The proliferation of huge in-car screens has been done at the expense of old-school buttons. However, physical controls might make a comeback if automakers want to earn maximum safety ratings from Euro NCAP for their cars. New rules slated to come into effect in January 2026 will deduct points from vehicles that don't have certain traditional controls.
The European New Car Assessment Programme intends to downgrade the safety ratings of newly tested cars that don't have buttons, stalks, or dials for the following functions: turn signals, hazard lights, horn, windscreen wipers, and emergency call. The latter is known as the eCall function and has been mandatory in the European Union for several years. It automatically dials the local emergency number in the event of a serious car accident.
But not all automakers are slapping iPads on their dashboards and calling it a day. Hyundai is putting more traditional controls into their cars and other brands such as Toyota haven't really abandoned the straightforward layout of shortcuts on the dashboard. Skoda has found what may be the perfect compromise with three physical dials with built-in customizable screens, allowing you to tweak settings using the same dials.
www.motor1.com