Car touchscreens: must-have or deal-breaker?
There’s no denying the impact that smartphones and tablets have had on modern vehicles. Look into just about any new car and you’ll find a touchscreen and maybe even a bank of capacitive touch buttons that seek to approximate the function of mechanical buttons. The appeal is obvious: A cabin with these design elements can look sleek and modern. But there are drawbacks that aren’t always considered.
Those who haven’t been in a new car as of late may not know what to look for when evaluating the technology. With this in mind, Edmunds experts have listed a few pros and cons to touchscreen car interfaces to help you determine if this technology is something of interest or a dealbreaker.
Pros
■ Fewer buttons equal larger screens. Most people prefer a large screen to a smaller one, so when automakers remove buttons from the car, it gives them more room to expand the screen.
■ More features can be added to the vehicle. These days, a new car’s screen is expected to pull double or triple duty. It needs to not only run the automaker’s software but also display Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration systems. From the automaker’s perspective, a touchscreen interface saves designers from having to figure out where to add more buttons and gives the interior a cleaner look.
Cons
■ Higher likelihood of distraction. With touchscreens, drivers must take their eyes off the road to perform most tasks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines recommend that “devices be designed so that tasks can be completed by the driver while driving with glances away from the roadway of 2 seconds or less.”
■ Central point of failure. The problem with housing all these features in one place is that if the screen goes out, you don’t have access to any of those features.