Car controls

Car controls generally refers to controls in cars and most other powered road vehicles, including trucks, buses, and specialized vehicles (e.g. heavy equipment), that are used for driving, parking, and passenger comfort and safety. Modern car controls are now standardised, but this was not always the case. Controls are evolving in response to new technologies, for example the electric car.

Since the car was first invented, many of its basic controls have become fewer and simpler through automation; for example, all cars once had manual, physical controls for the choke valve, clutch, ignition timing, and a crank instead of an electric starter. However, new controls have also been added to vehicles, making them more complex. Examples include air conditioning, navigation systems, on-board computers, and in car entertainment. Another trend is the replacement of physical knobs and switches with touchscreen controls. These may be limited to secondary controls as in BMW's iDrive and Ford's MyFord Touch, or may substitute an entire set of controls, as seen in vehicles by Tesla Motors.