As some automakers have started to come around and embrace buttons and knobs again, Tesla has remained a holdout. Of course, its vehicles never had much in the way of physical inputs to begin with, going back to the very first Model S, which arguably kicked off the trend of massive touchscreens dominating dashboards. But that hasn’t stopped owners and the aftermarket from taking matters into their own hands. Enter Greenmission, a Norwegian startup that has introduced a plug-and-play—or, rather, stick-and-play—bar to give Tesla owners some of the controls they’ve been craving.
If you’re familiar with the Tesla modding scene, you may already be familiar with Greenmission. An earlier version of this device, called the Ctrl-Bar, stuck onto a Tesla’s center screen and beamed inputs to a smartphone app, which in turn beamed them to the car.
There are differing reports as to how well that product worked, but at least Greenmission was on the right track; the Ctrl-Bar resembled something factory-made, unlike the unfortunately named and unfortunate-looking S3XY Buttons.
This new iteration, which is comprehensively called the Ctrl-Platform, reads much better on paper. Now, the bar itself, called the Ctrl-Bar 2, interfaces directly with the vehicle through Bluetooth Low Energy. Many functions, like locking and adjusting the climate system, are possible just via that connection, but for those that aren’t—like folding the mirrors and activating performance modes—there’s an optional add-on called the Ctrl-Bridge, which plugs into the OBD port and can read CAN data.
Every button on the Ctrl-Bar is configurable through the app. Simply select a space along the bar, change the function it’s tied to, and the icon above that button will change correspondingly. The bar is powered by USB, and on newer Tesla models, you can discreetly run a cable from the back of the unit to the glovebox USB-A port.
Just as the original Ctrl-Bar was funded via Indiegogo, Greenmission is soliciting backing for this via Kickstarter. Of course, every crowdfunding campaign has its risks, and we’ve all been burned by one or another at some point. But this isn’t Greenmission’s first rodeo, and they are already roughly halfway to their $29,000 target. The Ctrl-Bar 2 alone is listed for $207, and the price increases if you tack on extras, like that Ctrl-Bridge that adds more functionality, or the Ctrl-Stripe, which allows you to outfit your Tesla with RGB lightning, if you’re into that sort of thing. Delivery is expected to begin in April.
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