Volkswagen brings back physical controls for essential cabin functions

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Go low-tech: Over the last few years, Volkswagen has removed physical buttons in its vehicles, choosing to bake control settings into its infotainment panel. Now, the company is backtracking. It's a controversial trend that has stirred monumental debate within the auto industry between customers who hate it and carmakers loving the advertising opportunities.

Volkswagen will bring back physical controls for some of its vehicles' most essential cabin controls. According to Andreas Mindt, head of design for the German carmaker, replacing buttons with touchscreen controls was a mistake. A mistake the designer promised never to repeat.

Mindt confirmed the change during a recent interview. The first car the controls will return to is the Volkswagen ID 2all model, a budget electric car set to arrive in 2026 in Europe. The knobs and switches include sound system volume, heating on each side of the car, fans, and hazard light.

Volkswagon will continue applying the changes to every new car from assembly lines. The physical buttons are not limited to the center console, either. Drivers can enjoy limited driving distractions from added steering-wheel controls. Trying to tap non-tactile buttons on a touchscreen has never been the best solution, no matter the carmaker. Mindt noted that physical buttons provide tangible feedback that does not require drivers to take their eyes off the road.

Mindt mentioned that customers and reviewers criticized Volkswagen's design team when it went all-in the infotainment center controls. Touch interfaces will continue to play an increasingly important role in Volkswagen's center consoles, with bigger screens and more human-machine interfaces. However, the physical functions will remain accessible through the car's physical interface layer.

The automotive industry has debated touchscreen-based infotainment platforms for a few years now. Touch controls are cheaper to produce and more in line with today's digital ecosystem, but they aren't necessarily the best choice from a safety standpoint.

A few years ago, a Swedish magazine tested drivers' ability to control cabin functions using the touchscreen with a control group with physical controls. Unsurprisingly, drivers in the car with physical buttons (Volvo V70) performed better than models that only had a touchscreen. More recently, the European New Car Assessment Programme said that vehicles need physical controls for at least five cabin functions to earn the organization's highest safety rating.

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Volkswagen brings back physical controls for essential cabin functions

 

[yRaz]

I don't have a problem with touchscreens in cars, I have a problem not being able to turn off the music or mess with the AC while keeping my eyes on the road. "lets hide cabin temperature behind 3 clicks" "lets make turning the music down a slider on the touch screen" "We should integrate wiper controls into the infotainment system"

NO! STOP IT! There is a time and a place for touchscreens, doing 70 down the highway when it suddenly starts raining is not one of them.

 

[pnntmp]

Finally. I wonder why it took them so long.
You don't have to look at knobs and other physical controls in order to use them. But you have to look at sliders and focus your attention there, which could be pretty dangerous while driving. It's surprising there are no lawsuits (at least that I know of).

 

[psycros]

Hopefully this is the start of a trend back towards user interface sanity. Actually, phones could really use more physical controls as well. A button that takes you right to your frequent contacts and another to hang up are things I really miss, as well as d-pads/trackpads.

 

[brunocasarini]

Fu#$ing finally!! Essential functions should never depend on a capacitor and an operating system.

 

[guillejp]

Wooow! Actually can barely believe it! An "anything" manufacturer backtracking on stup1d trends? Wooow... I hope this catches on now for everyone in the car industry!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Finally, some common sense. Not only do touchscreens provide 0 tactile feedback, they also cannot be used with gloves! and yeah yeah, I know those "touchscreen gloves" exist, you know it, and I know it, they SUCK compared to a finger.

Screens also fail. The last thing I need is to have a totally non functional HVAC because the screen crapped out. The buttons in my vehicles have never failed, and none of the electronic dials have either. And if they DO, their replacements are $10-15, a new screen can be thousands, assuming they MAKE them anymore 10 years down the line.

Now, if only VW could also realize that US enthusiasts will buy enthusiast stuff, and give us that delicious 328 HP golf sportwagen R.

 

[nnguy2]

Glad they finally listened to R&D and not marketing.

 

[YSignal]

Hopefully all automakers follow suit. I hate touchscreens in cars and I don't even have one in my old car. My friends have them and they suck. **** that nobody asked for.

 

[Athlonite69]

KIA has been doing that for ever

 

[ZackL04]

My wife's 2011 Lincoln has touch and slider controls and its awful.

Was meant to be so “cool” and “luxurious” back then.

We will never buy a car like that again

 

[toooooot]

Was it a trend though or a blind desire to save on everything, though?

 

[Nobina]

Was it a trend though or a blind desire to save on everything, though?

Probably both. I'm sure that the desire to save lives on.

 

[AlexIL]

People ditching brand new cars in favor of old models that what forced manufacturer to reverse its stupidity.

