TMI, or too much information, is an acronym often used when someone makes a long, rambling social media post about their lives. But, over the past decade or so, it is also being used in the context of cars — particularly for the instrument cluster, which no longer displays just the speed and RPM, but everything from navigation, media to fuel efficiency.
And it isn’t a luxury car thing. The multi-information displays (MID) seen on Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Tata cars allow you to flip through a whole plethora of knowledge, you may or may not need. In fact, one of my conversations with car designers these days is on how to manage the user interface and how much information is too much. Think about it, even the Mahindra XEV 9e has three screens taking up the entire length of the dashboard.
And then you drive a car without these bright screens — no instrument cluster, no heads-up display. The new Volvo EX30, which has just been launched in India, seems to be this paragon of minimalism. But is it too much?
Yeah sure, there is a vertical screen in the central console that displays your speed and even indicates the presence of vehicles around you. But there is nothing in front to distract you. Instead, the steering wheel has an infrared eye-tracker that scolds you if your eyes point away from the road, or worse, still point down at a mobile device.
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Feels incomplete
Having been driving cars for 30 years now, I have seen a few unique vehicles with the speedometer placed oddly, including the Toyota Etios. And going by my experience, the Volvo EX30 felt weird.
It’s a good electric car from the Swedish carmaker (now owned by the Chinese conglomerate Zhejiang Geely Holding Group). But over the weekend I drove it, I just kept looping back to the same point every time I got into the car, like an earworm stuck in my head.
The EX30 felt incomplete without an instrument cluster or at least a small display showing speed, charging status, and range information. I understand the point of reducing information overload for drivers and even introducing a warning system for when they look at their phone — a feature other carmakers should also consider. But even in China, where the instrument cluster screen has shrunk compared to the infotainment screen — as seen in vehicles like the MG Windsor EV — there is still something there.
What about the rest of the vehicle? Well, the interiors also give very 1960s-70s Indian home flooring vibes with the mosaic pattern. But you could make out that Volvo has used sustainable materials across the vehicle. But it isn’t just the instrument cluster that Volvo has axed, they’ve also done away with the buttons. Everything is operated through the central console, and while that is not a first for me and I believe owners do tend to adapt to these changes fast, I still argue that a combination of some physical buttons and screen controls would be a happy median.
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Finding a middle ground
The EX30 will compete in terms of price (expected at Rs 50 lakh) with the BMW iX1 20L. It will be assembled in India and will feature a 69 kWh and a 272 PS motor, placing it above the German vehicle in both performance and range. However, the long wheelbase of the BMW does make it more attractive to those who sit at the back. The Volvo is clearly designed as a self-driven car for Europeans, but from reviews I’ve read in European magazines, my brethren out there are equally puzzled by the ‘war on buttons’ and the lack of a cluster.
I agree that there has been a shift toward displaying too much information in cars, but the solution is not the one that Volvo is proposing. In fact, I was looking at the new XC70 that Volvo is introducing in the Chinese market soon. And guess what? It has a cluster. I personally do not believe that car design and user interfaces should be reflective of the politics of today, which is extremist on either end — ‘all or nothing’. Like in politics, we have to find a sensible centre of just how much information is enough.
Kushan Mitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. He tweets @kushanmitra. Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)