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• VW faces a new lawsuit over its use of capacitive touch controls.
• The lawsuit claims that the touch areas on the steering wheel are too easy to activate and have become safety hazards.
• At least one VW executive has acknowledged that capacitive buttons were a “mistake” and pledged to bring back physical controls.

For years, the auto industry tried to convince drivers that their cars should feel more like smartphones. Reject analog tradition, embrace digital modernity—the industry mantra—was chanted from the rooftops as new models ascended onto the world. New buttonless models with huge tablets strapped to the dashboard, that is.

Consumers didn’t respond well to this change. In fact, Volkswagen as a brand ended up doing a complete 180 and swore off the capacitive touch buttons in its current generation models like the ID family of EVs. Too little, too late, though, as a new class action lawsuit has come for the Germans and their touch-sensitive tech.

The lawsuit zeroes in on the buttons found on the steering wheel of cars like the ID.4 and ID.Buzz (among other VW models like the Golf). It claims that the buttons are too sensitive, making it far too easy to unintentionally activate features by just brushing a finger over the capacitive area on the control plane. That means a quick fumble while turning the steering wheel in traffic could be the equivalent of pocket dialing someone on your iPhone—could become a problem.

Volkswagen declined to comment on ongoing litigation.

InsideEVs found these controls annoying when driving cars equipped with the capacitive buttons—”as frustrating as ever,” said Patrick George when driving the Volkswagen ID.4. Some owners even went as far as to replace the components entirely using parts from other models.

One of the features that can be activated on the steering wheel is the adaptive cruise control. The lawsuit claims that in at least one occurrence, accidental activation caused sudden unintended acceleration and, as a result, a VW is accused of being involved in at least one fatal crash.

It also called into question Volkswagen’s IQ.Drive safety features. The lawsuit claims that in some circumstances, the brake pedal failed to disengage the ACC system, emergency braking failed to activate in obvious scenarios and airbags didn’t deploy.

Folks have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about these features on the ID.4, according to complaints on the NHTSA’s public portal and cited in the complaint.

And what’s even more damning is that Volkswagen’s top brass has acknowledged that capacitive controls were “a mistake.” Andreas Mindt, Volkswagen’s design boss who used that phrase to describe the capacitive controls, swore to re-implement physical buttons after feedback from customers revealed just how much of an issue these touch controls are in real-world scenarios.

In the end, Mindt was right: it’s a car, not a phone. Not all customers want their cars behaving like giant iPads with wheels. Some want that satisfying, physical click of an analog button with instant feedback. Feel a click? You know what comes next. But an accidental touch could mean letting off the gas and not slowing down like you expected.

Perhaps the bigger lesson is that automakers should think twice before turning their cars into rolling gadgets. Sure, tech is more important than ever. But the responsible and effective implementation of it is key.