√2022: In the bin! Goodbye and good riddance!

What a crazy year we’ve just had. The Drive Team reflect on what we saw, and could quite happily never see again…

That 2022 sure was a time! Straight out of lockdowns into one of the busiest and outright craziest years we’ve seen in… years!

While there were a lot of good things to come out of 2022, there were a few things that we’d be happy to never see again…

James Ward

The stupidest flash in the pan we’ve seen for a long time, Automotive NFTs seem to have fallen from their favoured position into near obscurity already. And that’s a good thing.

The fact that the initial concept of paying real-pretend money for a pretend-real car soon moved to a bundled ‘buy the NFT, get the car for free‘ pitch, basically meant the auto NFT’s days were numbered right out of the gate. Even trying to explain what a token was and even what ‘fungible’ meant pushed these into a hyper-niche category of buyers who were riding the crypto train into the dark unknown.

The fact that a rather cool one-off sketch by Peter Varga, Director Exterior Design at Porsche, was sold as an NFT for $36k at auction in August 2021 (along with the physical artwork), and is now attracting offers of $1800 shows that even the crypto community doesn’t take these seriously.

Rob Margeit

Carmakers the world over have invested untold billions in self-driving cars, promising motorists a future where they will be able to relax and read a book, do a crossword, watch TV or any number of leisurely pursuits from the comfort of their cars, as said vehicle plots and navigates a path to a set destination without any human input.

But, is this really what motorists are hankering after? Anyone who enjoys driving will see self-driving cars as anathema to the art of driving while anyone who doesn’t enjoy driving to the point that they’d place their lives in the sensors of a bunch of cameras and some zeroes and ones, well, they can catch a bus. Or a train.

Carmakers, and the world in general, would be better served to invest those same untold billions towards improving battery technology. I don’t want to scroll on my phone while my car, if I’m lucky and don’t get killed along the way, takes me to where I need to be. I want an electric car with 1000km of range that can be recharged in five minutes. Or, a tiny EV with only 180km of range that costs around $26,000. Either option would be money better spent by the world’s carmakers than pursuing cars that can drive themselves. Badly.

Glenn Butler

I had hoped to be able to say goodbye to a lot of outdated legislative baggage by now, but in true bureaucratic fashion, the government has failed to phase out import tariffs, and EV incentives, and get real about the luxury car tax (LCT).

I’m guessing none of this will be popular with Drive readers, so feel free to respond in the comments below. Surely the import tariff which was designed to protect Australian automotive manufacturing has no place in a modern Australia without local manufacturing?

EV incentives are stupid, plain and simple. Firstly, why incentivise the purchase of goods that are in short supply with long waitlists? Secondly, changing consumer behaviour is historically proven to be better served by disincentivising less desirable purchases rather than incentivising desirable purchases.

As for LCT, we already have a GST that adds 10 per cent to the purchase price, so why do we need an additional, punitive, poorly conceived tax?

Sam Purcell

I’m looking forward to the eventual demise of poorly tuned lane-keep assistance systems, which continually bong, pinch and veer you around in a lane during normal, everyday driving.

I get the importance of these systems from a safety point of view, but they lose their impact when they’re so bloody infuriating to live with.

And on that note, can we please look at a way to reduce the number of bings, dongs and dongs on a new car? Few things – aside from my kids – make me rage more than the endless string of audible warnings in some new cars.

Ben Zachariah

After four generations spanning more than two decades, in 2022 Toyota Australia announced it had killed off the horrendously ugly hybrid pioneer – the Prius.

While I shed no tears and lost no sleep over the decision, it came months before Toyota unveiled an all-new plug-in hybrid Prius that is expected to deliver around 70km of purely-electric driving and looks pretty damn good to boot.

Be careful what you wish for.

Emma Notarfrancesco

I’d like to see the crazy used car market prices decline, however, unless new car supply strengthens, I don’t see these changing dramatically.

Something else I’d like to say goodbye to is infotainment systems that solely rely on touch where most functions are buried in menus.

Bring back buttons and dials in 2023, please.

Kez Casey

If there’s any chance 2023 could spell the end of the long-lead, that would be great.

Stock and supply shortages have made 2022 something of a new car battleground, and for the sake of consumers, it would be a massive relief to see the situation right itself, and a more stable and easy-to-navigate marketplace return.

Tom Fraser

I’m glad that some brands, such as Volkswagen, are getting rid of touch-based car controls. It tried them out in its model range including the Volkswagen Golf, everyone expressed their displeasure with the finicky switchgear, and the brand has subsequently admitted it was a wrong move and will revert to physical, clicky buttons.

Can’t wait.

Susannah Guthrie

The ongoing semiconductor shortage saw carmakers get creative with removing or tweaking standard equipment offerings.

It made for really confusing specification sheets, less bang-for-buck in flagship cars and a few bizarre ‘subscription’ models for features that really should be included as standard.

I get it – it’s a balancing act and a tricky time for the automotive industry. Still, it felt like the real losers were consumers, who had to navigate endless options packs and fine print, along with ongoing stock shortages.

At the very least, let’s aim for more transparency in the new year.

Alex Misoyannis

Touch-sensitive buttons in cars – either on a touchscreen, or a capacitive-touch button or slider – need to go, pronto.

These can be integrated well – big shortcut buttons high up in your peripheral vision, for example. But in almost all scenario touch-sensitive buttons (or icons on a touchscreen) require more brain power, and take your attention off the road for longer than a physical switch or dial.

Some brands – including one of the biggest fans of touch buttons of late, Volkswagen – are starting to see the light and return to physical controls. But others, unfortunately, are just getting started.