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Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.
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I went into this thinking it was a little bit silly since nobody would design a car without most of those but:
If you have a Model Y from 2025 or later, press the brake pedal to pull up the drive mode strip on the touchscreen. Tap the drive mode strip to shift into Park. You can also press Park on the overhead console.
You have to shift gears with a touchscreen?? WHAT??!? I knew they were shit cars but what the actual fuck are they thinking?
You have to shift gears with a touchscreen?? WHAT??!?
Oh, it gets worse.
In theory, you weren't even supposed to have to do that, because the car would decide for you which direction you should go. (Probably based on simple object detection -- if an obstacle is directed forward, you must want to go backward, right? And if no object is detected forward, default to forward.) And the touchscreen controls were only there for the 'rare' occasion when you'd need to override the car's automatic decision.
WTAF?!
I had a friend with a tesler try to justify that to me like "yeah it usually works". It's just... They invented a problem that didn't exist.
So did the 50 ways new cars decided to make stupid levers and knobs and buttons to bop it twist it pull it to shift and mess with a known interface for no reason. The automated one is another level of stupid beyond that, though.
it's all computer...
So did the 50 ways new cars decided to make stupid levers and knobs and buttons to bop it twist it pull it to shift and mess with a known interface for no reason.
Well... I can see getting rid of the traditional big lever in favor of something else -- that big lever takes up a lot of space in the dashboard or center console that could be used for other things, and a lot of the replacements are much more compact, saving space. But manufacturers haven't yet come to a consensus about what exactly that replacement should be, which is why you're seeing such (potentially confusing) variety these days.
(But I'm sure that if a vehicle is your daily driver, you'd quickly get used to whatever interface it used and it would begin to feel fairly natural. The problem would come in for people who often need to change cars, like people who often find themselves driving short-term rentals. Then it would be very annoying to keep changing the interface for shifting the transmission.)
And that's all ignoring that we've already had a solution for a long time that frees up dash/console space:
Let's be honest, these cars were made for rich children who can't read or count.
I never drove a car that shifted gears on a fucking touchscreen. I am not going to do that.
When mobile dev tech bros develop a car.
Shame that A/C isn't on the list, I find it so annoying trying to hit a small spot on the screen while moving.
I'm pretty stoked that the AC on the slate is manual. I just hope it's not a POS :)
DUDE!!!! WHY WAS THE GEAR SHIFT AND THE ABILITY TO TURN IT OFF ON A TOUCH SCREEN AND NOT MECHANICAL?
Why isn't door handles on the list?
electronic door handles were banned in 2025.
Especially the gears, did we not learn anything from Anton Yelchin's death?
I think this is a good thing. But I hope that they can do so intutitively. During the telescope guy recent review, he made a good point that many manufacturers seem to bring back buttons for compliance reasons or just to say they have buttons (he was trying to praise the car he was reviewing for going beyond that). I thought he had a good point.
Emergency call system
So this is mandating SIMs and tracking in cars? Don't love that. I'm sure the manufacturers will ensure that the infotainment system will be mostly useless if you go in and disable the tracker
It isn't clear from the article that they're mandating the presence of an emergency call system. The "if present" note on the driver assistance function appears to have been added in this article and is not noted in the list from the linked article about the draft regulations:
A draft for public comment has been completed and will be released soon, which specifically includes the following functions:
- Lighting: Turn signals, hazard warning lights (double flashers), horn
- Gear shifting: P/R/N/D (screen-only shifting is prohibited)
- Driver assistance: Activation switch for the advanced driver assistance system
- Safety/emergency: Windshield wipers, defroster/defogger, power windows, Child/Accident Emergency Call System (AECS), and electric vehicle power off switch
My impression was more that if it has that call system, it has to have a physical button for it. That said, I haven't read the regulations myself, so it's entirely possible I'm talking out of my ass.
My work van has an emergency call system and it malfunctioned and dials it all the time, especially in low service areas. This causes it to constantly dial the SOS number and the only way to stop it is push a tiny hang up button on the infotainment system. The hands free controls for calls don't work with the SOS system. It is incredibly annoying, distracting, and dangerous. It has been back to the dealer 3 times to fix it and has yet to be fixed for good.
So a physical button for this system is very important.
I think car manufacturers don't care about the 0.000001% of people praying out SIM modules out of their cars that much.
I want the two sliders for the AC/heat back. Like wtf do I need a phd in auto consoles to cool off while driving?
Removing buttons is an idea. An idiot idea, but certainly an idea.
I don't love the idea of having to regulate for fuckin buttons, and think it should be avoided if possible, but I guess here we are in hell, anyway.
Most manufacturers have been doing that on their own, for a least a couple years now.
My 2019 Tesla has all of those except the power off button, and windshield defroster. It doesnt have a emergency system anywhere so not relevant.
Do any EVs have a power off button that actually powers it down? There is an option in the menus on the Tesla but thats still not a full true power off.
My BYD Atto 2 only has a physical power button, no touchscreen power off. (and an app, but that's another matter)
Is there a distraction running on the side?
Watch this unskippable ad then blink 3 times to shift to park