Volkswagen knows that part of its software is catching and intends to fix it quickly
After changing its mind about buttons on its steering wheels, Volkswagen now wants to look at its touch screens. The brand wants to make them easier to use and more responsive with an update planned for the end of the year.
Today, touch screens are everywhere and almost all cars recently launched in the market are equipped with it. And there are many different systems, from the simplest to the most advanced. But while they are practical and provide access to many features, they are not necessarily safe. A recent study in Sweden shows that physical buttons will enable safer driving.
A complex system
Especially that some embedded systems are quite complex, the driver tries to keep his eyes off the road for longer. This will also be the case of the one proposed by Volkswagen, named MIB3 and inaugurated on the ID.3 and Golf 8 that we recently had the opportunity to test the Volkswagen ID electric van. buzz.
Widely criticized by customers for its lack of practicality, this system may not last long on the German brand’s models. In fact, the managing director of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäfer, also a member of the board of directors of the eponymous group spoke about this in an interview with Car Magazine at the show in Los Angeles.
And the latter admitted that mistakes had been made in the development of this system. He says he’s heard criticism from customers, who complain in particular about the complexity of using the screen for some basic tasks.
They are also sorry the absence of backlighting of capacitive keys which is located just below as well as the unresponsive part of the system in general. Constructive sentences that will then be taken into account by the brand, as Thomas Schäfer said, explaining thatan update will be proposed at the end of the year to improve the experience of dissatisfied customers.
Then he pointed out that the new software 3.0 will come, while the improvements regarding the physical elements will come a little later, through 2024. In 18 months, Volkswagen plans to install a new piece of hardware, with a new processor. What increases the responsiveness of the system, at least, we hope.
In addition, Volkswagen will also change the steering wheels of its cars, as the brand recently admitted touch keys are ultimately not a good idea. An approach that contrasts with Tesla, which for its part is looking for fewer physical buttons in its interiors. It’s the next Tiguan that will debut this new approach, starting next year.
Additional testing
For now, Volkswagen isn’t giving details on its upcoming infotainment system, just confirming it the capacitive keys below the screen are well illuminated in the future. Thomas Schäfer also explained that this new device will be faster and offer more functionality.
Remote OTA updates can also help resolve any issues better. But that’s not all. Henceforth, brand executives will review and evaluate each system proposal, using models. In addition, people completely outside the company will also participate in these tests. Ultimately, the goal is to design an infotainment system that is both complete and easy to use.
In particular, it must pass better prioritization of orders, while the ten most commonly used functions will be more accessible. The boss takes the opportunity to make his mea culpa, saying that “Over the past few years, unfortunately, we’ve created some car confusion“.
The goal now is to make everything simple again, without going overboard. It will undoubtedly pass the revival of physical controls, always recognized by customers. At the risk, however, of increasing production costs, these buttons are more expensive than when all the functions are integrated into the touch screen.
No revolution at Volkswagen before 2030?
It should be noted that the next major software overhaul of Volkswagen electric cars is not expected before… 2030, with the Trinity project. It should come to change the range of Volkswagen with a new platform. But it took a lot of delay, precisely because of the software part that was not yet developed.
We tested Volkswagen ID. buzz. The popular combi returns in a 100% electric version, to eventually replace the Multivan. Is the Volkswagen ID? Buzz is a van, an electric car…
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