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Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

theautopian.com

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Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#72
I'm not looking forward to buying another car, since I've been hearing of a lot of criminally negligent human factors engineering for at least a decade, combined with increasingly invasive spying on people in their own cars.

Is there any decent automotive company remaining?

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what?? this one is stupid but the reverse lights is dangerously stupid

How is that even legal in fact? Doesn't legislation specify that those lights should only be on when the car is in reverse gear?

Likely not, some pickup trucks can "force" the backup lights on as "bed lights" it seems. When parked, the car doesn't have tons of requirements vis-a-vis the lighting (the laws are usually worded like "when in reverse gear, two rear-facing white-burning lights must be visible with a power of X lumens" or something).

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#74

I hate a lot of the touch screen controls in the Tesla - like AC controls. But the glovebox is actually pretty nice. Being software controlled means I can require a PIN to open it. Also, there's no handle so it doesn't even look like a glovebox is there. If someone breaks in they probably aren't getting to any valuables in the glovebox.

Dude, the 2018 Citroen Berlingo (cheap family car) has a glove box without a latch. I didn't even find ours for the first week, because it is in an unusual spot where you would expect the airbag.

https://youtu.be/cNpGQWtgoRA?t=2m15s

Mechanical hidden latches existed for ages now.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#75
post #3

I read on another forum that there isn't even a manual release somewhere. I understand for security it's nice not to but maybe hide one _somewhere_ so at least you have some backup option in an emergency?

Find out how to shift your car into neutral with a dead battery.

For many cars, it involves popping off the cover around the shifter and holding two tabs out of the way - here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEui4r1AKhg

Also works if you don't have the key, which can be useful.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#76
post #13

Reminds me of an aggravating feature (or really lack thereof) in my new Prius. It has wireless charging, but requires a cable connection for CarPlay. I hope I never meet a Toyota engineer in person, because it would be hard not to do something criminal to them.

Wait, iPhones support CarPlay without a cable?

Not all cars support that, though. Due to licensing or tech, some cars (even new ones) only support Apple car with a cable (my case). I bought a wireless adapter on Amazon and it works seamlessly.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#77
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that even legal in fact? Doesn't legislation specify that those lights should only be on when the car is in reverse gear?

Likely not, some pickup trucks can "force" the backup lights on as "bed lights" it seems. When parked, the car doesn't have tons of requirements vis-a-vis the lighting (the laws are usually worded like "when in reverse gear, two rear-facing white-burning lights must be visible with a power of X lumens" or something).

Um, what truck bed can be lit by using the reverse lights? The only way I can see this working is if there's another truck behind you so that your reverse lights are pointed at the other truck. Truck bed lights have always been behind the cab. I've never seen reverse lights considered as bed lights.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#78
post #37
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That'd be nice .. or just bypass the entire added layer of relay controls and go back to a manual latch. The article scenarios raise some of the real life issues: * What if your battery dies, and you have your small emergency charger in the glovebox? * What if you’re waiting in a turned-off car while your friend or parent or lover pops inside the liquor store, and you need to get, say, your hyper-important pills out…

The real answer for all of those things is obvious - don’t put important stuff in the glove box. But they still show just how dumb this design is, because it doesn’t fit how people use glove boxes.

Wow, I never thought I'd hear a more tone deaf response than "you're holding it wrong", but yet, here we are.

Maybe you forgot the /s?

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#79

I bet implementing the glove box control in this way simplifies the tooling/assembly somehow.

Yep this, overall makes the car cheaper to make.

Now extend this reasoning to see why everything has become touch screen. It will all make sense. My oven has touch buttons. No idea if I pressed it or not because it doesn’t give feedback for a second or two.

Good automotive quality switches and encoders are expensive. And they don’t make them anymore because market dumped them. See the dwindling alps catalog.

Re: Nobody wants touch-screen glove box latches

#80
post #65

Can we make the steering wheel a touch screen too? Like a digital wheel you turn with your finger to steer the car. Wouldn't that be just super duper? Couldn't possibly go wrong.

Ha. The newer VW models (Golf, ID series, etc.) had touch controls on the steering wheels instead of physical buttons. Of course what happened is what you anticipated. Bad customer feedback made them reverse that for future models.

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