China abandons touchscreens for essential controls in new cars

From affordable economy cars to high-tech electric vehicles to flagship luxury vehicles, most modern cars come with at least one central display screen that allows users to select music, navigate with maps, control the temperature and much more. However, a growing trend is seeing automakers integrate more vehicle functions into touchscreen controls in place of physical buttons. While this can reduce visual clutter inside the car, it can also cause a distraction or safety issue. To combat this phenomenon, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has drafted new rules that would restore physical controls for essential functions on new cars.

The law is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2027, and would require new vehicles to have certain physical controls, triggers and switches with specific size and feedback requirements for each button. This doesn’t mean touchscreens are disappearing on newer car models, but it does impact controls that were previously integrated into the touchscreen, including turn signals, lights, gear shift, wipers and window defrost. The touchscreen will remain in place for other cool dashboard functions and gadgets.

These details are part of a revision to a previously implemented order. The existing national standard GB4094-2016 includes information on how control symbols, signaling symbols and “motor vehicle warning lights” should be presented inside cars produced by Chinese automakers. The update includes additional requirements for tangible controls and states that physical controls must be accessible, usable, and capable of being operated blindly while driving the vehicle, meaning drivers must be able to access buttons and switches without relying on their eyes to see what they are doing.

Removing features such as activating windshield wipers, turn signals, etc. of the touchscreen aims to reduce the distractions caused by having to look at and use a screen while driving. It’s not just Chinese vehicles, but other new cars are adding buttons again, such as Mercedes-Benz. Additional changes will require that controls related to the defrost and defog mechanism, window controls, activation of the Child or Accident Emergency Call System (AECS), and the power off switch will now be replaced with physical buttons. This even includes touchscreen digital shifters, such as those included on Tesla models, which will be banned. A full list of changes can be found on order GB-4094-2016.

Touchscreens may be a futuristic feature in modern cars, but not everyone seems to like them, or at least want them cluttered with tools. A Reddit thread asking which car models have a mix of touchscreen and physical buttons explains why users aren’t fans of touchscreens with so many extra gadgets. One comment states that the touchscreen should primarily be used for viewing the rearview camera, controlling music, and controlling the temperature.

A separate online chart includes drivers saying cars should include more physical buttons, controls and triggers. The same forum also discusses the need for a balance between tangible switches and touchscreen controls, with Tesla being an example. Research shows that touchscreens can distract drivers while operating the vehicle.

A study titled “Touchscreens in Motion: Quantifying the Impact of Cognitive Load on Distracted Drivers” conducted by the University of Washington School of Information and the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) found that interacting with a touchscreen while driving can affect driving performance. Adding physical buttons not only reduces the risk of distracted driving, but can also help your infotainment touchscreens last longer because you don’t need to use them to control what you’re listening to, the climate and heat, and change gears while interacting with a touchscreen.