Yeah, me too. I've been hearing about 48v (used to be 24v) for what feels like ages now. I only sort of "get it". Seems Tesla had a great opportunity to jump into 48v, more so than legacy automakers.
On the other hand, if they had done it and it caused a bunch of problems, you'd have another Model X falcon doors issue. Tesla just doing something "to be different", and paying the price for it.
Unfortunately the turn signals thing is common. I think BMW started it in ~2006 with the E90 3 series. I have a 2011 X5 diesel that has the same infuriating 'stateless' turn signal stalk. It's not helped by the fact that most modern cars have turn signal indicator noises that are too quiet to be heard if you even have quiet music on, and, in most cars I drive, with the steering wheel setup where I want it, I can't see half the speedometer or the turn signal indicators. (not an issue with the Model 3/Y of course, but the indicators are off-center and small so it's even harder to see!) I've owned numerous cars where I can't see the turn signal indicators, but at least you can hear them and feel where the stalk is in most cars. The 'electronic' canceling function means you never quite know if the signal is still on or not.
Don't get me started on the Model 3 having red turn signal indicators on the rear; I spent close to a thousand dollars to swap my last car (a VW) to proper amber indicators. There's no good fix for the 3 yet, that I know of. (The Model Y is almost entirely amber I think, the early cars might have been red)
The windshield wiper physical control doesn't bother me anymore, but I got a relatively early production 3 in July 2018, and when winter rolled around here in the bay area, I found out how bad the early rain sensing software was. For the first November/December/January wet months, it was pretty common to have to hit the washer button to trigger a quick windshield wipe until you had time to fiddle with the touch screen. It seems pretty perfect now. (My x5 also has auto wipers, but they disable every time you turn off the car, and of course has a physical stalk and button).
No need for gear in the HUD on a current Tesla :) But yeah, I have a HUD in my other car, and it's great (again, because the speedometer is blocked by the steering wheel for me).
