Volkswagen will restore physical buttons to the dashboard in its latest compact car, part of a wider move away from touchscreens.

In a particularly retro touch, the new ID Polo will even have a volume dial.

For a decade or so, automakers rushed to replace knobs and switches with screens, Autoblog noted in October, but users largely disliked them: Controlling the air conditioning, for example, required delving through submenus while driving, which was both difficult and dangerous. Research found that using touchscreens took longer and distracted drivers.

Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and VW have all announced plans to return to more tactile controls, and US and EU regulators announced last year that cars with touchscreen controls could get worse safety ratings.

  • tuff_wizard@aussie.zone
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    3 days ago

    Most car ac systems are either on, or off. They don’t have variable compressor speeds. They cool at maximum until they reach the temp you set then they switch off. If the temp rises again then they switch back on.

    A non EV cars heat is provided by the coolant that circulates through the motor. Nothing you can do will make the heater heat up faster.

    • FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Nothing I can do? If I drive my car at higher rpms, wont that make the engine hotter thereby also heating the coolant faster?

      • tuff_wizard@aussie.zone
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        2 days ago

        Yes that is true, I assumed everyone knew that 90% of engine wear occurs during the warm up period so you’d be foolish to ever run the car harder than needed in that period.

        I was referring to turning up the heat to full or anything you can do in the cab as the poster seemed to think he could get more heat from the old analog systems faster than a standard climate control system.

    • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Even if they do, feedback systems generally run full blast until they just about hit the target number, then tweak it from there.