Not too long ago, getting into a car meant turning a key, twisting a dial for the radio, and adjusting the air conditioning with a simple knob.
Today, modern vehicles are practically rolling laptops, recognising their owners, adjusting seats automatically, and updating their software over the air. But as touchscreens replace physical buttons and electronic flush handles replace simple latches, the auto industry is getting a stark reminder: cleverer does not always mean better.
Between safety recalls, driver distraction, and long-term reliability concerns, the push for ultra-digitised cabins is forcing both drivers and carmakers to ask if we’ve taken vehicle tech a step too far.
Much of this is useful and safer, but now and then the industry produces a reminder that cleverer does not necessarily mean better.
When opening the door becomes complicated
Something as simple as a door handle has raised some serious concerns around the globe.
China has launched its largest-ever vehicle recall, involving around 4.3 million vehicles from nine manufacturers, including almost three million Teslas. The concern is that electronic flush door handles can become difficult to operate after a vehicle loses electrical power in a crash or emergency.
They have also announced that concealed electronic door handles will be banned on new vehicles from 2027.
Ironically, the handles were introduced partly because they look futuristic, can improve aerodynamics and are very much part of the modern car aesthetic.
But when the car is on its roof, damaged or without electrical power, nobody is particularly interested in how aerodynamic the door handle looked when the car was photographed for the brochure.
And it isn't a feature found on a handful of exotic cars. Flush or electronic handles have become increasingly common on modern vehicles, including models sold in South Africa.
The touchscreen problem
Modern cars increasingly expect drivers to interact with a large central screen for functions that once involved a physical button.
Climate control, seat heating, driving modes and even more basic vehicle functions can now be buried inside menus.
It looks minimalist and clean in a showroom but frustrating in traffic, trying to find the volume control setting hidden in a sub-menu.
Research using data from more than 669 000 real-world trips found that drivers interacted with vehicle information systems roughly every five minutes. Interestingly, physical buttons remained the dominant form of interaction, accounting for 63% of inputs in the study.
Another study found that entering information on a touchscreen while driving can negatively affect driving performance compared with using a physical control.
In some cars, there is not a single dial or button in the cabin (yes, Volvo, I’m looking at you), with everything controlled from the screen, including side mirrors.
That means taking your attention away from the road and faffing on the screen, which then immediately elicits a response from the car that you’re not focusing on where you’re driving.
Even Volkswagen thinks we have gone too far
One of the most telling signs that the industry has been having a rethink comes from Volkswagen.
Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, has been candid about the move towards increasingly digital interiors. He has said that two things are “absolutely non-negotiable” for him: proper door handles and buttons.
Volkswagen's recent interiors replaced traditional buttons and knobs with touch-sensitive surfaces and sliders, including controls for functions such as temperature and volume. The idea was to make the cabin look cleaner, more modern and more digital.
Schäfer says Volkswagen has listened to customer feedback and is bringing back physical controls. Recent models have returned to steering-wheel buttons and more conventional switches for functions such as heating and ventilation, along with a proper volume control.
It is a simple response to a complicated problem.
A button doesn't become obsolete because the car has some of the best technology available, and a volume knob doesn’t stop being useful because there is a 12-inch touchscreen sitting next to it.
More technology isn’t always more useful
Manufacturers are competing to make cars feel more advanced, while consumers don't necessarily want every available piece of technology.
Research into vehicle technology has increasingly suggested that the most appreciated features are often those that make driving easier without demanding the driver's attention.
Give someone another menu to navigate, a feature that requires a subscription or a warning that they need to update their software before something will work, and the initial enthusiasm disappears quickly.
Perhaps the best technology is the technology you barely notice.
South Africa has another problem
This becomes even more relevant in South Africa because we tend to keep cars for a long time.
The average age of passenger vehicles on South African roads is 10 to 10.5 years, while nearly 50% of registered passenger vehicles on local roads are between 10 and 20 years old.
A new car may leave the showroom with sophisticated cameras, sensors, screens, electronic door mechanisms and dozens of control modules that may work flawlessly for the first few years.
South African vehicles operate in demanding conditions. They deal with heat, dust, potholes, flooded roads, poor road surfaces and the occasional encounter with a shopping trolley.
And unlike a mechanical door handle, a software-driven system can potentially require specialised equipment and knowledge to diagnose.
It doesn't mean that we should return to cars with wind-up windows and a choke.
Technology has transformed vehicle safety. Electronic stability control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and increasingly sophisticated driver-assistance systems make a meaningful difference.
The distinction is between technology that works for the driver and technology that makes the driver work for it.
Clever is good. Useful is better
The problem isn't technology itself.
It is the assumption that adding technology automatically makes a car better, which it often does, but sometimes it simply replaces something that already worked perfectly well.
A physical button doesn't need a software update, a mechanical door handle doesn't need electricity and a knob doesn't require you to take your eyes off the road to find it.
It works well when it makes our lives easier without asking for your attention, but if you need to watch a YouTube tutorial to work out how to get out of it, perhaps we've gone a little too far.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za