All those touch screens in the Tesla and the rest of the cars sound very well. Euro NCAP thinks otherwise

Euro NCAP has been notifying for about a year: cars that bet absolutely everything to the touch screens will have problems to obtain the coveted five stars of its qualification system.

For some manufacturers Only the screens mattera Simply terrible decision that allows them to save costs by adding additional steps that could be made by pressing a simple button. The date on which Euro NCAP will begin to penalize this philosophy is closer, but we have bad news: it will not change practically anything.

Euro Ncap pressures. We are more or less agree with the methodologies used by its system, Euro NCAP is the most relevant body in Europe to evaluate the safety of new vehicles. After performing its collision tests and various trials, it is evaluated by a system of stars (up to five) how sure is the car.

The system takes into account adult protection systems, children, impact on pedestrians and security assists (ADAS) among others and, from 2026, an additional factor enters into the equation: how simple it is to perform basic car functions. Specifically, these five.

• Selection of flashes
• Button activation Warning
• Ring
• Activate the windshield wiper
• Activation of Ecall emergency button

If it is not possible to activate each and every one of these functions quickly by means of a physical button, the car will not get the five stars.

Why (almost) nothing will change. Virtually all current cars have physical controls for the actions described. One of the few that do not include manufacturers such as Tesla is that of Ecall emergency activation, which currently can only be activated using the upper bar of its touch screen.

If the American company wants five stars in the cars that you sell in Europe, you will have to adopt this button in physical shape, or in the steering wheel or location they consider.

It is a movement that may seem lower, but introducing a new button in a vehicle, or not in the steering wheel, it is important additional costs for the thousands of units that will have to be manufactured in 2026. Whatever it may be, in the face of the end user, everything will remain practically the same: beyond these mandatory standards, everything will continue to be governed by a screen.

An important brake for industry. Although this new Euro NCAP standard will not be especially relevant, the organism’s pressures to the industry to keep the physical buttons are more than necessary. Volkswagen already had among his plans to end them to replace them with screenswith the consequent criticism of your buyers that made them consider backing.

Other manufacturers, such as BMW, fantasize with systems starring screens and with hardly any presence of physical buttons. This Euro NCAP requirement will put a certain brake on your plans.

And it is that European legislation itself does not expressly prevent cars from dispensing with physical buttons. The Vehicle Homologation Regulation (EU 2019/2144) It forces manufacturers to meet certain standards in terms of usability and ergonomics of controls to avoid distractions, but does not specify that these standards pass through physical buttons.

The obsession with the screens. On car manufacturers absolutely obsessed with converting their vehicles into tablets with wheels, We have been talking for five years. Already in 2019, manufacturers like Mazda They jumped against reducing the number of screens to avoid distractions and accidents, while the rest advanced towards more and more complex interfaces.

Since then, it is more difficult to find a car that is not full of screens than one with a cleaner and more analog interior. The cars They are increasingly expensive and The trend is that they will continue to rise. Interestingly, consumers are every time more unhappy with new purchases.

One of the main reasons has to do with the software. The manufacturers have found in it A new way of earning moneybut the bulk of users does not want to go beyond compatibility with Android Auto and Apple Carplay.

The road of the industry by 2026, date on which Euro NCAP will begin to penalize cars without tactile controls, aims to be similar to the current one. Many screens, a lot of software (with subscription options and other payment services), and little presence of physical controls.

Image | Tesla

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