Are there any EV cars without any "technology"?

Like the title says, are there any EVs that just have a Bluetooth radio and that's it? Like a normal car, not a smartphone on wheels? If not, do you all think that this will actually happen at some point? This is the main reason why I can't (and will never) buy an EV. I like to have actual buttons everywhere on my car. I think those massive tablets on these cars with all the touch buttons are very dangerous. I like an "entertainment system" that only connects to my phone with either a headphone jack of or Bluetooth. It's a car, not a PC.

lemmy_st3v3 ,

https://youtu.be/cGbmYS84lkQ?si=t9pTZKmdv5Y6p0bm

RiceChex ,

I think that this suggestion is a bit more extreme than what you're hoping for but the Carice tc2 is an all electric car with all the extras and features of a car from the 1960's

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

Holy shit. This is gorgeous. This is something I'd buy for sure. How much are these? They don't mention prices on their site.

rozwud ,

Someday down the line my partner wants to convert an old car into something like this!

LoveSausage ,

You should probably mention your jurisdiction ,but I'm in EU and have a Dacia , pretty goood lack of stupid/unnecessary features and the console is mostly optional to use. Physical buttons for important stuff and music/calls.
Mine is a LPG/gasoline hybrid but most is similar to the EV models.

Least bad in Mozillas privacy review as well.
Plenty of electronics still ofc it is needed in any car today EV or not.

khepri ,

The old Chevy Sparks are basically golf carts with 4 doors and permission to drive in the roads. They are the least "techy" EVs I've seen in person as they are really just a battery swap with the minimally-appointed ICE version of the car, which is very sparse on the electronic doodads.

Bytemeister , (edited )

I think we need a car that "weeds out" all the shitty tech that has been integrated and comes "standard" now.

Let's take my partner's 2021 Honda Civic for example.

Lane Keep Assist (LKAS) - it's garbage. The car does not recognize construction zones, and it will actively fight you if you are in those zones, or if you have to make an emergency lane change without signaling, like if a deer, or child runs in front of your car. We turned this feature off.

Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) - This system legit tries to wreck the car. We've had it flag and even slam the brakes dozens of times in non-emergency scenarios. It was so bad we took it back to the dealer to have the software updated (which changed nothing) and considered returning the car. The system has to be manually disabled every time we drive the car, we cannot permanently disable it. Slamming your brakes at highway speeds when someone makes a close merge is a real good way to wreck your car and the 6 or so behind you. The risk of causing 12+ accidents to avoid or mitigate 0 is not worthwhile, and it needs to go.

Adaptive Cruise Control - A great way to make idiots fall asleep, and causes left lane lollygagging. I tried using adaptive cruise control for a few long trips, and what I noticed is that there are long lines of cars driving 4 under where they are all using ACC. When the car automatically adjusts it's speed, you lose feedback on the speed you are actually going, because you never get into that "decision zone" behind a car where you either slow down, or pass the other car. It also makes people feel more confident to let the car drive, so they'll fuck around on their phones. Get rid of it, you'll get where you're going faster and safer if you do.

Auto Dimming Headlights - Turns on by accident all the time, and very hard to turn off. Works ~50% of the time. Could be good, but really sucks right now.

Here are some features that rock, and should stay in.

Keyless entry

Remote start and push button start

Apple / Android phone integration

Brake hold

Backup camera

Thanks for attending my rant.

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

That was actually an awesome rant. Enshitification is rampant

ahal ,

Oh man, I love adaptive cruise control. I also don't agree that using it in the left lane is bad. If there's a line of cars going too slowly, the person in front is the asshole, not the three using ACC behind them. You really shouldn't pass on the right anyway, would definitely not call doing that driving safer.

Bytemeister ,

Everybody in the line is part of the problem. If you aren't passing, move right. You should be checking every 30 seconds or so. Am I passing or going to pass someone in the next minute? No? Move right. Only times I'd consider an exception is if there was an on-ramp lane merging down, or an exit ramp coming up, or if you need the left lane for a turn (and you better have your fucking signal on)

If you get passed on the right, and there is no room to your left, you've created a dangerous situation and you need to move fucking right ASAP.

lightnsfw ,

I got one as a loaner last year and agree on everything except the backup cameras, those are completely unnecessary too. I hated that car. Was happy to get my 2012 model back.

Bytemeister , (edited )

I wasn't big on the backup camera at first, but having it in conjunction with a mirror really helps when parking in tight spaces, or backing out of a parking space. I use it probably 95% of the time when backing up.

Also, it doesn't really hurt anything to have the backup cam if you've already got an infotainment system in the car. You're not losing or compromising anything to have it, and it's not going to affect your operation of the vehicle if it turns on unintentionally.

lightnsfw ,

I don't want the infotainment system either. Cars shouldn't have that much electronic bullshit in them. Every one I've seen has been trash. At most it should have a dock for your phone and let that be your infotainment system.

Bytemeister ,

That's basically what Apple carplay and Android Auto do. However, it's nice to have independent audio settings (like fader, EQ, and balance) for the car. Big ol' GPS/map is nice too. Bluetooth controls for multiple devices. Fuel Economy and car management applications, radio... All things that I enjoy in the car that a simple phone dock would not replicate.

lightnsfw ,

It could. It would just require a more robust app. You could use a tablet instead of a phone if you wanted a bigger or dedicated screen.

