EV Stupidity Checklist: https://hypercritical.co/2026/05/29/ev-stupidity-checklist
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@Colman @hypercritical this is our car compared to the original R5 from the 80’s
@DrChris @Colman @hypercritical you don't mind i prefer the original, do you?
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@hypercritical Um, tried a Nissan LEAF?
@dexter Bad news about the door handles on the 2026 Nissan Leaf.
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@hypercritical My good friend is an Engineer and worked in the motor industry for many years. He would agree 100% with you on this, as we’ve had this discussion many times as we see the car industry getting worse.
He says it’s extremely expensive to design and build a proper dashboard with physical dials and controls which is why they all followed Tesla’s design.
However, the good news is that European car manufacturers are reversing course, at lease when it comes to physical climate control buttons, because they’ve realised how dangerous touch controls are.
This is definitely the stance of the VW Group and hopefully we’ll see more of it.
@DanielG @hypercritical while I see the argument for physical controls, I’m amazed how people are so gung-ho about physical AC controls. I set the temperature once (21c, cool in the summer, warm in the winter), and I then never touch it, and let the automatic AC do its thing. One thing I occasionally do is to turn on defroster before I start the drive, but that’s about it.
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@DanielG @hypercritical while I see the argument for physical controls, I’m amazed how people are so gung-ho about physical AC controls. I set the temperature once (21c, cool in the summer, warm in the winter), and I then never touch it, and let the automatic AC do its thing. One thing I occasionally do is to turn on defroster before I start the drive, but that’s about it.
@Janne_O @DanielG @hypercritical There are so many that just don’t have a good concept of how automatic climate control works. I have a friend that is constantly fiddling by with the dial to adjust temperature. I asked her why. She said she’s adjusting how hard the fan is blowing on her. I guarantee that she’s not alone in that.
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@dexter Bad news about the door handles on the 2026 Nissan Leaf.
@siracusa They had to screw that up…
The previous ones checked most of the checkboxes.
Reminds me of how Apple soldered in storage and every competitor thought, “Great idea!”
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@siracusa They had to screw that up…
The previous ones checked most of the checkboxes.
Reminds me of how Apple soldered in storage and every competitor thought, “Great idea!”
@siracusa They were also very affordable.
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@hypercritical My good friend is an Engineer and worked in the motor industry for many years. He would agree 100% with you on this, as we’ve had this discussion many times as we see the car industry getting worse.
He says it’s extremely expensive to design and build a proper dashboard with physical dials and controls which is why they all followed Tesla’s design.
However, the good news is that European car manufacturers are reversing course, at lease when it comes to physical climate control buttons, because they’ve realised how dangerous touch controls are.
This is definitely the stance of the VW Group and hopefully we’ll see more of it.
@DanielG @hypercritical That's because European car safety ratings will automatically be capped at 4 stars for cars with inadequate physical controls. Also, the reason why Tesla adopted touch controls was because they could not afford fabricating all the special molds for physical controls.
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@DanielG @hypercritical while I see the argument for physical controls, I’m amazed how people are so gung-ho about physical AC controls. I set the temperature once (21c, cool in the summer, warm in the winter), and I then never touch it, and let the automatic AC do its thing. One thing I occasionally do is to turn on defroster before I start the drive, but that’s about it.
@Janne_O people have vastly different needs from AC and heating, depending on both themselves (e.g. various medical issues) and the climate they live in (e.g. I’m in the desert and usually want cooling to maybe 25C, which feels better because air is so dry, it during rainy season I might want it to go down to 18C to dehumidify).
If we have our dog with us, I need to redirect air to footwell.
When I buy groceries, I can’t buy them in trunk (it’s often 40C+ here) so I put them on passenger seat and blow cold air on it, etc. etc.
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@DanielG @hypercritical while I see the argument for physical controls, I’m amazed how people are so gung-ho about physical AC controls. I set the temperature once (21c, cool in the summer, warm in the winter), and I then never touch it, and let the automatic AC do its thing. One thing I occasionally do is to turn on defroster before I start the drive, but that’s about it.
@Janne_O In my region (New England) there's a lot more routine climate control actions above and beyond just setting the temperature. Seat heaters, front and rear defrosters, A/C on or off (for defogging/drying purposes in cold weather, not just cooling in hot weather), vent selection, air flow strength, and direction. "Auto" mode doesn't handle most of this, and it's necessary stuff to drive safely and get going quickly in challenging weather.
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EV Stupidity Checklist: https://hypercritical.co/2026/05/29/ev-stupidity-checklist
@hypercritical
TIL:Rearview “mirrors” that are actually screens are popular in fancy cars these days ... requires the driver to focus on the surface of the screen itself, which is mere feet away from their eyes. This is a large change in focal distance from looking at the road ahead.
Actual mirrors allow the driver’s eyes to focus on the road behind the vehicle, rather than the surface of the mirror. This is a much smaller change in focal distance, and is therefore easier, faster, and more comfortable.
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@Janne_O In my region (New England) there's a lot more routine climate control actions above and beyond just setting the temperature. Seat heaters, front and rear defrosters, A/C on or off (for defogging/drying purposes in cold weather, not just cooling in hot weather), vent selection, air flow strength, and direction. "Auto" mode doesn't handle most of this, and it's necessary stuff to drive safely and get going quickly in challenging weather.
@siracusa Politely disagree. I'm in an area with similarly challenging weather, albeit north of there, and have been absolutely fine with auto climate control on a screen for 8 years now. A good automatic climate control does not require fiddling with controls while driving. Maybe making a change before setting off, but even that is incredibly rare for me. I’m a huge stickler for not messing with screens while driving, so I'd be right there with you if I had to putz with the screen to drive safely...but I don't.
