Hyundai Pledges to Retain Buttons in Vehicles as Touchscreen Controls Pose Risks

During the launch of the new Hyundai Kona, Sang Yup Lee, the head of design at Hyundai, emphasized the company’s dedication to buttons. As noted in a report by CarsGuide, safety concerns are at the heart of this decision for the South Korean automaker. Lee stated, “We have prominently featured physical buttons over the past few years. From my perspective, buttons related to safety must be tangible keys.”

This design choice is not only logical but practical. In some contemporary vehicles, adjusting settings like volume or climate control may involve delving into menus on a touchscreen or visually locating a touch control on the dashboard. In contrast, the tactile response provided by genuine buttons, knobs, and switches enables drivers to keep their focus on the road.

“While driving, it can be challenging to manage. This is why physical keys make it easier to sense and feel,” mentioned Lee. According to him, physical controls are indispensable for anything that could affect safety, hence the inclusion of physical buttons and knobs for functions like the HVAC system and volume adjustment.

Lee hinted that although this is Hyundai’s current focus, future considerations may change. Specifically, the company is likely to increase the utilization of touch controls once autonomous driving becomes widespread. “Once we reach Level 4 autonomous driving, then everything will be software-driven,” added Lee.

Although touchscreens and touch controls offered numerous advantages for automakers, they are not without drawbacks. They enable a wide range of functions to be managed through a compact, adaptable interface. However, a handful of touch controls and a touchscreen might be more cost-effective and simpler to implement compared to scattering buttons all around the cabin. Despite this, they were once seen as a symbol that a manufacturer was keeping pace with the times.

However, in the past decade, people have grown weary of such novelties. Touch controls are generally less responsive and less user-friendly than the conventional buttons of the past. This is not to mention the frustration of navigating through a menu system just to activate a heated seat. Hyundai has unmistakably determined that a retro approach best suits their interiors, and they are unafraid to express this.

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