Asklemmy

I have a 2016 Nissan Leaf. It's a short range commuter car, it makes a great second car for a family but it's no good if it's your only car.

I live in a left-hand drive country that gets heaps of used imports from Japan (who is also left-hand drive), so they are cheapish and easy to get YMMV,. The entertainment system is not touch screen, it has physical buttons including controls on the steering wheel. I'm not sure if it can phone home since it's no longer in a supported country. We use Bluetooth for music and that's it as the Nissan Connect stuff doesn't work here.

Just rented a KIA Niro and wouldn't have been able to tell it was an EV from the interior. HSS Bluetooth but I usually opt for Android auto.

I think we need a car that "weeds out" all the shitty tech that has been integrated and comes "standard" now.

Let's take my partner's 2021 Honda Civic for example.

Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) - it's garbage. The car does not recognize construction zones, and it will actively fight you if you are in those zones, or if you have to make an emergency lane change without signaling, like if a deer, or child runs in front of your car. We turned this feature off.

Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) - This system legit tries to wreck the car. We've had it flag and even slam the brakes dozens of times in non-emergency scenarios. It was so bad we took it back to the dealer to have the software updated (which changed nothing) and considered returning the car. The system has to be manually disabled every time we drive the car, we cannot permanently disable it. Slamming your brakes at highway speeds when someone makes a close merge is a real good way to wreck your car and the 6 or so behind you. The risk of causing 12+ accidents to avoid or mitigate 0 is not worthwhile, and it needs to go.

Adaptive Cruise Control - A great way to make idiots fall asleep, and causes left lane lollygagging. I tried using adaptive cruise control for a few long trips, and what I noticed is that there are long lines of cars driving 4 under where they are all using ACC. When the car automatically adjusts it's speed, you lose feedback on the speed you are actually going, because you never get into that "decision zone" behind a car where you either slow down, or pass the other car. It also makes people feel more confident to let the car drive, so they'll fuck around on their phones. Get rid of it, you'll get where you're going faster and safer if you do.

Auto Dimming Headlights - Turns on by accident all the time, and very hard to turn off. Works ~50% of the time. Could be good, but really sucks right now.

Here are some features that rock, and should stay in.

Keyless entry

Remote start and push button start

Apple / Android phone integration

Brake hold

Backup camera

Thanks for attending my rant.

Don't know about your answer specially but can get EV conversion kits that provide the hardware to turn older cars into EVs. Of course you really have to know what you're doing or know someone who does and the kits themselves are often as expensive as mid range vehicles.

I tried an VW ID3 this weekend, the software was low key, it mostly relied on you having Apple Car or it's android equivalent.

The old Chevy Sparks are basically golf carts with 4 doors and permission to drive in the roads. They are the least "techy" EVs I've seen in person as they are really just a battery swap with the minimally-appointed ICE version of the car, which is very sparse on the electronic doodads.

Those "cheap" Asian EV's look like bare bone vehicles. But you get what you are paying for.
For once I wouldn't suggest to buy an old first gen EV. They are unpredictable, and have a lot of different issues.

Hopefully someday.

I agree with the touch screen thing. Without a physical button I'm forced to constantly look down at the screen. That shit isn't safe.

Canoo if they every exist IRL.

Smart cars maybe?