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Buttons or not
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Buttons or not
updated 1 month ago
31 Members
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34
Replies
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</div>The NCAP safety ratings will start to look at whether physical buttons are available for critical controls starting from 2026, and vehicles will have their ratings downgraded if it is touchscreen-only.
Note that this isn’t all controls – just ones deemed to be critical.
> From January 2026, crash testing body Euro NCAP will introduce rules that downgrade the safety ratings of new vehicles that do not have buttons on the dashboard to control simple operations such as indicating and activating hazard warning lights …
> Under the rules, a vehicle can only score a maximum five-star crash test rating if it has basic control buttons, stalks or dials for five critical tasks: indicating directions, triggering hazard lights, sounding the horn, operating windscreen wipers and activating the eCall SOS function, which automatically calls the emergency services in the event of a serious collision.
> Although the safety rules are not mandatory, car makers are desperate to earn top marks to make their vehicles more appealing to consumers and anything but a five-star score can impact sales.
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Thank you for that huge find Mike. Now manufactures have to balance between safety and cost. I personally like that this is happening.
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One new tiny update – apparently Tesla’s newest haptic capacitive touch buttons which they have introduced to control the indicators aren’t sufficient to satisfy these new rules, they’d need to be changed to a physical button, even though they are not on the touchscreen.
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I prefer buttons, if the touch does not work for an unknown reason, you have no control of the ventilation system, no heat no AC, and a fogged windshield in a small cabin.
Disappearing HAVAC buttons are not something I can trust
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Don’t be so sure hard buttons are better. The only button that gave me trouble on my Chevy Volt was a hard one – the Drive Mode button. Apparently it’s a common problem, so much so people have made multiple YouTube videos on how to fix it yourself with electrical tape.
Never had a problem with any of the buttons on the screen.
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You can always add buttons any time.