Got a Subaru Outback 10 days ago. After I saw this, I told my wife that will probably be the last vehicle we buy that is not at least a plug-in hybrid.
We had also test-driven a Toyota Avalon Hybrid, but the Subaru was a much better value and had more vertical trunk space, AWD, and every safety/convenience feature we could imagine getting (and some we weren't even aware of) without buying a $70k+ Lexus/BMW/Mercedes.
I really wish Subaru made plug-in hybrids, hopefully they will by the time our minivan is 8-9 years old.
It’s a lot of R&D to make a hybrid, and the non-Prius sales have been…less than stellar. Now, Subaru has an environmental outdoorsy image, so they could probably market better than most, but it’s probably awfully expensive for them. And in the short term, they are selling everything they can make, and they might not want to mess with the production lines that much.
Subaru already has a Crosstrek plug-in hybrid, but it's not available very widely. I would have been interested if I'd known they existed before buying my current car, but they're only available in certain states with seemingly low stock.
I wish Subaru didn't go all-in on touch for critical controls like climate and radio. It may be the #1 reason I don't look to them for my next vehicle.
I used to say I would never buy a phone without a physical keyboard. My last phone with a physical keyboard was the original Moto Droid, which I lost in 2012.
A touch interface in a car is nice for reaching all kinds of weird settings and hopefully make good ux for maps and stuff. But for direct control it sucks. The car I'm driving now I have no way to adjust the AC without multiple screen touches (switch to AC screen, wait, click the small - button multiple times to decrease temperature, click + button multiple times to increase fan speed).
I'm all for nice touch screens, just keep some knobs as well.
Understood, but I think the ability to adjust things tactile is more important in a driving scenario. Also, The UI lag on some of these infotainment systems feels like a 2010 iphone running iOS 13.
If only one could update the processor in their infotainment the way one does a phone, instead of having to buy a new car.
You raise a valid concern. At least in the Outback, a lot of things can be done with voice commands. It's not lightning-fast, but when driving, that's safer than both a touch-screen and physical buttons/switches.
We had also test-driven a Toyota Avalon Hybrid, but the Subaru was a much better value and had more vertical trunk space, AWD, and every safety/convenience feature we could imagine getting (and some we weren't even aware of) without buying a $70k+ Lexus/BMW/Mercedes.
I really wish Subaru made plug-in hybrids, hopefully they will by the time our minivan is 8-9 years old.