More physical controls is great, so I see this as a win. For navigation and media, I don't want to be without the screen, but I hate that my ventilation controls are 50 % hidden under touch controls, meaning I usually don't bother to change them while I drive, because it requires looking away too much.
this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2025
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I think Euro NCAP ratings would have more teeth if it was mandatory for manufacturers of standard passenger vehicles to submit a reference model for testing. Voluntary testing doesn't work since manufacturers would be averse to submit cars for testing if they thought they'd get a bad score. And while Euro NCAP does sometimes buy cars for testing, they don't do it for every make and model.
And if the cheapest dogshit cars on the road (Kia Picantos, Dacia Sandero's etc) can have buttons, dials, wipers and indicators then so should everything above it. Companies like Tesla remove controls to cheap out on having to make a part, but they attempt to pass this off as innovation when it puts people's lives at risk.
Before anyone forgets, this all started with Tesla. They lacked the skill, talent, know how, money and manufacturing capacity to make a decent center console. They then decided to move everything to the touchscreen because software is cheap to add to cars, thousands of small precision engineered objects are not. It was a margins game by the man "with the most knowledge on manufacturing in the world". The rest of the industry followed because the bougie idiots made the brand so popular "they could not be doing something wrong, right?". Queue the competitors copying that absolutely regarded idea. Everyone calling this regarded, was screamed into oblivion by tesla fanboys and design savants: "You're just too dumb to understand minimalist design". And here we are, turns out designing something that makes the driver take their eyes off the road on a 2000Kg murder machine is actually NOT good design.
Also it accelerates the design-to-manufacture cycle of a new model - just slap a huge touch screen on it and start building the car, and hope the software is ready in time. If not, well, just ship it as is and patch it later.
Builds in a very expensive replacement component too.
A control button breaks? New button is a (still over-inflated) $75 to replace.
A Tesla control screen breaks (and they do, just as often as buttons) - $1500.
https://www.greencarfuture.com/electric/tesla-screen-replacement-cost-process#Cost
Tesla doesn't have that excuse. The original Roadster, Model S and Model X all had fairly conventional controls. They deliberately undermined the safety of their vehicles over time by aggressively removing physical controls in the model 3 and Y and revamped S. It probably saved them a few bucks, but at the cost increased risk to human life. If they get penalized in safety tests for their penny pinching then so be it.
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While we're at it get rid of retina frying headlights. Sure, you can see great but I'm blind as I drive into you at night. At least make it so they don't look like point sources and can't aim upwards.
Also make the auto headlight setting the default if the car is in drive. Too many people driving in the twilight with no headlights on.
People do that on purpose, there’s a huge aftermarket for 10x brighter headlights.
New models have LED headlights and they're awful. They're angled down, but any sort of hilly back road means you're blinding anyone in front of you anyway. Halogen are much better because it's a softer glow instead of a laser beam.
If you're in the US like me, we should be aware the problem isn't bright lights; it's that our regulations don't allow for the European beam alteration tech that will dim sections at a time based on oncoming traffic.
Brighter lights are a huge boon to safety, but we need the corresponding tech to keep it that way.
and good luck getting those regs passed with this congress and this administration. it's likely never going to happen unless the auto industry demands them.
common EU w
Fucking finally.
sounds like europe is really sending a very loud, deafining FUCK YOU to elon and tesla.
and I am absolutely here for it.
While this does fuck him, it's also sound safety science. Touch screens have made cars less safe. It just so happens that Musk's company makes shitty unsafe cars which got rid of buttons to cut costs.
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Not just them, but a lot of the car platforms coming out of China right now, including Volvo cars. I have an EX40, which has a lot of physical buttons, and a physical lever for the glove compartment (🤯), but when I tried the EX30 I was blown away by the poor driving experience. So crappy. Everything is done via the screen, and it sucks. Not even a speed indicator in front of the driver, but you have to glance over to the center screen.
Also the one-pedal drive was really bad on the EX30, but that's another story. I also hated the gear lever behind the wheel instead of a stick between the driver and passenger seat.
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Jesus finally. Death to touch screens in cars
Monkey paw curls
Same exact cars but with button navigated non-touch screens.
As someone who drives a mazda with infotainment designed before touchscreens (it has one), I'm fine with this.
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I’m actually a fan of big screens, HOWEVER they should be limited to being an actual “infotainment” system only. All essential controls should be buttons, switches, and dials.
I think I agree. I would be fine with an infotainment system that:
- doesn't cripple the car when broken
- isn't integrated with non-screen controls like climate
- still has functional buttons on the steering wheel
My malibu meets 2 and 3, but the fact that if the infotainment system breaks it cripples the entire car, puts me on edge. This would be mitigated if actual functionality was outside of it, and that the touch screen was just a control layer.
One thing I really like about the Lucid Air is that the big screen retracts. Makes it look and feel quite different, almost like an older car without the big screen.
Important controls like seats, temperature, and volume/pause are physical. So you can have the big screen when you want it, and it goes away when you don’t. More cars should do that, though the additional moving part probably isn’t great for longevity.
My vote is:
- Button layouts that have worked for 20-30 years
- Heads-up displays for readouts of current values. Mph/kmph is displayed by default and the display temporarily changes when something like volume, heat, radio station, track, etc. is adjusted
Best of both worlds
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"Don't stare at your phone but instead stare at this screen that controls your car."
Drove a new pickup the other day, upper trim model. Felt like I was driving a luxury car. Even had hands-free driving in some areas. Those parts were amazing.
Absolutely hated the infotainment and other automatic systems. A giant clusterfk of poorly designed, non-intuitive, frustrating systems that did unexpected things or took too much time to set up. The nice tech was completely overshadowed by the over-engineered junk.
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Driving and texting is dangerous. Put down that phone and stare at this ipad in your dash! Further the ipad is slow, designed by imbeciles, is glitchy, buggy, and not intuitive and doesn't follow modern design standards.
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Wait, which car models lack that for “hazard warning lights, indicators, windshield wipers, SOS calls, and the horn”?
Don’t get me wrong, I agree these need physical buttons or similar. But everyone is celebrating as if it’s for things I’ve seen hidden behind touch or capacitive buttons in the cars I’ve driven and that really annoy me, like temperature, volume, mute, and cruise control inputs. Or have I just not driven the worst of the worst (Tesla).
cars will need to use buttons, dials, or stalks for hazard warning lights, indicators, windscreen wipers, SOS calls, and the horn.
Not enough, in my opinion. I've never had a car with these on touch screens, but I can't imagine why anyone would think it's a good idea. I'd like entertainment centers to stop being touch screens as well, but this doesn't go that far. Hopefully they do in the future, though, since this is a good start!
I consider temperature and fan controls to be safety critical for demisting windows etc for example.
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How about just banning touchscreen use while driving altogether?
E: I meant the OEMs, not drivers
We already have distracted driving laws here. You can't use electronic devices like phones while driving. How a giant iPad in the middle of your dashboard doesn't count blows my mind.
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