 

[Vanderlinde]

Was it a trend though or a blind desire to save on everything, though?

It was a trend. But a failed one. I favor analog things over digital, and in particular a touch screen over time will have traces of fatty fingers to begin with. On top of that the retarded brightness of those panels cant be good in the dark.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Was it a trend though or a blind desire to save on everything, though?

It was trendy and the MBA dudebros all jumped on the bandwagon.

If it was cheaper, we would have seen it pop up on low end vehicles first, and in markets like south america. Instead, it started on the most expensive vehicles then worked its way down.

It was a mixture of trendy and planned obsolescence when that screen failed and you're forced to buy another car since they dont make replacements anymore.

 

[yRaz]

It was trendy and the MBA dudebros all jumped on the bandwagon.

If it was cheaper, we would have seen it pop up on low end vehicles first, and in markets like south america. Instead, it started on the most expensive vehicles then worked its way down.

It was a mixture of trendy and planned obsolescence when that screen failed and you're forced to buy another car since they dont make replacements anymore.

Well touch screens ended up becoming cheaper. adding a touchscreen is cheaper than making the wiring harness for the buttons and then adding in the labor of installing the buttons and the labor.

 

[HAZERD2]

Now, if only VW could also realize that US enthusiasts will buy enthusiast stuff, and give us that delicious 328 HP golf sportwagen R.

I thought that the Golf MK 8 R had 333 HP

Though it's not classified as a sportwagon...

 

[Gars]

Im waiting for a company to start removing their unwanted AI from their products
so, thats not bad tho

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Vehicle start/stop, vehicle gear selection, headlamp controls, wipers, and HVAC at a minimum should be physical. Navigation and entertainment can be touch. Things were perfectly fine 10 years ago before Tesla took things too far.

 

[netman]

"Volkswagen brings back physical controls for essential cabin functions"

Physical control knobs, switches, pullers, pushers, shifters, etc., exercise your fingers a lot more... reducing cramps, arthritis and other diseases...!

 

[Soaptrail]

How did digital controls get approved since we all agree they are overused?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Well touch screens ended up becoming cheaper. adding a touchscreen is cheaper than making the wiring harness for the buttons and then adding in the labor of installing the buttons and the labor.

Nope. Take a look at cheaper markets: buttons GALORE! You still gotta put that wire harness in and install the screen. Have you ever replaced HVAC buttons? It's not exactly labor intensive, most of that busywork has been automated by now. The buttons are all pre installed into the faceplate, and the whole thing goes in as one big assembly. They're not installing individual buttons.

Screens are still very expensive compared to buttons. See again: planned obsolescence and stupid MBA dudebros. They'll ride a trend directly into the ground and lose money on idiocy for years before someone corrects them.

How did digital controls get approved since we all agree they are overused?

Because money. "DUDE BRUH, LOOK AT THE SCREENS BRUH, WE CAN CHARGE MORE FOR THIS BECAUSE SCREENS BRUH".

I'm not joking. Business leaders are incredibly stupid.

Vehicle start/stop, vehicle gear selection, headlamp controls, wipers, and HVAC at a minimum should be physical. Navigation and entertainment can be touch. Things were perfectly fine 10 years ago before Tesla took things too far.

The 2019 MK7.5 VWs had the perfect mix.

I thought that the Golf MK 8 R had 333 HP

Though it's not classified as a sportwagon...

Nope. Mk8 R/sportwagen R had 315 HP, until the 2025 model year when it got bumped to 328.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36959277/315-hp-vw-golf-r-estate-wagon-specs-details/

 

[Soaptrail]

Because money. "DUDE BRUH, LOOK AT THE SCREENS BRUH, WE CAN CHARGE MORE FOR THIS BECAUSE SCREENS BRUH".



https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36959277/315-hp-vw-golf-r-estate-wagon-specs-details/

Good point, Not sure if you are old enough but Ticketmaster originally charged extra for print at home tickets. I of course said no, I will let you waste money printing and mailing me tickets until they changed their tune and made physical tickets the more expensive option.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Good point, Not sure if you are old enough but Ticketmaster originally charged extra for print at home tickets. I of course said no, I will let you waste money printing and mailing me tickets until they changed their tune and made physical tickets the more expensive option.

Oh I remember.

The whole car industry fell into this MBA trap in the 2000s, turning everything into an SUV because gas prices could never spike and the economy would never crash, and THE PROFITS BRUH. Even as debt skyrocketed they kept going, fingers in ears, until the whole thing collapsed. Meanwhile, the foreign automakers that didnt hire MBAs as often still maintained small efficient platforms and crushed the big 3 during the recovery, apparently the big 3 remembered nothing from the 70s.