Washpo: Tesla Model 3 Is Like a ‘Giant iPhone’

A technology columnist for the Washington Post claims that the Tesla Model 3 is like a “giant iPhone.”

Washington Post technology analyst Geoffrey A. Fowler was given the opportunity to test out the Tesla Model 3 for three days. Shortly into his experience, Fowler says he realized that the car is somewhat like a giant iPhone as its connected to the internet in the same ways as your existing smart devices.

Even if you’re not interested in owning a Model 3, don’t believe in electric cars, don’t like CEO Elon Musk, or don’t believe Tesla will survive to produce them for $35,000, Tesla is setting the agenda for the auto industry. The Model 3, through cellular, WiFi and Bluetooth connections, is constantly online in ways mass vehicles haven’t been before. Its computer, dashboard, key, motor, brakes, battery, power plug, and cameras (I could go on) are all sending and receiving data. Tesla is turning the car into the largest connected device you’ll own.

Fowler wrote that the Tesla Model 3 should be reviewed not only as a car but also as a connected device. Surveillance and privacy experts should analyze the benefits and consequences of driving a car that is so intertwined with the Internet.

I’ll leave the critique of the Model 3’s driving performance and build quality to others. I think the Model 3 ought to be reviewed like a connected device, too. There’s a familiar arc: Smartphones started as expensive flip phone substitutes, before morphing into surprisingly useful mobile computers and eventually hackable, distracting surveillance devices. We need to understand how being connected changes how the car operates and grows — and also ushers in problems we don’t typically think about in a car showroom.

For example, Fowler pointed out that one of the Tesla’s default settings involved the car storing video clips of wherever it was driven. It is unclear if those video clips are stored exclusively on the vehicle’s computer or if they are uploaded to a Tesla-accessible cloud.

Breitbart News has extensively covered Tesla’s ups and downs over the past several months. Just this month, Telsa CEO Elon Musk announced that he would like to take the company private.