Spotted over at Mostly Words:
Today's cars are dumb where they should be smart, and smart where they should be dumb. Enough already. Make a car that's pretty much all dumb and watch it sell — because what automakers are giving people is so bad, they'll pay more to have less of it.
Cars now are like budget smartphones with wheels: loaded with bloatware, unintuitive and slow to operate. Carmakers have always struggled with user interfaces, but until recently the biggest problem we had was "too many knobs." How I long for those days!
The proliferation of touchscreens and LCDs has made every car feel like a karaoke booth. Animations show reclaimed energy from braking, the speedometer changes color as you approach the limit, the fan speed and direction is under three menus. And besides being non-functional, these interfaces are even ugly! The type, the layouts, and animations scream "designed by committee and approved by someone who doesn't have to use it."
Not to mention the privacy and security concerns. I was dubious the first time I saw a GPS in a car, my mom's old RX300, about 20 years ago. "Yeah… that's how they get you," I thought. And now, Teslas with missed payments drive themselves to be impounded. Welcome to the future — your car is a narc now!
The final indignity is that these features are being sold as upscale, not downmarket, options. Screens are so cheap that you can buy a few million and use them everywhere, for everything, and tell buyers "enjoy the next generation of mobility!" But in reality it's a cost-saving measure that cuts down on part numbers and lets your dashboard team kick the can down the road as often as they want. You know this for sure because high-end models are going back to knobs and dials for that "premium feel."
So here's what I would like: a dumb car. This is what I think that looks like.
Great article! But, we're too far past the point of no return in that area. And have been for a looonnggg time.
All of the things run by the Powertrain Control Module are good and needed, usually. Same with the anti-lock brake systems. But most of what the Body Control Module does CAN be pared-back a bit and few might notice. Who really needs a vehicle which will support up to 12 WiFi devices? Yet GM has been building those vehicles for several model years now. As a selling point! Not unlike how Chrysler sold minivans with 12 cupholdes (for 9 passengers), years ago.
The Chevy TrailBlazers had front dodor power window switches which had mini-computers in them. Had to be programmed befofe they'd move the window glass, too! Never did figure out the reason for that, but it went away when they obvioysly moved that computing capacity somewhere else.
Power sunroofs and the rear sliding roof section of the GMC Envoy were run by the BCM, too. The BCM section had to know what position the moveable part was in, too. Should it "forget", the user had to move the item "full open" and then "full closed" to reset it. This "percentage of maximum" position seems to have pervaded much of GM electronics. Start a newer GM vehicle (as in Silverado) and once started, the instrument panel gauges, in unison, move from 0% to 100% range of motion, then back to 0% and then to their actual readings. A dance of the needles.
Manually change the radio volume and a section of the radio display (and also in the Driver Info Center at the same time) notes the % of maximum setting. Manually change the hvac fan speed and a little display in the lower section of the radio screen indicates how much fan speed level is left. There for a few seconds, then vanishes. Same with the various air flow options. There and gone.
Can't forget the reminder screen which appears every so often to remind the driver to check the back seat for inhabitants.
Why do we need all of these things which replaced manual knobs and switches? Because the vehicles have become narrower for a more "international" size interior, rather than what we had in the 1960s. Which also means less material costs and such, too.
The good off-shoot of these electronic marvels is that many are now adaptable to older vehicles. The street rod area was the first to get some of those things. Like "theatre dimming" of interior lights. Later, tire pressure monitoring. Can't forget the modern electronic fuel injection/engine management system TBI units. Holley, Edelbrock, and others in that game now, plus some evolutionarily better carburetors, too.
At the OEM level, for many decades, the Powertrain Control Module will not allow the engine to over-rev in "N", for example. End result is that "big brother" keeps everything from self-destructing due to "user problems", unlike in prior times.
The original ONStar sytem in GM was designed to be strictly an audio system. It could even be retrofitted, in the first years. Why audio? To decrease driver distraction. Yet everybody else went with the navigation screen approach (some with some great graphics, for the time) and GM had to follow suit to remain competitive. The first nav systems were run by CDs played by a unit in the luggage compartment with a stalk which stood up from the driveshaft hump. Had to update the nav discs every so often.
Later nav discs had to be updated, too. One of our new Toyota customers proudly took their new Avalon on a trip to Houston to see their kids in their new house. When they got back, they were concerned that their Nav system could not find the address. The updated nav discs had to be ordered and were over $100.00 each. Now, most cell phones have some sort of "mapping service" or "driving instructions", though.
In the street rod arena, GPS speedometers have been available for several years. A big advance with no need to worry about correct calibration of the particular speedometer unit.
Then there are the light-duty truck camera systems and other things related to trailer towing. GM has sought to be a leader in that tech, too, by observation. GM, Ford, and Chry all have some sort of utility for trailer towing and such. GM will let you program several trailers and their characteristics, plus the camera system that makes the trailer disappear in the display. Ford has something a bit simpler and different, as does Chry/Ram.
And there are many more other things, too.