Glass roof: agree.
Buttons: yes, if Tesla would have kept the stalks and added 3-4 programmable buttons, I might rate them higher for a next car. That said, with the MG HS I guess I should have read 20+ pages of manual just to operate the 4-axis 3-rings windshield wipers stalk, not to mention that I could never engage cruise control at all despite trying; so my take on buttons is: something more than Tesla, way less than full-optional/overloaded car. At least with Tesla there's aftermarket options.
Smartphone/NFC: with the MG HS I had to perform a 4-point checklist every time I started it or parked it, and after 7y of Tesla it felt like a huge chore (esp. for quick stops). I've been very happy with Tesla and smartphone (failed maybe twice in 7y), and keep on me the Tesla card as backup (never needed it in the end). A key fob wouldn't annoy me if it worked just like the smartphone on my Tesla: if I don't have to do anything but keep it in my pocket, it'd be fine.
Door handles: the M3 handles are at the right intersection for me to be minimal, efficient and still mostly understandable (push, grab and pull). I can understand they're not regular grab and pull and not everyone is happy about it. I accidentally set off the MG HS alarm while the door and car were already unlocked by pressing the small button on the handle, which after seeing it for 10+y on many cars I still have absolutely no clue what it does (and most times it's only a placeholder for the small button).
Poorly calibrated ADAS: my experience with Tesla is extremely good and again strikes a good balance, while extremely poor applies to Hyundai i10, MG HS and others that I've driven recently. Also: the latter list seems to treat "silent ADAS" as a feature, while Tesla explicitly tells you whether auto-steer or cruise are being engaged or disconnecting, which seems a way better UX. I stopped using the lane assist on the MG HS because it'd randomly drop out even in mild curves without any clue whatsoever. The "auto-enable on restart" for these things is a reason I'll immediately drop the brand from the list of cars I may consider in the future (Hyundai i10).
One pedal: agree.
Indoors, we avoid lighting a room with single bright overhead source of light. But this glass roof fad adds it to cars.
I went to test the new electric BMW iX3 and it had it.
It was funny because it was July in Southern Europe so it was quite obvious why it was the worst idea in the world.
- In the winter, if there is sun, and you have like black leather interior, it actually helps warm the car up.
-For trucks, having a glass roof is almost essential for seeing if you will fit into a parking garage. Having lived in Seattle, Im glad my truck had one.
- Opening the roof and setting AC to use outside air is the fastest way to vent the car. It doesn't create as many vorticies as opening the windows.
Also perhaps a hybrid would also fulfill the authors needs?
I do sympathize with the opinion that most new cars are not very attractive. At least to me as a petrol head.
They just don't work half as well as when people did it manually.
Before the pandemic, it was rare to get blinded by a person's brights. Now if I drive at night it's just non-stop, and I live in an area with street lighting. (Some of this is also due to after market LEDs and possibly lost driving manners.)
It's extra obnoxious as a pedestrian because at best they get turned off way too late, or frequently not at all.
On the other hand, extra-bright blue LED headlights compensated for this.
>Smartphones and NFC cards instead of keyfob with buttons
Using a phone as a key is super convenient, and having a little credit card sized NFC key works great as a backup. I've rarely had any problems with it.
>Turning on/off headlights, auto lights are good but I still regularly need to manually control them.
Why? Auto headlights work 99.9% of the time in every car made in the last 20 years.
The author elaborates that it only works intermittently for them, providing a long list of links to similar complaints?
The linked complaints are all for one specific car which I've never driven, so maybe there's some problem with that model or Volvo's software.
I can see how this might have happened. Tessla was a big deal and had those horrible door handles and companies probably wanted to look innovative rather than have good working designs. And physical buttons are more expensive to put in and don't look nearly as futuristic. I heard an add for a car a few days ago on NPR that was literally just "it has 30+ inches of screens!"
But perhaps the story is more about consumers who just want new, exciting things like weird door handles and 30 inches of screens, who cares what they do, and the car companies just threw up their hands and gave them what they wanted? I don't know. I would love to know the full story. I'm sure its documented somewhere.
I remember the first time I tried to go to lunch in a friend's Tesla. I couldn't get in or out of the stupid thing without instructions. And getting in would be next to impossible for somebody with bad rheumatoid arthritis and bad fingers - the "push with thumb, while pulling with fingers" is awkward at best.
We should never underestimate people's weird desires but this is mostly not it IMO. There was a new generation that felt the need to rebel against old established stuff and of course is now painfully rediscovering why this stuff was established in the first place.
Infuriating to watch, mind you. But also predictable, like watching bots play StarCraft against each other.
Why do I have less elbow room than in some 60-year-old rear-wheel-drive that has a transmission and axle in that spot?
Short, tasteful drink tray and storage bin, please.
It's like being driven by an inexperienced and terribly stoned driver, paranoid, jumping at shadows, hallucinating shit all over the place.
The ones we have at work keep pinging and beeping about all sorts of shit - oh you're too close to that car over there! (Yeah the road is really narrow, shut up, you're the same width as my Range Rover, you fit just fine). Hey watch out for that twig that's 50 metres away across the field! Oh you wanted to change lanes? I don't think so! OMG WATCH OUT FOR THAT CAR YOU'RE ABOUT TO HIT! (yes because you steered back towards it you stupid machine).
Hey you look tired you should take a break right now so I'm going to ping and beep and make the instrument panel flash until you do, even though we only left five minutes ago and there's still over three hours to go!
Fuck everything to do with them. They're exhausting and stressful to drive. I don't know how anyone can cope with EVs.
I rented a car not an ipad multimedia system, touch screens in cars are totally counter intuitive and often don't have the basic functionally easily accessible. Also usually the ui is laggy.