I manage my audio and GPS from my phone just fine. No integration with the car necessary besides an aux jack. The dash shows the fuel economy next to the speedometer. Everything else (clock, radio, maintenance due, etc) is managed through the menu buttons (physical buttons, not a garbage touchscreen) on the steering wheel.

bstix ,

The entertainment system in most cars are separate from the actual car computer. You can just turn it off, or only use the radio. I think it's only Tesla where it's necessary to use the screen in order to operate the car.

EVs however is one place where it makes some sense to have some software connection to the car, if you want to time the charging to the electricity price or set a tine to preheat and such, that'd be difficult to make with physical buttons. I'd prefer just to have an simple app for it, because I really dislike the proprietary software in the cars.

darganon ,

You only need the screen to operate a Tesla on any model without stalks.

I've never tried to open the frunk with voice commands, but it probably works.

lightnsfw ,

I want to talk to my car even less than I want to operate a touch screen.

s1ndr0m3 ,

Just get a Detroit Electric Model 82.
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0f2bd490-6f5e-4817-90d8-97fe4710f00d.jpeg

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

Man, I love this. It's so cute.

CurlyWurlies4All ,
@CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net avatar

My MY21 Hyundai Kona feels like a normal car without all those extra features. Lots of tactile buttons, there's a headphone jack/USB. It's really just a regular car with an EV engine.

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

That's freaking awesome. I'll check it out. I don't really need a car now, but just wondering if we will turn into 100% smartphones on wheels

nutsack ,

Bluetooth is a pretty bad idea I wouldn't want anything like that in my car or in my house or on my toilet

caboose2006 ,

I thought the Nitro EV was a pretty normal EV

nixcamic ,

Probably not available where you are but there are lots of Chinese options that are exactly this.

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Any examples? I live in China and even the worst shoebox on wheels has a touch screen and built-in always online capabilities.

CyberMonkey404 ,

Some names would be appreciated

Duamerthrax ,

If you have an old truck, Edison Motors has preorders for the Pickup Truck conversions. The kit will only have the drive train stuff in it and anything else is not something they're interested in. They are working with autoshops to do the conversions, so it's not a DIY thing.

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

Nice. I don't have a truck, I was just wondering in case I want to replace my car in the future.

Duamerthrax ,

Well, another thing that's nice about Edison Motors is that they're the Engineers, Mechanics and End Users for the kits. It all started because they wanted a Tesla Semi Truck to try for their logging company, but got snubbed by Tesla. It should have much higher usability then a truck designed by someone who's never driven a truck before.

This isn't like a Prius where the Engine, Electric Motor and Tires are all connected mechanically at some point. The Diesel/Generator unit is only connected to the E-Axle via electrician power. Because the company supported open standards and open documentation, you could just get the e-axle, ESC, and battery pack and build a pure EV around it. They need to focus on a simple product line with the broadest use cases for starting though, so I'm not surprised they aren't talking about pure EV trucks.

There's also strong community and wealth of information on swapping EV guts into older cars. You get the benefits of EV without the spyware and info-distractions. These are all custom jobs though, so a cost estimate is impossible. Deboss has a very interesting EV project going on right now. Edison says the total cost of their kits should be around 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of a new truck

I have an old Scottsdale truck I'm eyeing for a Edison conversion. The juxtaposition of a modern diesel/EV hybrid drive train combined with an 80's square body truck with manual crank windows it too irresistible. All running on biodiesel as well.

hglman ,

eBikes

LoreleiSankTheShip ,

While an amazing option for city commutes, mine is close to 100km daily. I have no idea if it's possible to use an e-bike for that, but it would certainly take up even more of my limited free time to do so.

hglman ,

That's pretty extreme commute, a deeply unsustainable one regardless of the type of power system in your car.

penquin OP ,
@penquin@lemm.ee avatar

So, you want them to sell their house now? Lol

LoreleiSankTheShip ,

Yup, it is. Unfortunately, I had to endure that for close to a year (I will be assigned somewhere else this summer) and me and my colleagues had to carpool. Public transport would have been the best, but for that route the bus only goes twice a day.

Nevertheless, e-bikes are great if your commute isn't that long!

Ost ,

Check out the Skoda CitiGo. 36.4kWh of small car goodness without any screens or updates. Just Bluetooth.
Navigation is provided using your phone in the factory mount or a TomTom.
It’s basically a scaled down e-Up with analog switches.

JohnEdwa ,
@JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz avatar

Or the Seat Mii Electric, it's even slightly more bare bones than the Citigo-e. Basically the VW group decided that instead of one car with three trim levels, they spread them under three different badges.
Though the dashboard is basically identical in each one (even the e-up) and what's missing are parking sensors, cruise control, steering wheel buttons and stuff like that, so all of them fit the "not a smartphone on wheels" requirement.

Alsjemenou ,

So let's be very clear here. This is basically true for any new car, practically no 'normal car' has come out (in the US) for the past few years. The amount of feature creep has been massive, some due to regulations, some because adding it is cheap. The only place where you can get relatively bare bones is in pick ups. Not in suv's. Cars except sportscars are no longer being offered, only two 'normal' models (accord and camry) still exist. These all have driver assist tech and large screens as well. You won't be able to get around features hiding behind touch screens, simply impossible to find in today's market.

The problem for Evs is that beyond styling the only differentiating factor is tech. They are all fast and differ not that much in range, speed, comfort, handling in their price ranges. This has pushed tech into the car industry, especially in the US where people are willing to go into debt for cars, to the point where the average price for a new car is 47k. Compared to eu: 27k

In principle, the less you pay the less tech you get. But for any new car, there is tech. No way around it anymore. You can buy the car and ignore it.

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