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@hypercritical My good friend is an Engineer and worked in the motor industry for many years. He would agree 100% with you on this, as we’ve had this discussion many times as we see the car industry getting worse.
He says it’s extremely expensive to design and build a proper dashboard with physical dials and controls which is why they all followed Tesla’s design.
However, the good news is that European car manufacturers are reversing course, at lease when it comes to physical climate control buttons, because they’ve realised how dangerous touch controls are.
This is definitely the stance of the VW Group and hopefully we’ll see more of it.
@DanielG my wife is currently shopping new vehicles. Tried both VW Taos and Tiguan. Taos does have some physical climate control, while Tiguan is mostly on screen, with a couple (poorly implemented IMHO) capacitive controls. This was the primary deciding factor against Tiguan.
Also looked at new Mazda CX5 - new design has almost all on screen climate control (moved away from previous physical buttons). This was the primary reason it's off the list now.
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@Janne_O In my region (New England) there's a lot more routine climate control actions above and beyond just setting the temperature. Seat heaters, front and rear defrosters, A/C on or off (for defogging/drying purposes in cold weather, not just cooling in hot weather), vent selection, air flow strength, and direction. "Auto" mode doesn't handle most of this, and it's necessary stuff to drive safely and get going quickly in challenging weather.
@siracusa it’s mostly same in Finland. Seat heaters are simple to turn on before starting the drive, AC is on around the year I have no need to turn it off ever. Vents are manual of course but I have no need to adjust them. If the car is cold or hot, the automatic AC automatically uses stronger airflow, I have no need to adjust it.
FWIW: my car is MY 2015 VW Golf.
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EV Stupidity Checklist: https://hypercritical.co/2026/05/29/ev-stupidity-checklist
@hypercritical I test-drove a Tesla in the before times. The first thing the sales guy showed me was how to open the door. He probably lost the sale right there, as I thought, “who tf designed this thing?”
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@hypercritical My good friend is an Engineer and worked in the motor industry for many years. He would agree 100% with you on this, as we’ve had this discussion many times as we see the car industry getting worse.
He says it’s extremely expensive to design and build a proper dashboard with physical dials and controls which is why they all followed Tesla’s design.
However, the good news is that European car manufacturers are reversing course, at lease when it comes to physical climate control buttons, because they’ve realised how dangerous touch controls are.
This is definitely the stance of the VW Group and hopefully we’ll see more of it.
For automobile manufacturers with a history where they have had physical controls, the R&Dcost is done. Simply don’t remove the buttons knobs and levers that they have.
I have a muscle memory, especially for actions that may need immediate attention. Lights wipers and turn signals can be accessed without removing hands from a wheel. Climate buttons and knobs. Entertainment knob.
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@Janne_O people have vastly different needs from AC and heating, depending on both themselves (e.g. various medical issues) and the climate they live in (e.g. I’m in the desert and usually want cooling to maybe 25C, which feels better because air is so dry, it during rainy season I might want it to go down to 18C to dehumidify).
If we have our dog with us, I need to redirect air to footwell.
When I buy groceries, I can’t buy them in trunk (it’s often 40C+ here) so I put them on passenger seat and blow cold air on it, etc. etc.
@thomasfuchs I’m in Finland where the yearly temperature goes from -25c to +30c (-13f to 86f). I use same temperature settings and auto AC all year round. Only setting I need to fiddle is defrosting and seat heaters, both which can be done before the drive.
Sure, everybody has different wants and needs. But at least for me that works fine, and having those settings in a screen wouldn’t be a big deal for me (my car is 2015 VW Golf, with physical controls.
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@siracusa Politely disagree. I'm in an area with similarly challenging weather, albeit north of there, and have been absolutely fine with auto climate control on a screen for 8 years now. A good automatic climate control does not require fiddling with controls while driving. Maybe making a change before setting off, but even that is incredibly rare for me. I’m a huge stickler for not messing with screens while driving, so I'd be right there with you if I had to putz with the screen to drive safely...but I don't.
@mhorydyn @siracusa “good” being the defining term of your statement. Auto in a Dodge years ago with physical buttons was so good I didn’t need to tell it when to use the defroster. 2024 Toyota with auto and physical buttons requires several adjustments on overcast morning with jacket to afternoon sun and short sleeves days. Driving and adjusting is a requirement on hour+ trips. Cars with more than one driver need excellent memory settings retention or easy physical access we’re all used to.
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EV Stupidity Checklist: https://hypercritical.co/2026/05/29/ev-stupidity-checklist
@hypercritical Strong agree. But I feel EVs have some catalyzed what was already there. Yes cars have many refined designs. But they’ve also been a home for weird and bad experimentation for a long time.
- Automatic seatbelts: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/automatic-seat-belt-terrible-idea/
- An era of new Mini coopers had beautiful flush windows… that needed to slide down in order to open the door. This happarned automatically, except when it didn’t : https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/comments/1301vho/2009_r56_mini_cooper_s_driver_side_window_will/
- VW Golfs of recent era chose to hide their backup cameras in the logo badge that flips up when engaged: https://youtu.be/m-GoTQ380TgTo be fair I adored cars #2 and #3 that had these items and personally never had any issues with these features, but not everyone is an HDMI CEC unicorn all of the time.
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@hypercritical my 2021 VW ID.3 scores 10/12. The two minus points are touch sensitive fan/heat controls, and touch sensitive steering wheel buttons. The 2026 Neo model fixes both of those and scores 12/12. It’s a great little car, and I’ll get the latest one whenever it’s time to replace mine.
@jontringham @hypercritical Glad to hear this about ID.3. But it has a showstopping drawback for North American drivers: it’s not available over here.
I’ve been driving e-Golf for 10 yrs and they are excellent but now I’m stuck (I write this from my iPhone 13 mini).
