We drive a lot of cars. Our editors drive more than 300 cars every year, writing expert reviews and performing head-to-head tests to tell you which ones are worth your money. And when you drive a lot of cars, you watch a lot of bad ideas come and go.
One of the most prominent in recent years has been the trend of automakers hiding every entertainment and climate control function behind a touchscreen menu.
They love it because it saves them money (wiring one less switch adds up when you’re building a hundred thousand cars), and gives car interiors a cool, minimalist look. But it’s one of the most common complaints we get from owners, and frankly, it can pose a safety issue. Paging through menus to change the temperature means taking your eyes off the road.
So we were happy to learn that at least one automaker has backtracked.
Ford has begun sending out an over-the-air software update to its Mustang Mach-E electric cars that, among other things, lets drivers use the car’s only knob to control temperature. Previously, the knob controlled only audio volume.
Drivers will still have to tap an icon on the touchscreen to toggle the knob between adjusting the volume, temperature, fan speed, and heated seats. But that’s one tap, down from several to adjust those settings before the update.
The feature is part of the Ford Power-Up 4.1.2 update, which also adds easier-to-use icons for navigation and other common functions, and a few new games to play on the screen when you’re parked.
