Are there any EV cars without any "technology"?
Are there any EV cars without any "technology"?
Like the title says, are there any EVs that just have a Bluetooth radio and that's it? Like a normal car, not a smartphone on wheels? If not, do you all think that this will actually happen at some point? This is the main reason why I can't (and will never) buy an EV. I like to have actual buttons everywhere on my car. I think those massive tablets on these cars with all the touch buttons are very dangerous. I like an "entertainment system" that only connects to my phone with either a headphone jack of or Bluetooth. It's a car, not a PC.
I assumed from your title that you, like myself, are more concerned about the fact that EVs all seem to be "smart", and cloud connected, and effectively hardware as a service to spy on you, and prevent repairs, and have software lockouts of features.
Like TVs, I think there's no incentive for the companies with the ability to make dumb devices to actually make them. Adding all this functionality is unfortunately what people expect.
I mean, I think EV needs to be separated from the fancy systems here. I see ICE vehicles with fancy touchscreens with no buttons, they aren't an EV specific thing.
As for me, I have the Hyundai Kona EV, I love the thing. Yes, it has screens, I think they're neat, but specifically it has physical buttons below the screens to control the entire car with physical buttons. That was a hard requirement of mine. So, if you want no screens or anything then no, unless you buy the cheapest car out there right now you're probably getting something "smart", and those happen to be ICE cars because at this point they're cheaper. If your actual issue is physical buttons, then sounds like you need to go actually test drive some. The only EV I know of with no buttons is a Tesla, and there are a ton of other EVs out there.
I think you're conflating a couple of different things here.
just have a Bluetooth radio and that’s it
and
I like to have actual buttons
These are two separate issues. The former, in my view, deals largely with what is seen as an extraneous or even potentially unwanted set of features. Especially in so much as cars are quite famously some of the worst devices people own in terms of keeping their data private and secure. Better to have a car that doesn't collect that data in the first place, and just sticks to being a car that goes vroom. Or whirrrrr, as the case may be with an EV. But there are advantages to the more advanced features too. Navigation, lane assist, adaptive cruise control, etc. Whether you want the features or not is an entirely personal decision.
But this is not the same as the question of how you interface with the car. Yes, more advanced features are probably going to require a more complicated UI, maybe including a touch screen, though centre console knobs can achieve the same.
But the core of this criticism, I think, is about whether you can keep your eyes on the road while driving. And that means that you should be able to do the core things related to driving: steer, accelerate, brake, indicate, turn on/off lights (including high beam), and adjust wiper settings all from the steering wheel. And secondary but important frequently-accessed settings like AC temperature, radio volume, radio channel/mode, and turning on/off cruise control should be doable using physical knobs and buttons, though these may be located in the centre console. The important thing here is that even if some more advanced features do exist to be interacted with via touch screen, they don't have to mean (and shouldn't mean) the important driving-critical features are only available via a dangerous touch screen.
Chevy Bolt EV and EUV have buttons for everything you need to do while driving. It does have android auto/apple carplay but you don't have to use it if you don't want to.
If your hate only goes towards touchscreens and not having physical buttons, Mazda is (or at least was) very anti-touchscreen. I haven't done any research on their current stance or if they have good EVs, but a neighbor of mine was really happy with his Mazda ICE car for having a button for everything.
I mean, gasoline-powered cars are headed the same way. manufacturers realize they can make more money by forcing us to pay for software.
I know that Edison motors up in Canada makes conversion kits so you can turn your pickup truck or 18 wheeler into a hybrid. I'm sure there are people out there putting electric motors in regular cars, I've seen them do it with Porsches and mustangs
You should probably mention your jurisdiction ,but I'm in EU and have a Dacia , pretty goood lack of stupid/unnecessary features and the console is mostly optional to use. Physical buttons for important stuff and music/calls. Mine is a LPG/gasoline hybrid but most is similar to the EV models.
Least bad in Mozillas privacy review as well. Plenty of electronics still ofc it is needed in any car today EV or not.
Mitsubishi has been selling one for nearly a decade. It’s not great.
Toyota has a Corolla hybrid that seems pretty close.
The issue is that why would they build a budget EV when they can sell an expensive, high margin, EV? The batteries are low supply, high demand so they should be wringing every dollar possible from it.
Things where federal and California regulations step in and force these vehicles into market.
So let's be very clear here. This is basically true for any new car, practically no 'normal car' has come out (in the US) for the past few years. The amount of feature creep has been massive, some due to regulations, some because adding it is cheap. The only place where you can get relatively bare bones is in pick ups. Not in suv's. Cars except sportscars are no longer being offered, only two 'normal' models (accord and camry) still exist. These all have driver assist tech and large screens as well. You won't be able to get around features hiding behind touch screens, simply impossible to find in today's market.
The problem for Evs is that beyond styling the only differentiating factor is tech. They are all fast and differ not that much in range, speed, comfort, handling in their price ranges. This has pushed tech into the car industry, especially in the US where people are willing to go into debt for cars, to the point where the average price for a new car is 47k. Compared to eu: 27k
In principle, the less you pay the less tech you get. But for any new car, there is tech. No way around it anymore. You can buy the car and ignore it.
