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.
Not that I know of. Let smaller automakers make EVs and we might get something like that.
But with the federal government mandating that all cars must have automatic braking after a certain date in the future I guess we’re never going to get away from tons of sensors and computers in cars.
I mean, the government has mandated that all cars built since the 90s have to have a lot of computers and sensors for engine monitoring and emissions logging so that ship has long since sailed. Automatic braking is also credited with eliminating something like 1 in 5 fatalities in car accidents, so as long as we have any motorized vehicles around at all I don’t really have a problem with the government requiring manufacturers to spend the extra 20 dollars or so per vehicle it costs them to add a few ultrasonic sensors and a microcontroller it takes to slow the vehicle to the point where a driving into a pedestrian might just be survivable.
They also mandate a backup camera, so that means they need to have a screen.
Could put in a Polaroid exposer instead
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.
specifically it has physical buttons below the screens to control the entire car with physical buttons. That was a hard requirement of mine.
I’d love to get an EV with physical buttons too. My current car is a 2012 Mazda 3, but I want to get a EV to take advantage of my solar panels.
The Kona looks nice. Do you know if it supports Qi wireless charging, and wireless Android Auto?
It does! Just used it today! There’s a wireless charger just under the main dash in front of the drink trays, and I can confirm Android Auto works perfectly wirelessly. When we got it the sales guy said it’d be coming in a later update, and we were like “uh yeah, sure”, but it honestly worked day one, no updates needed. Feel free to DM me, happy to answer any questions honestly.
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.
Further, in terms of safety, having a large display built into your dash showing you navigation is much better than a small device you jerryrig onto a vent or something. It’s easier to see via your peripheral vision, and won’t put you in a situation where you need to go find it off of the floor when it falls off.
Same thing with things like messages and text via the infotainment. You can hit a button and have it read out to you. Saves any temptation from even glancing st your phone while you drive.
Main reason i won’t get a rivian is it doesn’t support android auto nor any of the functions I mentioned above.
Tasker.
When my phone is connected to the audio system in my car, any texts that come in are automatically read aloud.
In my experience, android auto has always been a flaky nightmare.
automatically read aloud
Oof. I’ve got some mates with word choices that would raise some questions from the toddler.
Ah, yeah, I don’t have that problem. If I have someone in the car, I just turn on the radio instead of the Bluetooth.
But, I could pop up what tasker calls a “scene” when a text comes in, which would ask me if I wanted it read.
I’d prefer a decent phone holder instead of a screen in the center console, or at least a solid place to mount a holder. A couple 1/4-20 threaded holes in the dash would be awesome.
I’ve got a decent adhesive mount phone holder that I stuck to the top left corner of the infotainment system. Because fuck that screen with a rusty shovel.
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.
Just get a Detroit Electric Model 82.
Man, I love this. It’s so cute.
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 have a Mazda (not an EV) and am loyal to the brand because of their dial system. The dial makes it so easy to navigate menus without taking my eyes off the road for long
How Are mazdas? I’ve never even ridden in one, believe it or not. Tell me more, I’m interested. Lol
I have the 2021 Mazda3 Hatchback Premium Plus, so I have all the options (the COVID used car prices were great for when my previous one got totaled, the insurance company really paid out). It was brand new when I bought it. I have very few issues with it.
It’s quick, fun to drive, and feels really premium for not being priced insanely. I personally think it’s comfortable, but if you’re looking for more space, it’s probably not the way to go. For example, the front seats aren’t very usable with a rear-facing car seat in the back. The trunk space is pretty good imo. But I hate large cars in the first place.
I don’t use Android Auto or CarPlay because I enjoy the ease of use of the built-in system. The control scheme uses a dial between the seats where your arm rests, so it’s really easy to keep a hand on the wheel and navigate menus with it. There are also some quick buttons and a volume knob. The software could use a little work because sometimes album art doesn’t show up, but that’s mostly been fixed by changing Bluetooth settings on my phone. I truly don’t think there’s a better way to build a car control system.
I can’t speak on reliability of my own car, but my mom had a CX-5 and it seemed to last a good while without maintenance issues. I’ve personally had no problems so far. I’ve had good luck with Mazda dealership service too and I’ll probably stick with getting maintenance from them just so I can be sure someone who knows how those cars are built is working on it.
If Mazda comes out with an EV that has decent range and doesn’t utilize a touchscreen, I’d for sure get like, the 3rd or 4th generation of it (because 1st and 2nd Gen anything can suck.
That’s awesome. I really appreciate the details. I’ll keep an eye out for them, too. My 2016 Hyundai Tucson still kicks like a champ and I’m not planning on replacing it any time soon. I got the bumper to bumper extended warranty on it when I bought from the dealer and I still have at least 1.5 years left on it. I don’t drive much anyway, as I work from home and only go to the gym, or take the kids around town. That’s about it.
2024 Mazdas have touchscreens, so much for that analog vision of theirs. And they have just as much telematics and always-connected privacy-invading tech as other makes.
That’s awesome. Never knew that about Mazda.
