All else equal, I’d prefer to have a car with fewer touchscreens than with more touchscreens. Really, if we’re talking about something modern, just a small display for Apple CarPlay will do. Anything more than that just gets annoying. For this publication, seven inches is the perfect size.
Despite that sentiment, touchscreens have been an ever-growing section of the modern automobile’s dashboard for years. It’s only recently that some automakers have begun to realize that not everyone wants a sea of colorful glass staring back at them. It seems Porsche hasn’t gotten the memo yet, going by the new Cayenne EV’s interior.
Porsche on Tuesday released images of the electric Cayenne’s cabin, giving prospective buyers a glimpse of what to expect when they hop in the driver’s seat. And oh boy, there are screens. Lots of screens.
The Cayenne Electric comes with two screens as standard. The first, and probably the one you’ll be staring at the most, is the curved instrument cluster, which measures 14.25 inches and shows data like speed, remaining charge, navigation, and driver assistance tech. There are also touch-capacitive buttons on either end for stuff like suspension and lighting adjustments.
Then there’s the Cayenne’s real party trick, the centrally located infotainment display. It’s an OLED unit that measures 12.9 inches and curves into the center console ledge. As much as I hate how much real estate this piece of glass takes up, I can’t help but love this design. It looks amazing. I wish more automakers were creative enough to come up with something like this.
The screen is versatile, too, at least according to Porsche. You’ll be able to configure widgets to display the functions you use most, like the homescreen of your phone. There are five different color schemes to choose from, in case you want your dashboard to match that five-figure leather interior you paid for. The bottom of the screen houses the controls for heated and ventilated seats, though thankfully, there are real, physical controls for adjusting the temperature, the fan speed, and the volume.
In addition to those two screens, two more screens can be optioned for the electric Cayenne. The first is a passenger-side display that measures 14.9 inches diagonally. The person sitting in the right seat can use it to control stuff like music and navigation. They can even stream video while the car is on the move, while hiding the screen from the driver. The second optional screen is a head-up display, which displays stuff like navigation arrows directly into the driver’s field of vision.
In all, that means Cayenne owners can option up to 42 inches of screen on their dashboards (not counting the head-up display). That’s bigger than the screen in my living room, which gets more ridiculous the more I think about it. Does any car need this much real estate for displaying information? I’d say no, but Stephan Durach, Senior Vice President for UI/UX Development at BMW, recently told BMW Blog people really want passenger-side screens:
“You know, there’s a huge demand, especially in really big cars,” Durach starts. “People are asking for that,” he continues, “people say, ‘I want to have a dedicated screen for consuming content.’ There is room. So, you can think about that.”
People do love consuming media, I guess. I’d personally just use my phone, though it seems there’s a big market for people who want something more integrated into the vehicle. And if there’s one thing American buyers love, it’s choice. So Porsche is simply capitalizing on that desire.
Top graphic image: Porsche
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I can’t wait for you to write an article in two years “what happened to porsche, and why they are going back to buttons”
Can “Apple CarPlay” control an iPod?
Asking for a friend.
GM currently with their latest offers have good screen integration along real buttons for simple tasks. The design of the dashboard was planned from the beginning to have that real estate of screen, they are huge but not overwhelming.
I may be somewhat alone in this, but I would prefer physical controls for things like the heated/ventilated seats and heated steering wheel over temp and fan controls. For cars with automatic climate control, just set it to a comfy temp and let it regulate blend and fan speed accordingly. I think I might interact with the temperature controls once a week, if that. But for things like the heated seats and wheel, when I want those on and off, I just want to poke a button, and I’ll probably want to do it much more frequently than I want to adjust the vents.
Well designed and integrated screens are good and I’m honestly tired of hearing about how they aren’t.
For me the problem is not the screens, it’s the lack of options, is there a new car you can buy without a screen?
I think there’s the Slate, some little car sold outside of NA that relies on your phone, and of course the GMC Savana
Aside from that, screens in cars have been a mainstream thing for well over 20 years, so I wouldn’t count on automakers taking them out and restoring everyone’s beloved slider climate controls and segmented LCD displays at scale. Asking why automakers don’t make cars without a screen anymore is like asking why they don’t make cars with carburetors anymore or why Kellog’s doesn’t make a Surströmming Pop-Tart. It’s just something that almost nobody wants.
To the authors point, a 7” touchscreen with carplay is all thats needed. Recently upgraded my Saab to a Kenwood unit and its nice to have modern functionality.
But damn if these manufacturers have any concept of a real-world use case. I can barely use it because it has a mirror finish. Bad enough when the top’s up but forget it when the top’s down.
Curious if anyone has any recommendations for an anti-glare film?
At least they are trying something new.
I don’t mind screens, but most are atrocious.
Cadillac has the best curved screen display in any vehicle in their Lyriq and Optiq. But of course the Autopian ain’t going to give GM any props.
Everyone talks about touchscreens being hard to use because you can’t find the buttons, which is right, but designers miss something crucial about touchscreens: they’re too far away.
When you use an iPad or tablet, it’s easy, because the tablet is close to you. When you put something like that at arm’s length, all of the sudden, it’s really hard to hit buttons.
Designers should come up with some kind of gooey screen; like a screen that can form physical buttons that either extend from the screen or depress into it.
I just got my first i-Drive equipped car (2022 X3) and I really like the way almost every function can be done with your right arm in the resting position using the jog-dial knob in the middle. It’s pretty intuitive and doesn’t require as much attention as the touchscreen.
Passenger-side screens actually make sense, but not as much sense as screens for rear passengers — which are sorely lacking except in specially-equipped vans and larger SUVs.
I think Genesis also got that right by having a control knob thing for the infotainment on the center console, in addition to the touchscreen. I really liked that on the G80 I test drove.
I like my Mazda 3 for the same reason. Not so good as a rental car, where people expect to hop in and be familiar with the controls.
Before the comments immediately turn into “ALL SCREENS ARE BAD” just remember the hyperscreen in the EQS, one mega flat piece flanked by an acre of piano black. Porsche could have done that. This at least looks intentional, sculpted, functional, and premium in comparison.