Now, the company has offered a surprisingly candid explanation of why it went down that road in the first place. Asked why Volkswagen<\/a>, like many other automakers, believed electric cars needed radically different controls, the company essentially admitted that it was trying to predict the future without having enough customer data to know what buyers actually wanted.<\/p>\n The reasoning, according to the company\u2019s Head of Quality Assurance, was understandable at the time. With electric vehicles representing a fundamental change in propulsion, there was a belief that everything around them should feel equally revolutionary. In an interview with Automobilewoche<\/a> (subscription required), Andreas Krepp explained the thinking process:<\/p>\n 2026 Volkswagen ID. Polo climate buttons<\/p>\n Photos by: Volkswagen<\/p>\n 2026 Volkswagen ID.3 Neo windows and mirrors controls<\/p>\n Photos by: Volkswagen<\/p>\n Touch Controls Were The Future. Until They Weren’t<\/p>\n ‘What seems obvious to you or me today may well be viewed quite differently at a certain point in time. Then someone says, \u201cPeople won\u2019t want that at all in the future.\u201d And when there\u2019s a lack of reliable customer data, a lot of things are simply tried out.<\/p>\n With electric vehicles\u2014including here at our company\u2014there was this idea: Something new is beginning [electric vehicles], so the controls must also change significantly and be particularly modern. For example, we said, \u201cLet\u2019s install sliders instead of traditional rotary knobs. That\u2019s the future.\u201d Then we learned that customers who buy an electric vehicle are primarily looking for a different type of powertrain. They don\u2019t automatically want to buy a spaceship.<\/p>\n To me, this is a good example of the ability to learn. We listened, took customer feedback seriously, and acted on it. Today, we weigh our options much more carefully: Where does a new user interface concept truly add value\u2014and where is a tried-and-true, intuitive solution simply better?’<\/p>\n 2026 Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI with regular steering wheel buttons<\/p>\n Photo by: Volkswagen<\/p>\n EV Buyers Still Want Familiar Controls<\/p>\n The thinking was essentially this: physical controls belong to the past, while touch-sensitive interfaces represent the future. Well, we now know how that worked out. VW eventually discovered that people buying electric cars weren\u2019t necessarily looking for a futuristic spaceship. They wanted an electric drivetrain, but that didn\u2019t mean they wanted to relearn how to operate basic functions such as the climate control or audio system.<\/p>\n With the risk of pointing out the obvious, a volume knob doesn\u2019t suddenly become obsolete because there\u2019s an electric motor underneath the floor. The same applies to physical climate controls and conventional steering-wheel buttons. If anything, having tactile controls can make these functions easier to operate without taking your eyes off the road. Mazda begs to disagree<\/a>\u00a0with me on this.<\/p>\n 2026 Volkswagen ID. Cross with volume knob<\/p>\n Photo by: Volkswagen<\/p>\n Mea Culpa<\/p>\n VW\u2019s current leadership has repeatedly acknowledged that its previous approach frustrated customers. CEO Thomas Sch\u00e4fer previously said the touch controls \u201cdefinitely did a lot of damage,\u201d<\/a> while the company has gradually moved back toward tactile controls following customer feedback.<\/p>\n The updated ID.4<\/a> coming soon is likely to have more conventional switchgear, and hopefully, the new\/old approach will expand to combustion-engine cars as well. Core models like the Golf and Passat also suffer from overly simplified interiors and could use a few more analog controls. Not just from a functionality perspective, but also because they make dashboards look more upscale, whereas a screen-heavy design comes across as cheap.<\/p>\n Motor1’s Take:\u00a0The irony is that the future has now arrived, and it turns out customers weren\u2019t nearly as interested in living inside a spaceship as VW and automakers thought they would be. That said, Wolfsburg deserves credit for admitting that it got this wrong rather than pretending the touch-slider era was part of some grand master plan.<\/p>\n The bigger lesson is that innovation shouldn\u2019t mean changing something simply because you can. Electric cars are already radically different underneath the skin. There\u2019s no need to make basic controls unfamiliar just for the sake of making the cabin look futuristic. Why fix what isn\u2019t broken?<\/p>\n![\"<p>2026](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/16x9-tr.png\")
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