Same goes for appliances, which are becoming encrusted with features and less reliable.
I strongly believe this will happen soon and as a consumer I can’t wait for it. Especially once it turns into a gold rush like the D2C mattress space and everyone is competing to see how much money they can lose to acquire a customer.
I'd love to see more such "dumb" options in the TV and auto markets but I suspect we overestimate the demand for such things because we HN readers are largely tech-savvy. I think the ideal would be dumb devices with open APIs so that third-party smart features could be added, but that's of negative benefit to manufacturers (lack of vendor lock-in, potential for brand damage due to poorly-implemented third-party features, etc.), so I'm not optimistic about that happening.
A modern engine and chassis, etc. but with minimal, tactile, and easily serviceable controls.
An EV with great range (e.g. 300mi), good performance (doesn’t have to be a sports car), and classic controls.
You could go real minimal on computers. You’d just need a microcontroller to monitor speed, temp, charge, battery health, etc. Basic cruise control of the 1990s type would be nice but not essential. A radio with a USB plug for a phone to play music and good speakers is all you need for an entertainment system.
Basically I’m describing an electric 90s Civic with mid range options.
Oh and no cellular modem or spyware.
Put all the money into drive train, battery, and reliability. Design it to have easily swappable and upgradable batteries and to last for 25-35 years.
You’d have one customer at least.
You could probably make a pickup version with killer torque and be like Tesla for red states. Rednecks will be sold on the electric thing once they see what instant full torque means.
But, ignoring engine adjustments, what I'd love in a car is things like using the most common lights; and making the lights easy to access. Because changing the lights is a normal and necessary thing to do.
Don't make it take 30-45 minutes to change the (12V) battery, because changing the battery when it dies is a normal and necessary thing to do.
Basically, design around ease of maintenance, more than making it look cool and hip. I'm not necessarily going to do all the maintenance, but if important things are easier to get to, it saves me money, because it saves my service shop time.
I'd love it if it wasn't 2 cm off the ground, so you could get under it to change the oil; but I'm not going to win that, because I'm exaggerating a bit, but low clearance helps fuel efficiency, and fuel efficiency is required. I'd also love less of the under body panels to help with airflow that get banged up and then fall off or drag and cause terrible noise.