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Comment by skrebbel | Hacker News Reader

An electrical engine is a lot simpler than an internal combustion engine.

I don’t think that EV implies software overkill. I hope that some brands will carve out a niche for simple EVs with real buttons and low “smartness”.

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> I don’t think that EV implies software overkill. I hope that some brands will carve out a niche for simple EVs with real buttons and low “smartness”.

As of now EVs are synonymous with software overkill. Hence your hope that some brands WILL carve out a niche.

I hope so but i'm not optimistic. I can't think of any electric car that doesn't have a horrific UI full of "smart" features i don't want and would pay to not have. Even a car that doesn't require subscriptions to turn on basic features seems like a very optimistic ask.

When I rented a VW e-Up, it barely had any smartness in it.

>I don’t think that EV implies software overkill. I hope that some brands will carve out a niche for simple EVs with real buttons and low “smartness”.

Look to the TV sector, you can't buy a non 'smart' TV any more. I highly doubt it will be profitable for a non 'smart' electric car.

I guess the closest we have right now is the Citroen Ami?

Someone already mentioned the, VW e-up! and it has a sibling called Skoda Citigo iV. They do belong to the "very tiny car" segment, but you can get them without any screen at all! Google some interior pictures. (Both not sold anymore, but you can find them used).

I think for a brand that does as simple and cheap cars as possible there's Dacia. They have the electric Dacia Spring which is also a small car. It does have a touch screen though. Only available in some select European countries.

Edit: Actually, the touch screen in the Spring is only the "Plus" version, so you can be touch-screen free! :) But the Plus version also has DC fast charging, so you probably want that anyway.

The WV e-up! was stupid simple; with the non-touch screen only being used for the parking camera and radio.

It will be difficult as big manufacturers will lobby to relabel smart features as safety features which will make it hard to sell a car with a low safety rating. (This is already happening, squeezing out the makers of cheaper cars.)

> An electrical engine is a lot simpler than an internal combustion engine.

Sure, but there is no electic car on the market that isn't massively complex with unnecessary electronics (that will fail over time).

For some definition of "simpler", sure. You could also look at it that an EV requires a functioning, efficient global system of engineering design, mineral extraction, and manufacture. There are very few countries that could claim they can make an EV 100% domestically, and the only one that comes to mind has been working very hard to put themselves in that position.

Like with CRTs, the only thing that simple about IC's is that the networks and systems have been developed over the last century or so. As an innate technology they're massively more complicated.

For most nations - even without the shit were destroying our home argument - EV's look like a better long-term proposition than having to buy oil from some of worst regimes on the planet on an ongoing basis to run a transport system.

>than having to buy oil from some of worst regimes on the planet

The current state of mineral and resource extraction and processing for EVs has a way to go before this argument holds water.

Yeah, the “smartness” is what I don’t like.

Sadly this is not the trend at all

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