Customers are getting fed up with touchscreens in their cars—and automakers are finally starting to take notice. After years of piling more and more functions into giant central displays, car companies are beginning to reverse course, reintroducing physical buttons and knobs in greater numbers than we’ve seen in years.
It’s not just automakers coming to this realization, either. Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief and the man largely responsible for the original iPhone, agrees that touchscreens in cars have gone too far. Ive, who also helped design the interior of Ferrari’s upcoming EV, recently spoke to Autocar about the issue.
Photo by: Ferrari
According to Ive, central touchscreens are “just the wrong technology” for most in-car controls. “I never would have used touch in a car [for the main controls],” he said. “It is something I would never have dreamed of doing.”
One of the main issues, Ive explains, is that large touchscreens demand too much of the driver’s attention. A screen mounted in the center of the dashboard “requires you to look [away from the road].” And he’s largely right.
A 2017 AAA study found that drivers spend an average of 40 seconds interacting with screens. At just 25 miles per hour, a car can travel roughly the length of five football fields in that time—more than enough time for something to go wrong.
Interestingly, Ferrari’s new electric vehicle, the Luce, does still have a sizable center touchscreen and a digital instrument cluster. The cabin leans heavily into a retro aesthetic, with ample aluminum trim and a ‘squircular’ touchscreen angled slightly toward the driver. But there are plenty of tactile controls, too.
Ive says the screen was designed so drivers “could use it intuitively, enjoy it, and use it safely.” It’s complemented by a set of tactile knobs and switches, including physical toggles beneath the screen for climate controls, heated seats, and other quickly accessible functions.
Motor1’s Take: Ive is right. Touchscreen overload is real, and taking your eyes off the road for extended periods of time is a genuine safety risk. We’re curious to see how Ferrari’s approach plays out in the Luce—and whether it can strike the right balance between digital flair and driver-focused design.
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