Tesla Model S ‘Subsystems’ Resemble Those of Smartphone or Tablet, IHS ‘Teardown’ Says

The "user-oriented subsystems" of the Tesla Model S electric vehicle "have more in common with a tablet or smartphone than they do with a conventional automobile," IHS said Tuesday in a preliminary "teardown" report (http://bit.ly/1vZVLDO). In designing the Model S, Tesla "really wanted to do things differently and employed virtual controls -- rather than physical knobs and buttons -- to take over the user experience," IHS said. "This approach required a major investment in big displays and touch panels, similar to the approach Apple took when designing the iPhone and iPad." The electronics "cost structure" of the Model S, the use of large displays in the cabin and its use of touch-screen controls make "the Tesla experience more like a media tablet or high-end smartphone than a traditional automobile," it said. "It’s like looking at the components from the latest mobile device from an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy product. When it comes to the user-facing segment of the Model S’s electronics, the company has radically departed from business-as-usual in the automotive market." The "huge" 17-inch display and touch screen on the Model S are "much larger than the average automotive infotainment interface," it said. Use of an Nvidia Tegra 3, 1.4-GHz quad-core processor gives the Model S "computing power in the same league with recent smartphone and tablet designs," it said.