His examples are unfortunately pretty terrible. Volume control and air-con are all settings that you frequently adjust. These are not the controls that should be hidden in a touchscreen.
It's the dynamic, changing display of touchscreens, where you can navigate through a menu (or other structure/organisation) of settings, are where the real benefits lie. If, like in the video, you don't make use of the screen, you're left with a tablet-sized void on your dashboard. Most people agree that the existing buttons and dials are far better, easier and intuitive to use, so your volume & fan speeds are going to be best served by physical controls.
The problem is with the less-used controls. Cars have lots of settings and if you add a button or dial for each of them, you'll end up with something looking like an audio mixing desk. This is where touchscreens and displays can improve the UI. A well thought-out system should let the driver find any setting they need and let them adjust it. Leave the common controls as-is, and work on how best to present the others on the screen.
If you look closely in the beginning of the video, you'll see that I'm proposing for this to be a special mode that would only be invoked from time to time. So as you are suggesting: It's all about showing the right controls at the right time.
It's the dynamic, changing display of touchscreens, where you can navigate through a menu (or other structure/organisation) of settings, are where the real benefits lie. If, like in the video, you don't make use of the screen, you're left with a tablet-sized void on your dashboard. Most people agree that the existing buttons and dials are far better, easier and intuitive to use, so your volume & fan speeds are going to be best served by physical controls.
The problem is with the less-used controls. Cars have lots of settings and if you add a button or dial for each of them, you'll end up with something looking like an audio mixing desk. This is where touchscreens and displays can improve the UI. A well thought-out system should let the driver find any setting they need and let them adjust it. Leave the common controls as-is, and work on how best to present the others on the screen.