All new cars have infotainment systems and computerized controls and displays these days. This is in no way specific to EVs. In Europe there is the Dacia Spring. That's a very simple and down to the absolute essentials kind of vehicle. But not something I would ever want to drive.
I don't think you can easily find new thermal cars without technology, so EVs
My 2017 Chevy Bolt is fully electric and has less fancy integrations than most cars sold today. It's got Bluetooth and aux audio in but you have to connect a phone with a cable for Car Play or Android Auto, it's got normal buttons and switches for all the car stuff too. It had a remote start until I ran out of free On Star months.
The entertainment system in most cars are separate from the actual car computer. You can just turn it off, or only use the radio. I think it's only Tesla where it's necessary to use the screen in order to operate the car.
EVs however is one place where it makes some sense to have some software connection to the car, if you want to time the charging to the electricity price or set a tine to preheat and such, that'd be difficult to make with physical buttons. I'd prefer just to have an simple app for it, because I really dislike the proprietary software in the cars.
I think we need a car that "weeds out" all the shitty tech that has been integrated and comes "standard" now.
Let's take my partner's 2021 Honda Civic for example.
Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) - it's garbage. The car does not recognize construction zones, and it will actively fight you if you are in those zones, or if you have to make an emergency lane change without signaling, like if a deer, or child runs in front of your car. We turned this feature off.
Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) - This system legit tries to wreck the car. We've had it flag and even slam the brakes dozens of times in non-emergency scenarios. It was so bad we took it back to the dealer to have the software updated (which changed nothing) and considered returning the car. The system has to be manually disabled every time we drive the car, we cannot permanently disable it. Slamming your brakes at highway speeds when someone makes a close merge is a real good way to wreck your car and the 6 or so behind you. The risk of causing 12+ accidents to avoid or mitigate 0 is not worthwhile, and it needs to go.
Adaptive Cruise Control - A great way to make idiots fall asleep, and causes left lane lollygagging. I tried using adaptive cruise control for a few long trips, and what I noticed is that there are long lines of cars driving 4 under where they are all using ACC. When the car automatically adjusts it's speed, you lose feedback on the speed you are actually going, because you never get into that "decision zone" behind a car where you either slow down, or pass the other car. It also makes people feel more confident to let the car drive, so they'll fuck around on their phones. Get rid of it, you'll get where you're going faster and safer if you do.
Auto Dimming Headlights - Turns on by accident all the time, and very hard to turn off. Works ~50% of the time. Could be good, but really sucks right now.
Here are some features that rock, and should stay in.
Keyless entry
Remote start and push button start
Apple / Android phone integration
Brake hold
Backup camera
Thanks for attending my rant.
I have a 2016 Nissan Leaf. It's a short range commuter car, it makes a great second car for a family but it's no good if it's your only car.
I live in a left-hand drive country that gets heaps of used imports from Japan (who is also left-hand drive), so they are cheapish and easy to get YMMV,. The entertainment system is not touch screen, it has physical buttons including controls on the steering wheel. I'm not sure if it can phone home since it's no longer in a supported country. We use Bluetooth for music and that's it as the Nissan Connect stuff doesn't work here.
Just rented a KIA Niro and wouldn't have been able to tell it was an EV from the interior. HSS Bluetooth but I usually opt for Android auto.
Those "cheap" Asian EV's look like bare bone vehicles. But you get what you are paying for.
For once I wouldn't suggest to buy an old first gen EV. They are unpredictable, and have a lot of different issues.I tried an VW ID3 this weekend, the software was low key, it mostly relied on you having Apple Car or it's android equivalent.
Fiat 500e first gen and Nissan volt first gen.
Pretty much it unless diy
Don't know about your answer specially but can get EV conversion kits that provide the hardware to turn older cars into EVs. Of course you really have to know what you're doing or know someone who does and the kits themselves are often as expensive as mid range vehicles.
The old Chevy Sparks are basically golf carts with 4 doors and permission to drive in the roads. They are the least "techy" EVs I've seen in person as they are really just a battery swap with the minimally-appointed ICE version of the car, which is very sparse on the electronic doodads.
Hopefully someday.
I thought the Nitro EV was a pretty normal EV
The problem is that it takes a lot of computer power needed to run an EV. Battery management, power management, motor control, etc. Requiring that much computer power makes it a cheap and easy decision for car makers to just make everything part of that system.
We will get there eventually but it’s going to take a lot of people to want it (many people aren’t even considering an EV as a future car purchase), a lot of the under-the-hood stuff will have to be shoved away, and charging/battery management need to be simplified while still being robust and reliable. I don’t see it happening any time soon, ICE vehicles have only been getting more and more complex in this way. “Stick a tablet in there” is so cheap and easy and resolves so many manufacturing hurdles.
Bespoke windows controls? Nah, button on a screen. Custom entertainment system? App on a tablet. Backup camera screen? Just put in on the screen so it’s the only thing you can see while backing up.
If car makers cant get around these hurdles without incurring, previously saved, costs, the trend will continue.
Buy an old, used EV (and replace the battery)?
Bluetooth is a pretty bad idea I wouldn't want anything like that in my car or in my house or on my toilet
Smart cars maybe?
Canoo if they every exist IRL.
