Technology

Pretty much. Give me a screen for Android Auto so I can interact with my preferred navigation and media apps, and then just let me control the car.

Like, if you want to add a menu for low-level tweaking of stuff I don't need(or shouldn't change) while driving, sure(like suspension settings). But for everything else, AC, seat warmers, forward/reverse, windshield wipers, headlights, etc, I want a button or knob.

Tesla Model Y owner here (never again, either). I hate the touchscreen, and also hate the way they’ve shoehorned functionality into the button/scroller controls on the steering wheel to try to address complaints.

When I first got the MY, the only way to control things like the wipers was through menus in the touchscreen. A software update introduced the ability to control them from the steering wheel controls, but even that “solution” sucks. You have to press & hold the control down while simultaneously scrolling it with your thumb. And most times you can’t scroll it from all the way off to all the way on in a single motion, so you press, scroll as much as you can, release & press again then scroll the rest of the way. A real PITA.

Disagree.

Personally, I feel the problem is absolutely touchscreens.

I've only got five senses, and taste and smell aren't helpful in a driving situation.

Of the 3 left, sight is the most important for the most important task: driving.

For other tasks, sound is best used to alert or remind about something, and is frequently diminished as a driving aid by music.

That leaves touch and sight for all remaining tasks.

Touchscreens are, despite the name, effectively 100% reliant on sight, since there's no real tactile feedback to enable the user to make eyes-free adjustments. To use a touchscreen, you have to take your eyes off the road to see what the screen says and make your selections.

While some are better than others, I also feel like touchscreens are still embarrassingly and frustratingly prone to errors, missed touches, and generally not doing the things the user intended, requiring even more eyes off the road to undo whatever actually happened, get the interface back to the place you want it, and try again, hoping that this time it'll work.

My mid-teens vehicle has a mix of a medium sized touch screen for the entertainment unit but physical controls for climate, driving, and a few of the entertainment adjustments, and while I was all about the advanced new touchscreen when I bought it, I find it's my least favorite part of the controls this far along in ownership.

To have to navigate a screen to find a control is a traffic hazard. Also if it's just to play music.
Physical buttons are always ready to be pushed.

Design is science, they fail and go back. Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different outcome is the definition of insanity.. Oh wait.

Personally I prefer a mixture of both. Touch screen for anything you don't need to operate while driving and physical for everything else.

Android Auto navigation, car system/audio settings, clock and system management, etc should all be a touch screen so you aren't navigating through turning knobs and pressing up and down buttons to go through various menus like your programming a microwave.

Knobs and dials and buttons for anything to do with audio volume, skip/reverse tracks, etc. and air conditioning.

Automakers will read this comment and think that everyone wants voice control instead of touchscreens or buttons.