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.

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[–] 11 points 10 months ago (7 children)

ID.BUZZ with physical buttons, 4WD and an upgraded heat pump (the current one is designed for ID.4 sized cars) would be the perfect car for me.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    The ID buzz needs significantly more range for me to consider it.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    How much range do you need? My Chevy Bolt has a range of ≈350 miles, and it's rather mountainous around here.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    The id buzz has notoriously bad range, even worse than advertised, I think real world testing puts it a bit over 150 miles on a charge

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