[EVnowornever]

Ok, I'm new to touchscreen operation on current vehicles. So when I read "The Equinox EV does have physical controls for basic functions like adjusting temperature and airflow", which some customers find practical. Am I correct in saying operation of heating/air conditioning is controlled through touchscreen.

If so say I want to adjust heat or air conditioning while driving. Be it in heavy traffic or light traffic. Is it practical to reach over and use "touchscreen infotainment system"
to adjust cabin temperature while driving? How often (or dependable) is one tap to bring up what you want (on touchscreen), versus multiple taps? And say if I want to lower or raise cabin heat or cooling - are multiple taps required on display icons?

And will the 11 inch touchscreen present more operational problems than the 17 inch? Due to smaller size/vision viewing?

I think GM is making a mistake leaving out dashboard button control. Are they leaving button control for car stereo system? So I guess my major question is - does anyone think its wise to pull over when using touchscreen, park and then made adjustments on touchscreen (air/heat/radio) and then once completed take off again? What a pain if your on freeway and have to pull over to turn off heat or air conditioning.

I can pretty much say if I'm driving in heavy traffic I'm not taking my eyes off the road. But if I have simple button control for air/heat, you can make that adjustment in a second really without taking eyes off traffic in front of you. Not so sure with touchscreen.

 

[Nebula1701]

Instead of speculating, how about we take a look at an Equinox EV interior photo...
Also for me doing Infotainment/Audio adjustments on my 2019 Volt on the touch screen is second nature and it isn't a distraction for me.
Edit: I reversed the fan options in the photo but you get the idea...

 

[hellsop]

does anyone think its wise to pull over when using touchscreen, park and then made adjustments on touchscreen (air/heat/radio) and then once completed take off again? What a pain if your on freeway and have to pull over to turn off heat or air conditioning.

Honestly, I think most people can get by setting up their automatic climate controls and just .... leaving them alone. Just put the number at 73°F or whatever and the car does what the car needs to do to meet that. The problem isn't the lack of physical controls, it's people's distracted need to fiddle with the climate in the first place. That doesn't have to happen anymore.

 

[Steverino]

In my opinion, all normally used controls should be a button or knob. Voice control is the other option, but knowing what to say and how to say it?

Recent look at how car touch screens are distracting drivers and slowing response times. Reaction time can be much worse than drunk driving or even texting.

How'd we get here? A deeper dive look into touch screens:

 

[EVnowornever]

Honestly, I think most people can get by setting up their automatic climate controls and just .... leaving them alone. Just put the number at 73°F or whatever and the car does what the car needs to do to meet that. The problem isn't the lack of physical controls, it's people's distracted need to fiddle with the climate in the first place. That doesn't have to happen anymore.

Yes and no. Excessive fiddling is unnecessarily. On the other hand you could take off from home in overcast sky, then sun comes out and you need more air. Temps drop while driving you want more heat. Maybe you want just plain intake air and not air-conditioning. Bottom line as Steverino said, "drivers want button or nob control" for basic air, heat, radio, etc. GM making big mistake if they think "buying public" want touch screen to access radio or air/heat adjustments while driving during hot summer months. And of course don't we just love those finger prints on display screens. Especially after picking up order at KFC.

 

[Steverino]

Cars used to have sliding knobs as well, move it right for more heat, left for colder.

My 2017 Bolt EV has a decent compromise with basic stuff outside the screen with knobs and or steering wheel mounted paddles rather than on screen menu driven. Radio volume is one that has both for example.

The most ironic twist is my 2011 Volt. There's a screen that comes up with a paragraph or two of text that you need to click OK to for the Nav screen to display. Know what it says? It's a warning about distracted driving due to looking at screens too long, or something. I don't know exactly because I'm not going to take the 50 seconds or whatever of distracted driving to read that mess, lol. I just press OK.

Thing is, you used to bet able to drive and do most of the controls without taking your eyes off the road. You could do it by feel.

One of the videos above pointed to Heads Up Display as another way of addressing the issue, at least in terms of seeing some info. That's nice, but checking my speed in the driver info screen was never really a problem.

