Maric
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2020
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- Grabber Blue FE
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- Engineer
The argument against physical buttons, and why physical buttons are not considered 'modern' or 'futuristic' is that ultimately, anything mechanical will fail.While I get some people like physical buttons (I don't), I just want to note that the 3/Y's electromechanical vents cost many dollars more per car (4x additional electric actuators at ~$4 each, plus wiring, plus software programming, I'd wager $15/car extra vs Mach-E's all mechanical vents), than mechanical vents do. They're there because it's part of the minimalism no buttons/no controls look, not because they're cheaper.
The reason other automakers aren't copying the electromechanical vents is because they cost *more*.
I do very much like the sparse simplicity of the M3 and MY. I would have preferred less buttons in the MachE. What I do think is an improvement over Tesla's design is the info panel in front of the driver's eyes. As someone who has driven Tesla's I never really loved having to glance and search for the info I needed on the 15" panel. I never felt it was intuitive. So I'm happy Ford added this info panel on the MachE.
Ultimately I'd like to see a HUD over any type of LED/LCD info screen. My wife's $27k Mazda CX-30 has a HUD and it is fantastic.
Tesla has excellent voice recognition and commands and many of the touchscreen functions can be implemented via voice. So I do think there is a valid argument against mechanical toggles in cars and for the most part they are no longer needed. But obviously this is a generational thing as well as personal preference. (I know the MachE has voice as well but remians to be seen how well it functions).
In the end Ford has probably made a good decision design wise on how to bridge a traditional ICE user to EV. Tesla wholly skipped any transitional design in their implementation.
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