Chasing The Future, Electric Vehicles Are Suffering From An Identity Crisis
In early March 2024, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) announced that come 2026, all new cars in Europe would require vehicles to have physical controls for a full five-star safety rating. NCAP is widely regarded as an industry benchmark in Europe, even though its regulations are non-binding and testing is voluntary. In fact, NCAP is so popular that several automakers including Tesla often use their NCAP rating in their marketing. However, these new regulations could cause some manufacturers such as Tesla to take a U-turn on that decision.? NCAP’s 2026 guidelines require all cars in Europe to have physical buttons, dials, or stalks for hazard warning lights, indicators, windscreen wipers, SOS calls, and the horn. While this may seem like an insignificant ruling, it is actually a major decision that could change the way electric vehicles (EVs) are designed and sold. Over the past years, more and more EVs have replaced physical buttons with touchscreen controls. This acts not only as a cost-cutting measure but also helps preserve the clean and minimalist design many EVs are going for.
Perhaps the biggest example of this is Tesla’s new steering stalk. With the 2024 Model 3 Highland, Telsa introduced a completely new stalkless design that moved the indicators to the steering wheel, and the gear shift to the central touchscreen. The decision has led to considerable blowback, not just from social media but also from the press. The Model S and Model X got this update earlier, but now with Tesla’s most economical and popular vehicle getting the upgrade, it seems more people are noticing. Elon’s company is not the only one trending in that direction though. Volkswagen’s new ID.7 features numerous capacitive buttons on the steering wheel, despite the negative feedback when it first launched the same on its ID.4 EV. In fact, the controversy got so bad that VW CEO Thomas Sch?fer told Autocar that the decision “definitely did a lot of damage” in a June 2023 interview. Rivian’s new R2 and R3 also feature a button-less interior, instead offering drivers a single haptic scroll wheel, further downsizing from the R1’s two wheels. Automakers appear to be going full-steam ahead with a buttonless interior, despite well-documented evidence that it is the exact opposite of what consumers want. In 2023, JD Power’s Automotive Performance, Execution, and Layout (APEAL) Study recorded a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction for the first time in its 28-year history. Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power noted “Despite the technology and design innovations that manufacturers put into new vehicles, owners are lukewarm about them.”
Despite the clear backlash, automakers don’t seem to be too keen on keeping physical buttons around when it comes to EVs. While there’s no clear consensus on why from the industry, it doesn’t take a genius to see what’s happening. EVs are currently caught in an identity crisis, struggling to be what automakers see as the future of transport, versus what consumers really want in 2024. Collectively, automakers are working towards making all their vehicles autonomous, a goal that appears to be the central theme for electric vehicles. What was once seen as two distinct paths, is now colliding to become one. Clearly, manufacturers see a future where the car drives itself, leaving occupants free to interact with a touchscreen display (either in their pockets or on the car) for entertainment. While most industry leaders won't concede that, there is one that will - Elon Musk. Tesla’s CEO has always indicated that self-driving is the future of cars, and constantly pushed to state Tesla’s can drive itself despite the mountain of evidence that it is far from the case.
Many traditional automakers haven’t even announced an autonomous driving program, but that hasn’t stopped them from shipping their vehicles with features clearly meant for computer drivers rather than human drivers. Take for example the Polestar 4. The newly launched EV makes the rear window obsolete, instead replacing it with a camera that displays in the rearview mirror, much like the more expensive and less widely available Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato and Ferrari 812 Competizione. Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 also abandons the traditional sideview mirrors for a pair of cameras that feed into a display on the edges of the dashboard. Do we really need a camera to tell us what is behind our car when glasses and mirrors have been doing that job for decades? Of course not, but manufacturers tell their customers that it's more beneficial. They aren’t entirely wrong. In adverse weather conditions, a camera might be able to do the job much better than a human driver can, but that does not take away from the fact that these features also give the car’s computer system an additional data point to process.
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Between additional cameras and buttonless interiors, automakers clearly see a future where the car does most of the driving and not the person. However, that future is far from a reality. EVs today still require the drivers to have their hands on the wheel at all times, and so far no self-driving system has been granted permission beyond limited test routes. Statistics show us that autonomous vehicles are safer than human drivers, but we are not at the point where the technology is ready for the mass market (despite what Elon says). For this decade at least, humans will be doing the bulk of the driving. That means we need cars that are human-centric. Striking this balance is not easy, but it is the safe and right thing to do.
This is where the NCAP’s decision comes into focus. Matthew Avery, director of strategic development at Euro NCAP told The Times, “The overuse of touchscreens is an industry-wide problem, with almost every vehicle-maker moving key controls onto central touchscreens, obliging drivers to take their eyes off the road and raising the risk of distraction crashes.” Even former Apple design guru Sir Johnny Ive, a man famous (or notorious depending on your point of view) for getting rid of buttons and ports hinted that automakers may be taking things too far. Back in 2022, Ive told attendees at a conference, “I do think there are fabulous affordances with interfaces like, for example, multi-touch… But we do remain physical beings. I think, potentially, the pendulum may swing a little to have interfaces and products that will take more time and are more engaged physically.” Touchscreens may be good for a lot of things, but usability without looking isn’t one of them. While research on the benefits of touchscreens in cars is scarce, most existing results show that they aren’t always a good idea.
Research indicates that human drivers need some sort of tactile buttons that provide feedback our hands can feel. Proper human-centric design would take that into account, which is why there is such backlash to the buttonless car concept. Even struggling automaker Lucid conceded defeat in this battle, with Head of UX David Flynt mentioning in 2023 to Motor1, “We’re going towards more hardware controls than away from them because of the feedback that we're hearing.” Autonomy aside, there’s another clear reason to retain physical buttons and knobs - the fact that technology fails. The internet is littered with videos and posts of people complaining about their ability to make a call, take a photo, or send a message when their phone freezes or screen breaks. Now imagine just how catastrophic it would be if the same happened to the sole input method of a machine that can go 120 kmph down a highway. Of course, the failure of the touchscreen is the exception, not the norm, but even then it is a risk that seems ridiculous to take. For over a century we have been driving with physical buttons, stalks, and knobs indicating that it is a proven and tested way to access critical controls like indicators, wipers, and the horn.
It’s unclear if NCAP’s decision will have any bearing on how automakers approach interior design, but given that it is voluntary, it seems highly unlikely that buttons will magically reappear. So far, no government has even thought about addressing this issue, meaning much like social media and AI, it will become a major crisis before it is addressed. As automakers chase a computer-centric future, the groundwork will continue to be laid in vehicles hitting the markets today, despite the clear indication that such a design is not human-centric. The lack of a clear middle ground from regulators means the identity crisis will continue, causing increased risk for drivers.
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