 

[EVnowornever]

Cars used to have sliding knobs as well, move it right for more heat, left for colder.

My 2017 Bolt EV has a decent compromise with basic stuff outside the screen with knobs and or steering wheel mounted paddles rather than on screen menu driven. Radio volume is one that has both for example.

The most ironic twist is my 2011 Volt. There's a screen that comes up with a paragraph or two of text that you need to click OK to for the Nav screen to display. Know what it says? It's a warning about distracted driving due to looking at screens too long, or something. I don't know exactly because I'm not going to take the 50 seconds or whatever of distracted driving to read that mess, lol. I just press OK.

Thing is, you used to bet able to drive and do most of the controls without taking your eyes off the road. You could do it by feel.

One of the videos above pointed to Heads Up Display as another way of addressing the issue, at least in terms of seeing some info. That's nice, but checking my speed in the driver info screen was never really a problem.

Well I just posted but hopefully I'll get some answers to my questions. Maybe I'm jumping the gun since Equinox EV has not come out and no one has tested cabin touchscreen. So for the moment - exclude Equinox's untested screen but give me examples how other car models touchscreens have performed.

Do you tap once (on what ever) and get sent to the proper adjustment location/icon? Or do you have to tap more than once?
Do you have to tap multiple icons or screen displays to get something as simple as more heat or lower air-conditioning.
And if we'er talking radio access, radio channel, radio volume, etc., that must be a nightmare vis display screen,
And lastly are folks using dashboard touch screens driving while tapping what ever, or are you only operating while parked or stationary?

If most car buyers want buttons or nobs on dashboard - flat out (I'm guessing) its because manually pushing something in or out, or turning nob left or right gets instantaneous results. Taping a touch screen while driving also seems the perfect time to check "your life insurance policy" before you have a head on collusion.

 

[Nebula1701]

Well I just posted but hopefully I get some answers to my questions. Maybe I'm jumping the gun since Equinox EV has not come out and no one has tested cabin touchscreen. So for the moment - exclude Equinox's untested screen but give me examples how other car models touchscreens have performed.

Do you tap once (on what ever) and get sent to the proper adjustment location/icon? Or do you have to tap more than once?
Do you have to tap multiple icons or screen displays to get something as simple as more heat or lower air-conditioning.
And if we'er talking radio access, radio channel, radio volume, etc., that must be a nightmare vis display screen,
And lastly are folks using dashboard touch screens driving while tapping what ever, or are you only operating while parked or stationary?

If most car buyers want buttons or nobs on dashboard - flat out (I'm guessing) its because manually pushing something in or out, or turning nob left or right gets instantaneous results. Taping a touch screen while driving also seems the perfect time to check "your life insurance policy" before you have a head on collusion.

What you see on the Equinox is no different than what GM has been doing on several of their Vehicles for years. Once you get in-tune with the system it becomes second nature (rarely requiring a look at the screen for any length of time, or just needing to use the Steering wheel buttons), yes some options will require multiple clicks but those are usually set and forget options you won't need to interact with often.

All HVAC controls are easily accessible as pointed out in my screen shot. Same for the Gen 2 Volt.

 

[Jim99]

The layout on the Equinox EV show car is not much different than the Bolt EV. All of the HVAC adjustments can be made with physical toggle switches and buttons. It’s nice and easy to make adjustments while on the road. The radio can be controlled with one finger by buttons on the back of the steering wheel, controlling both radio stations and volume. You never have to take your eyes off the road.

If you’re running android auto or car play for navigation, you could do voice prompts.

Car settings should not have to be changed while driving and you would need to do that while at a stop. In fact, like many vehicles, it might lock you out from making car setting changes with the car in gear.

I would be more worried about the other drivers that are holding their phones in their ands and texting or surfing the web.

