I had the displeasure of being driven around in a new Kia this week.
The driver couldn’t figure out how to control the AC fan speed. It seems to only be accessible via voice controls but it didn’t understand his accent.
I’m never buying a car that lacks the appropriate buttons, switches and dials.
Screens are lighter and can be programmed and reprogrammed with the only cost being the developer time. Plop a screen in the middle of the dash. Done.
Physical controls require wiring, lighting, design and durability for each control. Much of this is added weight, and the dash and console have to be designed to accommodate the controls.
From a manufacturer perspective, screens are easier and more cost effective.
IMO screens can get f’d. I much prefer physical controls for car functions.
Physical buttons are faster, more enjoyable to use and safer. But they won’t care as long as they don’t realise excessive touchscreen controls hurts their sales too.
I remember car magazines in 2005 talking about how obviously stupid and unsafe touchscreens in cars are, as well as confidently predicting the trend would continue anyway because of, you guessed it: profit. Society really needs to figure out how to incentivize safety. Government must regulate capital for this to happen. There is (at present) no other way.
They also come with tactile feedback, you turn the knob and you know you turned it. No need to look or have beeps.
2023 and many are still in 2026 heavily touch screen based and still have this hideous asthetic of what looks like a dashboard with an iPad glued to it. If you are going to go all in on the touchscreen at least make it look like it belongs to the car.
If we had invented touchscreens first, we would consider physical buttons an improvement.
No shit. Once I’m used to the layout, I can more easily hit the physical button I need without having to take my eyes off the road.
This is why I bought a year old GTI and not a new one a few years ago. It was the last year with REAL gauges, REAL buttons, ect. I don’t want that shit on my car, especially a performance one.
I’m happy that VW’s new ID.Polo has a ton of buttons.
I am not happy that it’s not coming to the US.
That looks like it’s on the verge of having too many buttons on the wheel…? Could have had up/down switches for volume and increasing/decreasing cruise control for example, kinda like how the Mach E does it.
But still a 1000x better than having it on the touchscreen, of course.
Yeah, it does feel a bit fiddly but I’d rather a hundred buttons than a touch screen
Stuff like this is so frustrating because yeah sure we should do the work to prove it… but we all know it.
heck I don’t even like switches that are still electronic controls over mechanical and neither does my wife. and I don’t even like cars to begin with.
