The race to introduce new technology and to constantly move vehicle design forward does not always produce the best results. This has been acknowledged by the chief of design at Volkswagen, who says that the brand in the future will never make the mistake of relegating essential controls to touchscreens, instead of physical controls. 

The trend towards accessing every vehicle control through a touchscreen met with opposition from drivers and safety campaigners. As a result the latest ID Every1 concept car from VW sees the reintroduction of a bar of button controls for common functions. 

Design boss, Andreas Mindt, has also said that starting with the ID.2, all future models will incorporate physical controls for essential functions. This reverses a policy of putting control functions on a touch screen that started in 2022. 

The buttons will cover functions such as audio volume, seat heating, fan controls, and hazard warning lights. There will also be a return to buttons on the steering wheel, instead of haptic sliders which proved especially unpopular.