[levymetal]

The other thing that worries me is how integrated modern headunits are. It used to be that when your headunit broke or became obsolete, you could just whack a new one in for a few hundred dollars, prolonging the life of your vehicle. Now even basic cars have fully integrated headunits making upgrades impossible. Even if the headunit continues to function, the technology is going to become so obsolete that they’ll be virtually useless in 20 years. I doubt the iPhone 35 will connect to a 2023 car. I guess people who buy new cars couldn’t care less about what happens to them in 20 years, which is an easy win for car manufacturers looking for ways to reduce the effective lifespan of their vehicles.

[qrohlf]

Yep, exactly. My personal vehicle is a 2000 model year Toyota. It has an incredibly good, stable, and modern CarPlay head unit from Sony, because back whin the car was made we had standards like double-DIN head units and you could just plop in a new stereo. Which is exactly what I did, and now I have a "golden age" mechanically reliable, nigh-un-killable Toyota with a modern carplay head unit.

And as a bonus, I can adjust everything about the car (climate control, volume, overdrive, 4wd, ECT mode, etc) with real buttons and tactile feedback while going down a washboard track, without ever having to take my eyes off the road.

If anyone out there starts making EVs with the same bare-bones attitude (analog knobs and dials, no flashy infotainment system, double-DIN head unit slot, modern safety features and a simple ultra-reliable EV powertrain), sign me up. It'll probably never happen because there's not really an economic incentive right now to try to hit lower price-points in the EV market, everyone's going upmarket. But I'd still love to see somebody try.