Maybe something to do with the amount of info that can be displayed from the Computers on board, information displayed from problems found and other info would be difficult to display on a dash with old style dials, so its being done away with in favour of cheaper LCD/OLED displays with much higher resolution

there is also talk of being able to install games on the dash and other apps for other info of your choice

That is certainly a factor, but it is also simply about appealing to the target audience, the 'smartphone' generation. They do like their shiny toys, and as well as getting more info on the screen, it is also configurable. So you can have info laid out in the way you want. Though I do suspect that after a few weeks toying with it, it would then just be left.

As for games, you can already play games on the Tesla's display, including driving games where the cars steering wheel and pedals are used to control the car on the screen, which would help pass the time while charging!.

Not sure if you can actually play games on the Honda e, but you can certainly have a virtual fish tank or the image of a Japanese garden, which presumably would help with your zen if stuck in a traffic jam!.

Disconnect the car battery for 10 mins.

Reconnect and keep your fingers crossed

The new car version of CTRL+ALT+DEL?

I am old enough to remember a time when a decent car information system was a full set of chrome bezel Smiths gauges.

But plugging in a dashboard screen with one data plug is hugely better than the traditional mess of wiring and failed earths that suppported a traditional instrument cluster. It is also cheaper to produce, quicker to install, and far more flexible in function.

In reality, aside from a speedometer, there is little need for an instrument display these days. So quite reasonably the screen could be used for infotainment or games.

The car systems would be entirely capable of monitoring all key attributes - oil pressure, fuel, lighting, wipers, brake, steering, gearbox etc etc. It could issue a verbal warning, screen message etc to highlight any issue.

There is little need for any switch gear - simple speech recognition software would suffice - "turn on lights", "indicate left", "Radio 4", "open window" etc.

.s

It makes one wonder if the long winded approach is intended to allow them to have your money fir a few days longer. Every little helos the Exchequer. I wouldn't put it past them.

By the way, it is now possible to pay in cheques using the mobile banking app, which saves one extra journey.

The reality is ... Peroid.

That must be new variety of operating system ? :-)

Most instrument clusters have had just the one small mutli-plug for 20 years or more even if they look very conventional. They're all CAN Bus or development of.

My friends Renault Kadjer had so many problems with the infotainment system she tried to reject the car but the dealer refused.

Heard that the units are so troublesome the dealers are having to stock spare screens in because its such a regular problem . And at £1000 a time !

They are French..

>>Heard that the units are so troublesome the dealers are having to stock spare screens

French electrical/electronics gremlins strike again. It used to be after a few years that problems developed - brand new + problems has moved problems up the scale for avoiding French cars.

My friends Renault Kadjer had so many problems with the infotainment system she tried to reject the car but the dealer refused.

Heard that the units are so troublesome the dealers are having to stock spare screens in because its such a regular problem . And at £1000 a time !

Sounds like my assertion that car manufacturers are deliberately sending products to market with minimal testing (and using us as beta testers) in order to either 'be the first' or keep up with the opposition seems to be true.

Ironically, if the faulty electronics were removed from the equation, cars would be very reliable, safe and long-lasting - and far more environmentally friendly as a result. Imagine how much CO2 is produced because of numerous trips to the dealer to get something fixed, plus all that produced by replacements having to be redesigned, made, shipped over and fitted - often several times.

And apart from one anomolous survey, makes with the most tech (like Tesla and the luxury sports brands) have the most problems in this area and end up at the bottom of the reliabilty charts. Don't any of them remember the K.I.S.S. principle?

Cost cutting may be a factor but there is no doubt the market demands car interiors which increasingly meets their (customers) expectations of what modern should be.

A unit with switches and dials may be a little more expensive to make but there is no more wiring - they are all CANbus units which act as their own little module and are connected by one data wire rather than individual.

Edited by pd on 09/12/2020 at 14:49

It's likely to be cost-cutting, not customer demand, which has driven this. I'm no expert, but I would imagine that software, especially poor quality software like Land Rover's and now VAG's, is cheaper to make in bulk than multiple buttons / rotary controls and the associated wiring.

This is what I would think drives it most - why spend a load extra on lots of dials/buttons when you can have a simple screen.

It's not the screen that's the problem - it's the software behind it all. Physical dials and switches are known quantities that are slowly refined, whereas software akin to iPads etc is relatively new to car manufacturers - and why so many STILL have serious software issues on the ICE, never mind the 'command' systems on the speed area of the dashboard.

Many can't even get a workable satnav. Most of them won't pay for generic/industry leading software or hardware systems and so design their own from scratch. Doing something new with little to no expertise in that field isn't easy to make a good product under the gun.

Electronics are key to making cars as economic, well equipped and reliable as they are.

The average 1970s car could be fixed with a few simple mechanical tools. Wiring diagrams filled 2 or 3 pages in a Haynes manual. 30mpg for a family hack was par for the course, a top speed ~ 100mph and 0-60mph in 15 seconds ++ was the norm.

Roll forward 40 years and the basic family hack does 50-70mpg, 120mph, and 0-60 in 10-12 seconds. And you now get airbags, aircon, electric windows, sat nav, infotainment, auto lights and wipers etc.

Sophisticated fuel injection systems improve performance and economy. Cars no longer have obvious rot by their 5th birthday and 200k with limited major failures is the norm. Engine rebuilds or reconditioned units at 60-80 no longer happen very often.

Screens are far cheaper to produce, fit and replace than separate instruments and switches. I do wonder why they release cars without getting the quality right - building a brand is a pie in the sky aspiration unless you deliver customer satisfaction.

I also take exception to the price of replacements although this is true of all unique components. Perhaps when Apple or Microsoft get involved we will at least get interchangeable electronic modules at a sensible cost.

I have found that whilst systems work fine at design stage with components selected for almost perfect tolerance it's a different story when the product is sent for production. With the incentive to drive down costs manufactures will source cheaper components with wider tolerances which leads to poorer reliabilty when in service.

But which manufacturer can afford the luxury of checking components before installing them. This has lead to the breakdown of reliability of in a variety of products using boards sourced in China from central heating boilers to automotive.

Let's hope that doesn't apply to system critical tech in our power generation/transmission systems, water supply and sewerage and defence, never mind air traffic control or the aircraft themselves (though as per the General area, the Boeing 737 Max situation was a good example).

You have to wonder sometimes at our increasing reliance on Chinese-sourced tech, given their government's goals and methodlogy, co-opting their own workforce and businesses to do their bidding.

As an engineer, I think that unless something is done now, I think the days of technology being relied upon and not under the influence of 'third parties' or just failing as the norm will be the death of us all.

We are, in my view, too eager to have new stuff and not concerned at it being proven reliable, safe and secure.

My 'new' (1yo) boiler (see the thread on the General tab) went wrong three times in the first three months after it was installed - it's now on its third gas valve, and second controller and receiver unit combo.

Apart from it going 'clunk' somtimes when it switches on, it otherwise has mostly behaved itself (it sometimes underheats by 0.5degC even when the set point variance is set to 0 - but not the end of the world) since. Given how much I paid for the whole install and 10 year warranty, it should do.