Volkswagen is bringing back physical buttons


Volkswagen is planning a return to physical buttons in its future vehicles over haptic sliders and touchscreen toggles for vital functions such as climate controls. The automaker’s design head Andreas Mindt told Autocar that the company “will never, ever make this mistake again” and promises to bring together physical controls for volume, heating controls, fan speed, and hazard light activation below the touchscreen for all cars starting with next year’s ID 2all.
Mindt also says the decision to bring back physical buttons was based on customer feedback. “Honestly, it’s a car. It’s not a phone: it’s a car,” said Mindt. “We understood this.”
Volkswagen isn’t the only automaker to have a physical-over-digital epiphany as of late. Last year, Hyundai said focus groups were “stressed, annoyed, and steamed” when they couldn’t control something in a pinch. Hyundai and Kia took a touchscreen-heavy approach in their EVs, such as the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Kia EV6. Meanwhile in China, Xiaomi has accessory options for customers to add their own physical controls.
The trend toward digital interfaces was kicked off more than a decade ago by the Tesla Model S with its impressively big central touchscreen. Slowly, the company removed other physical controls, including transmission and turn signal stalks. The latter was resurrected in the new Model Y and may return to the Model 3.
Volkswagen’s change comes at an interesting time as the EU’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) is set to introduce new rules next year that require cars to have certain physical controls to achieve a full five-star safety rating.
And it conflicts with the sentiment of some auto executives, including Rivian software chief Wassy Bensaid, who called in-car buttons “an anomaly” and predicted that soon everything will be controlled digitally through voice.
Volkswagen is planning a return to physical buttons in its future vehicles over haptic sliders and touchscreen toggles for vital functions such as climate controls. The automaker’s design head Andreas Mindt told Autocar that the company “will never, ever make this mistake again” and promises to bring together physical controls…
Recent Posts
- ChatGPT remains the most popular AI tool in offices worldwide, survey finds, with India leading the way
- Retroid offered very limited returns for its unfixable handheld
- The Last of Us season 2 gets an explosive new trailer
- Almost indestructible memory card launched; Lexar’s Armor SD steel cards are water resistant and can survive a 16-feet drop
- Trump’s DOJ still says Google should be broken up
Archives
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010