Ask HN: Why is nobody manufacturing low tech electric cars?

Kia/Hyundai has a very nice and sensible layout using 2 modest sized screens side by side well integrated into the dash, focused toward the driver with analog gauges simulated in the center.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWlnOW2JEko

They sorta mimiced the digital dash from the Mercedes S-Class for a fraction of the cost.

https://st.motortrendenespanol.com/uploads/sites/45/2017/04/...

I hate the big fugly, poorly integrated screen offset to the middle that looks like someone glued a tablet to the dash (think Tesla and lots of others here). Marketing over function in my opinion.

Almost all cars that I have seen still have analog controls for driving *inputs*.

Digital/touch screen is mainly limited to entertainment, phone, setup, and GPS/mapping. A lot of touch screen functions are often intentionally made inactive while the vehicle is moving.

Charge timer is the only thing other than the backup camera that is materially improved by the larger touch screen. The charge timer is moved to the little dashboard LCD in the S model, and it’s a bit janky.

Exactly, what a bad take. I’d prefer to have a simple car from reputable manufacturer without any of the extras which are being sold as “mandatory”.

> I would imagine the venn diagram in the us of people with electric cars but no smartphone is pretty small.

So you do need proper route planning, charging point information and range prediction anyway. What would be the benefit of completely outsourcing this to a smartphone? Is having one additional device really going to make things easier and less brittle? Why shouldn't this be done by the car if it can be done by the car?

> Now I warm up my car by going outside and turning the key. My wife's car has a remote starter. Why do I need a screen or app in my car?

You don't need a screen or app in your car. You need the app on the smartphone. That's your remote starter.

I heard that one of the Chinese car companies was taking that approach with some of their cheapest models: people already have phones, just provide a nice place on the dashboard to hang their phone, just provide an ordinary Bluetooth speaker as the sound system, and just provide a Bluetooth app to control some of the car's lesser used functionality like the most detailed parts of the climate system and what have you.

It's a fascinating approach. I don't know if it would take off beyond the smallest, cheapest types of cars, and I certainly don't know if we'll see those sorts of ultra-cheap cars in markets like the US, but it's still great to hear that some experimentation is going on knowing that everyone already has smart phones, modern cars are an extension of that (look at the importance of Apple CarPlay [1] and Android Auto), and there's a lot of room to experiment with an electric car (given how much of an electric car is a "software car").

[1] Fun semi-related footnote: on the highest end, as well, Porsche was getting some good press that they'd moved a bunch of their controls into an iOS app that supported CarPlay. Porsche seems to have perhaps realized that "CarPlay" is the real car OS most users care about.

> ICE cars also need gas stations, also need to pay for their fuel

To be able to access a wide range of charging points, you will have to set up some accounts with multiple providers. There are more and more charging points that support debit cards because they have been made mandatory in several countries, but it is still recommended to register with at least one provider to get lower charging prices. Not all charging points require an account, but you'll still need an app.

Again, this is just not the same experience and process as with ICE cars – you could somehow try to replicate it, but you will find that those "high tech features" make life easier.

> and also get cold when it's cold

Which isn't a problem because an ICE car doesn't lose a third of its range when it's cold, as opposed to an EV.

ICE cars fuelling speed isn't limited by the temperature of the gas tank when you arrive.

We could give power users a button to manually do that, but how far in advance you press it would have to depend on the heat you'll gain naturally on that particular route, the ambient temperature, and how you typically drive.

And if you get it wrong, you've wasted a bunch of your battery power or arrived colder than ideal. If you accidentally pressed it, or changed your mind, you've used a bunch of power for absolutely no reason.

Personally, I don't trust the average driver to check their tire pressure.