After 150,000 km, only one EV in Australia meets this driver's basic demands
Things That Annoy Me About Cars
A veteran EV owner rants about panoramic glass roofs, touchscreen-only controls, NFC keys, weird door handles, and overbearing ADAS bings and bongs. After building a spreadsheet of every Australian EV under $65,000 with 400 km range and seat memory, only one car qualifies: the 2026 Skoda Elroq Select 60, which still relies on a touchscreen for climate control.
Honestly, it's a car. It's not a phone: it's a car.
- AngryData
Ugh the glass roofs. I don't know why people like them. "Why yes sir, I would love to get beat down on by the hot sun while lacking airflow over me and risk an expensive repair bill from a falling walnut!"
- galenelias
Similar to the 'EV Stupidity Checklist' from John Siracusa:
- plqbfbv
I own a Tesla M3 2019, and recently drove 2-3yo MG HS as rental.
Glass roof: agree.
Buttons: yes, if Tesla would have kept the stalks and added 3-4 programmable buttons, I might rate them higher for a next car. That said, with the MG HS I guess I should have read 20+ pages of manual just to operate the 4-axis 3-rings windshield wipers stalk, not to mention that I could never engage cruise control at all despite trying; so my take on buttons is: something more than Tesla, way less than full-optional/overloaded car. At least with Tesla there's aftermarket options.
Smartphone/NFC: with the MG HS I had to perform a 4-point checklist every time I started it or parked it, and after 7y of Tesla it felt like a huge chore (esp. for quick stops). I've been very happy with Tesla and smartphone (failed maybe twice in 7y), and keep on me the Tesla card as backup (never needed it in the end). A key fob wouldn't annoy me if it worked just like the smartphone on my Tesla: if I don't have to do anything but keep it in my pocket, it'd be fine.
Door handles: the M3 handles are at the right intersection for me to be minimal, efficient and still mostly understandable (push, grab and pull). I can understand they're not regular grab and pull and not everyone is happy about it. I accidentally set off the MG HS alarm while the door and car were already unlocked by pressing the small button on the handle, which after seeing it for 10+y on many cars I still have absolutely no clue what it does (and mos […]
- TheCowboy
Add automatic high beams to the list.
They just don't work half as well as when people did it manually.
Before the pandemic, it was rare to get blinded by a person's brights. Now if I drive at night it's just non-stop, and I live in an area with street lighting. (Some of this is also due to after market LEDs and possibly lost driving manners.)
It's extra obnoxious as a pedestrian because at best they get turned off way too late, or frequently not at all.
- jrootabega
Combined turn signals and brake lights!
- fho
Re physical buttons: I always wonder why there are no "modal buttons" in cars. E.g. 4 buttons on the left, 4 on the right.
The ones on the left open "submenus" the ones on the right trigger an action from the submenu.
Can be visual, but should not depend in the GUI to keep up.
Examples: Left 1 puts you in the audio menu, Right 1 increases volume. Left 2 puts you in the cruise control menu, Right 1 activates.
Humans are actually pretty good at learning simple patterns like that.
4x4 gives you 16 functions on the wheel. Going one level deeper (left, right, left) would give you 64 possible results. That should be enough to cover all bases.
- kazinator
One-pedal driving trains a driving habit that could lead to a regrettable mistake when getting used to a vehicle without it. The driver's seat is no place for poorly considered conveniences.
- ryan_glass
A sim card which connects the car to the internet.