2024 has touchscreens now
I’ve owned nine cars, and the two Mazdas were my favorite. a 1999 Mazda 626 5 speed, and then the 2013 Mazda 3. I’ve been driving a 2022 Sentra for a couple years and the Mazda was better. I needed to upgrade to get Android auto and the safety features, but I wish I had upgraded to another Mazda
Hmmmm, y’all are making me like Mazda. Lol. Anyone likes Mitsubishi around here? Haha
their old SUVs were a lot of fun
Digging my Mirage. Low-key cheap, simple display that integrates well w/ phone, and 40+ MPG.
Also easy to paddle shift into “oh fuck” mode, which burns more gas but gets me out of some hairy situations when AC is running.
Would prefer a hybrid, but this is the car the numbers worked out on in a sane way. I tried hypermiling in a Prius 1G (99, I think) on both a KY parkway and I24, and it sorta worked but was a huge PITA as well. Context, US 41 thru Evansville, Parkway, 24. Not terrible for the time at all, but a bit stressful here and there.
Check out the Skoda CitiGo. 36.4kWh of small car goodness without any screens or updates. Just Bluetooth. Navigation is provided using your phone in the factory mount or a TomTom. It’s basically a scaled down e-Up with analog switches.
I hope so at some point. Drove a friend’s tesla and fuck that thing, even the speedometer was on the fucking center tablet… Fuckin why? I don’t want to hunt for my current speed in the bloated infotainment bs.
Preech. It’s literally a tablet on wheels and it sucks
My MY21 Hyundai Kona feels like a normal car without all those extra features. Lots of tactile buttons, there’s a headphone jack/USB. It’s really just a regular car with an EV engine.
That’s freaking awesome. I’ll check it out. I don’t really need a car now, but just wondering if we will turn into 100% smartphones on wheels
You might want to look into taking an older car and paying to get someone to install a conversion kit. If you have an existing car you could see if there’s a compatible kit that’ll save you some money.
From what I’ve seen, conversions are generally preferred on pre OBD cars, as even the accessories like lights, AC etc run through that.
It puts you back looking at vehicles from the 70s or earlier. VW beetles, combis,Porsches seem to be popular choices.
OBD2 wasn’t mandatory until 1995 in the US, and OBD1 was really primitive. I suspect an EV conversion of an '80s or early-'90s car would be okay too.
Is there an issue with running OBD for the accessories, but not the engine?
I was trying to simplify things a little.
It’s really more about ECUs and that everything is controlled by CANbus
I got a 2022 Hyundai Kona EV. It does have a touch screen, but most functions can be done with buttons, except for navigation. It does have Android auto, but you don’t have to use it. It has an aux port or Bluetooth audio as an option
Second that, we own the non-EV version and the central console is pretty well designed. The car itself has a few ergonomy flaws though imho
eBikes
While an amazing option for city commutes, mine is close to 100km daily. I have no idea if it’s possible to use an e-bike for that, but it would certainly take up even more of my limited free time to do so.
That’s pretty extreme commute, a deeply unsustainable one regardless of the type of power system in your car.
Yup, it is. Unfortunately, I had to endure that for close to a year (I will be assigned somewhere else this summer) and me and my colleagues had to carpool. Public transport would have been the best, but for that route the bus only goes twice a day.
Nevertheless, e-bikes are great if your commute isn’t that long!
So, you want them to sell their house now? Lol
Buy an older ICE car, pay for an EV conversion.
Any good choices? Been thinking of getting an old civic and seeing if anyone local can do it.
If you’re going to go to all the trouble of an EV conversion, I’d suggest getting something stylish or with a nice interior (or whatever you prioritize) but a shitty/unreliable stock drivetrain, since you’re ripping it out anyway. In a sense, making a reliable Honda into an EV is a waste of a reliable Honda.
Also don’t touch our beloved nsx or integra. Unless it’s cooked then go right ahead!👍
Do you really think somebody would pay $300k+ for an NSX and convert it to EV?
I thought the same thing when someone converted a classic 911 into an ev. I mean they probably sold the drivetrain to other people but still.
I always liked the idea of converting an old e30 BMW
Nah I’m not knowledgeable on it. I just read that some people were having it done at a cost of $6k-$8k for popular car models that were easy to work on.
I have a 2016 Hyundai Tucson that is almost paid off and works flawlessly. I actually never thought of conversion. I’ll have to look into that. Thank you.
Sure thing. I think I read that some had paid between $6-8k for conversions.
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
Depends on where you are. In Europe some of the cars that have a shared platform—as in you can get an ICE or EV on the same model—are worth looking at. A bunch of the Stellantis-built stuff, like Peugeot or Vauxhall, are pretty “standard car, but EV”. Similarly Renault has some good options.
I live in the US. I wish we had access to some European cars. I’m originally from the middle East and all those cars you mentioned are there, not in the US for some reason. I remember we had Opel that is nowhere to be found in the US. Same with some Toyota trucks like Helix… Etc
Ah yeah, I feel like there’s better selection here, definitely. I think they sold the Volkswagen e-Golf in the US, no? Not great range but it’s just a Golf for the most part. Not still manufactured though, would have to look used.
I’m not sure. The laws are so fucking weird and stupid in this country.
