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Software is eating all cars. It just happens that there weren't many good BEVs 20 years ago, so the touchscreen-takeover looks correlated with EVs.

Old Leaf and Renault Zoe have barely any tech in them (by modern standards). There was a niche Coda EV that was as "dumb" as any car from its era. EVs only need software for battery management.

Conversely, overuse of software, touchscreens and faux buttons made its way to contemporary ICE cars too. The crappy UI that VW has created for ID.3 has been "backported" to their ICE hatchbacks. Every car you buy with a 2024 model-year is going to be an iPad on wheels.



My 10 year old Leaf has satnav, mobile connection, can download rss feeds and speak them out loud, has cruise control.

All the config is via touchscreen: charging timers, climate timers, satnav, bluetooth, phone.

Has voice control, a mobile app


My 9 year old leaf is an S model and has none of that - it’s blissfully simple. Prefer it over the SL model also in the family.


having a screen with a satnav is a must, to compare GOM miles remaining to miles remaining of route


Yeah, but my phone on a vent mount works fine for that.

Usually on any trip that brushes up against usable range, I do the math kind of backwards. I know the distance for the trip, and know how much buffer I have. Then I just look at the trip distance elapsed, compared to the GOM, and if they are roughly 1:1 I know I’m trending well.


10-year-old ICE cars in its price range have the same features.

Base model of Dacia Spring EV and Citroen Ami have no touchscreens whatsoever, but these are low-low-end vehicles.


I'm so fucking glad I ride a push bike about 95% of the time. Not even an e-Bike, just a simple bike I can fix myself. It's good for me as well. I love the freedom of it so much.




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