 

[KIll-Jack]

When I look at the Infotainment system for the Equinox and by extension the Blazer and Silverado it looks pretty logical. It has physical buttons and nobs for Clima and Volume. Other items are in the touchscreen but shouldnt need them as often. The OS used is Android Automotive so if you need something adjusted its just a "Hey, Google" away. I believe they already showcased some audio controls. You go "Hey, Google Im cold" and it should raise the temperature by a few degrees and same with Im hot. Id imagine that the Radio could be controlled pretty much the same way. With it being Google Assistant it should be relatively intuitive.

I will say I like the Silverados Side vents more than the Round ones in the Equinox.

 

[TKEV]

Instead of speculating, how about we take a look at an Equinox EV interior photo...
Also for me doing Infotainment/Audio adjustments on my 2019 Volt on the touch screen is second nature and it isn't a distraction for me.
Edit: I reversed the fan options in the photo but you get the idea... View attachment 365

What I want to know is in the demo video on loop it shows three controls for the sear. Heat, vent, and a third; what is the third option? It looks like maybe massage. I think the Lyriq moves the lumbar support up in down as a pseudo massage function. It could be the Equinox and Blazer will also have this function. Or it could just be the butt and back heat are separate controls.
EDIT: I found a copy of the Lyriq owners manual and apparently that top button controls just the back heater and the middle controls all seat heat. The Lyriqs massage function is controlled by the lumbar support switch.

 

[Steverino]

I found a copy of the Lyriq owners manual and apparently that top button controls just the back heater and the middle controls all seat heat.

So a back heater, the second a bottom heater. And the third is an air blower (cooler)?

 

[TKEV]

So a back heater, the second a bottom heater. And the third is an air blower (cooler)?

So in the Lyriq it is back heater, all seat heat, seat vent. But the symbol for vent and all heat are slightly different. But it is possible the second symbol is to heat all of the seat and not just the bottom.

 

[Steverino]

One more layer of the Chevy Equinox EV onion yet to be fully clarified...

 

[hellsop]

Yes and no. Excessive fiddling is unnecessarily. On the other hand you could take off from home in overcast sky, then sun comes out and you need more air. Temps drop while driving you want more heat. Maybe you want just plain intake air and not air-conditioning. Bottom line as Steverino said, "drivers want button or nob control" for basic air, heat, radio, etc. GM making big mistake if they think "buying public" want touch screen to access radio or air/heat adjustments while driving during hot summer months. And of course don't we just love those finger prints on display screens. Especially after picking up order at KFC.

Am I an outlier? I mean "sun comes out" and the car sees the sky brighten and knows "Hey, insolation increasing, time to re-calculate the climate plan", looks at the outside temp, looks at the inside temp, does a little math and decides whether it even needs to turn on the compressor or just bleed in more outside air. Drive through window open for 30 seconds, interior temp drops, car makes a decision about whether the number of people and a little less bleed will get the temp back up in a few minutes or if it needs to turn on the resistance wire for a bit. This is decade-old stuff. Steering wheel already has the audio controls, and that is also decade-old stuff. There's no reason at all to think that it might go away.

 

[Steverino]

I mean "sun comes out" and the car sees the sky brighten and knows "Hey, insolation increasing, time to re-calculate the climate plan", looks at the outside temp, looks at the inside temp, does a little math and decides whether it even needs to turn on the compressor or just bleed in more outside air. Drive through window open for 30 seconds, interior temp drops, car makes a decision about whether the number of people and a little less bleed will get the temp back up in a few minutes or if it needs to turn on the resistance wire for a bit.

Sounds a bit like the Ultium heat pump...

 

[hellsop]

Sounds a bit like the Ultium heat pump...

Sure, but ... Our VOLTS do that. The only engagement I ever do with climate control is set it to Eco if I'm the only one in the car and Comfort otherwise, and that's only because the latter is a little better at keeping the windshield defogged if there's more than one person breathing in the car. And that's something that happens as part of startup ritual, not while driving. People wringing their hands about having to twiddle screens while they're driving to "turn on AC" instead of twiddling knobs seem like they're missing the twiddling, not the AC.

 

[Steverino]

Ultium Heat will do it "more better", haha

 

[hellsop]

Even less to twiddle with then.

 

[Steverino]

Even less to twiddle with then.

Well, we will see...