E model which uses cameras only, so maybe there’s an opportunity to position the driver in the middle seat, no need for left and righthand drive versions of the truck, this would also make it easier and cheaper to produce.
For purely selfish reasons and the fact that right hand CT’s are going to be as rare as hens teeth having it designed this way maybe I and the rest of the orders from countries that drive on the right won’t be at the back of the queue.

Maybe Great Britain could just switch the side of the road you drive on........ and to the imperial system? Lol

 

[CyberMoose]

Maybe Great Britain could just switch the side of the road you drive on........ and to the imperial system? Lol

Or maybe Great Britain could switch to the right side of the road....and you guys can switch to the metric system.

The majority of countries drive on the right side of the road and the majority of countries use the metric system. I'm 26, I've used both the metric and imperial system my whole life as a Canadian....I still don't understand the imperial system....i don't see any benefit to the imperial system

 

[MEDICALJMP]

Ditch imperial measurements. Metric, baby. We use it in medicine, science. Deal with it.

 

[Crissa]

There's use to measurements that fit your need. You generally want your average result to be around '5' and you don't want too much precision making measurements more difficult than they need to be. And it's handy to have systems which divide evenly by 3, like feet and inches, or tablespoons and teaspoons; or multiply by eight like fluid ounces, cups, and gallons.

That said, those advantages are mostly in the kitchen or in stick-built projects. Human-sized things.

But more people drive on the right than the left ^-^

-Crissa

 

[madquadbiker]

"Here's your Big Mac and Fries, Sir."

"OK, let me just unbuckle my seat belt, shuffle over here, Ok, great, now back to the middle with this tasty burger, buckle up again, ahh. All set."

No thanks.

"Here's your Big Mac and Fries, Sir."

"OK, let me just unbuckle my seat belt, shuffle over here, Ok, great, now back to the middle with this tasty burger, buckle up again, ahh. All set."

No thanks.

Going to need a wingman to do that, however over here you stand a good chance of having to pull into a bay while you wait for the food to be delivered to the vehicle.