this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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Electric Vehicles
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I like a hybrid, tbh. My car has a sizeable touchscreen that android auto connects to, and I use it a lot for media and navigation.
But things like climate control have physical buttons. Works really well for me and I like the combination approach.
Yeah I don't mind the combo as long as the important stuff you interact with regularly is still physical. If I have to go into a menu to change climate controls, you have officially fucked up.
You always must look at a touch screen to press a button. There's no reason to use a touchscreen interface for anything a driver might want to do while driving.
I have the same gripe with TV remotes.
Dude I have such a hate for the "new" Samsung Smart TV remote. They literally took away all but the BARE essential buttons. And for what ??????? Does the remote look cool and sleek now? Maybe? But I can't fucking use it anymore.
Meanwhile LG is being a chad: they keep all the buttons, but additionally give me a super cool and convenient pointer (LG remote for comparison).
Wait... But what buttons are missing that you actually use?! Maybe I've just gotten too used to my remote, but I don't think I've ever wanted for another button on the remote, aside from maybe a source button.
Source, Settings and Quick Settings are buttons I find myself using quite often. Also the numbers do come in handy every now and again, as someone who still occasionally watches live TV.
Now the Samsung remote does have an "Extra" button, but last time I tried using that on a friends TV it told me "this functionality is unavailable". After 3 minutes of searching, I finally gave up on setting the TV to Game Mode and instead just lived with the input lag.
The touchscreen in my 2016 Jeep Renegade is big enough for me to be able to read everything I need to without having to squint, and small enough that I don't have to stare at it all the way until the button press (I can eyeball it, get my eyes back on the road, and press the screen in the correct spot 95% of the time). Screens like this I like. One's like those in Tesla's are criminally unsafe.
The worst I've ever seen was needing to interact with the touchscreen to open the glove box. Absolutely ridiculous.
It is, I've seen it on a car review recently but I can't remember which.
One of the worst ones is the new BMW 7 series that uses capacitive screens to change the air vent positions, as does opening the car door. MKBHD accidentally opened the door while trying to use the vents (about 5mins 40 seconds, not sure how to share the link in the correct time position from the app)
My Model 3 is like this. (Please don’t judge, I’ve had it for six years.) Thankfully I don’t need to get into the glovebox very often but on the other hand that means I can never remember how to do it. It sucks balls.
Same with mine. That was something I was looking for when I bought this car actually. I wanted physical buttons and knobs for everything that wasn't infotainment system related. The steering wheel has buttons to control things like volume and tack/station skipping as well. Even having a physical shifter was a necessity for me because these button or weird electronic shifters are a pain in my ass and can potentially be dangerous if you're unfamiliar.
Right! The design for climate control and radio adjustments should just be buttons.
The touch screen should be a display for android auto and carplay as it is an addition not a replacement.
Hopefully as economies of scale apply more to evs there will be less justification to cut down on costs in favour of touch screens doing everything.
I drive a car built in 2018 and I'm really happy with the balance between buttons and screen.
I've got stalks for indicators, wipers and cruise control. Physical switches for lights, windows, mirrors, climate temp, fan, air source, defrost front and rear, odometer reset, driving mode, master door unlock and opening the boot/tailgate. Vents are manually operated and the glovebox and fuel tank flap are too. The steering wheel has physical buttons for media source, track skip/radio seek, phone calls, starting the voice control mic, and scroll wheels for volume and cycling through information displays on the small screen between the large analogue gauges on the dashboard. And a 10 inch touchscreen for everything else (reverse camera, media and maps, mostly, but includes all the car settings you don't fiddle with often, like light delays, beep volumes, summer time offset etc.).
Basically anything I'm likely to want to use whilst driving I can find and operate with at most a quick glance, if not by touch alone, and have immediate feedback that I got it right because I felt the switch/stalk/button move under my fingertips as I expected.
I've wondered what functions I'd be happy with moving from a physical control to the touchscreen or capacitive button. I haven't come up with a single one. Yet if I were to buy the latest version of this car just about anything that is currently a physical button is now a capacitive touch button. Yeah, no thanks.