EVs are finally embracing physical buttons – with Hyundai being the latest to admit to a touchscreen backlash

• Hyundai design VP says owners are calling out for more buttons
• Changes to safety tests will put an onus on physical controls
• As a result, manufacturers are finally rethinking vehicle interiors

Hyundai is the latest manufacturer to go on record to say that it is reintroducing physical buttons to future vehicles, following customer backlash surrounding fiddly and often distracting touchscreen systems.

Hyundai Design North America vice president, Ha Hak-soo, recently revealed in an interview with Korea’s JoongAng Daily news website that the company had been taken in by the “wow factor” of massive screens and had neglected the ease and convenience of physical buttons.

“When we tested with our focus group, we realized that people get stressed, annoyed and steamed when they want to control something in a pinch but are unable to do so,” Ha said.

The company joins a growing list of automotive manufacturers than have seen fit to reintroduce physical controls for key functionality, with the likes of VW pulling a U-turn on its decision to go screen-only in early ID electric models following negative feedback from the press and general public.

VW’s then-CEO Thomas Schäfer said that the reliance on touchscreens “did a lot of damage” to the brand and it subsequently revised the infotainment offering during mid-life refreshes of the numerous models in the ID range to include proper, back-lit physical buttons for climate control, window de-misters and hazard lights.

What’s more, Europe’s premier passenger car safety body, Euro NCAP, said earlier this year that it would “incentivize OEMs to have physical, easy-to-use, and tactile controls of the main driving features like…