Will regulators act on this? I really want them to, but I feel like they won't and we'll continue to see a trend of car makers taking the cheap route and doing touch screens. At least it feels that way wherever I look into an evening l exciting EV. What do the choices look like in the new car market these days?
If they do, it will happen in the EU. I doubt anyone in the USA would have the courage to touch this subject. It's very clear for everyone involved: touchscreens look more shiny to the user and at the same time let the manufacturer make significant cost savings - hardware switches don't seem like a big cost until you realize how many of them you need and how reliable they need to be over a number of years, and that the part you switch is just a small element of the whole system.
I'd argue that 3rd world cars don't have screens because they're cheaper to maintain, not cheaper to build. Buttons are dead simple and reliable, and can be fixed by any mechanic, computers cannot.
