It turns out that more technology in cars isn’t necessarily something customers want, and it’s not really improving their driving experience. We know my thoughts on the matter, but I’ll do my best to stay impartial on this latest survey from JD Power that shows most customers don’t appreciate technology in cars unless they can see a clear benefit to them.
JD Power’s 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study evaluated over 81,000 drivers’ experience with “advanced vehicle technologies” in 2024 model year vehicles after 90 days of ownership, It turned out to be a pretty mixed bag when it came to what people liked using. There are a number of tech features that customers like using because they feels that it answers their needs, but at the same time there is a whole lot that don’t get used very often or are continually annoying, according to the survey.
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Even then we still don’t use the same control scheme as the model T then, the model T had a separate forward and reverse pedal and no clutch.
But fly by wire isn’t a matter of difficulty it’s a matter of redundancy and safety, like I pointed out before, people aren’t going to maintain the system properly and if there isn’t a back up it’s going to lead to accidents.
Okay fine, the model T was a bad example. But we have had this control scheme for a long long time.
And we already do fly by wire for acceleration. Why is turning suddenly so different?