Top 5 things car makers fixed that weren't broken: from Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV9's cameras and mirrors to Tesla Model Y's speedo and no spare wheels | Opinion

Innovation and technology are supposed to make life better and easier right? Or, do I have that wrong? I’m not too sure when things like the new Polestar 4 comes along.

This electric SUV arriving in Australia next month doesn’t have a back window. Where the window should be is a plastic panel you can’t see through, so the solution was to fit a camera which instantaneously sends a live feed to a display on the dashboard in the car. What could go wrong? But Polestar isn’t the first to fix something that wasn’t broken.

So, that got the CarsGuide journos thinking: What other fixes to things that were never broken have been made in cars. This list was endless, but here’s what we have so far and we welcome you adding yours…

The case of the Hyundai Veloster and the missing back door

Long before Polestar went and removed an essential item that had always been in cars Hyundai decided one less door is just what a small sporty hatch needed. In this case it was the Veloster which has two front doors and one rear door. Fortunately the single rear door is on the kerb side side but passengers in the back are required to scoot across when entering or leaving.

Mirror? Too simple. Let's use a camera

Similar to the Polestar 4 doing away with a rear-view mirror, some car companies are swapping cameras for perfectly fine wing mirrors. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5, Kia’s EV9 and Audi’s e-tron all have a camera image displayed inside the car to assist the driver rather than good, old-fashioned mirrors. We’ve yet to meet anybody who thinks seeing the camera image is more natural feeling than looking at a mirror. Hyundai eventually removed them as standard and added them as an option due to customer feedback.

While we’re here we should also mention Honda’s lane-change camera system on the CR-V and other models which shows a view down the side of the car when the indicator is used. While it seems like a great idea the problem is the camera image is displayed on the central media display, which is both distracting and nausea inducing… well it is for me anyway. Kia and Hyundai offer another version which displays the camera image in the instrument cluster which feels less intrusive. 

Fly or just gesture media control?

There was a time when we all thought the future involved us waving at screens like we were swooshing flies away from food rather than actually touching it or using a keyboard. And while augmented reality goggles are close to that being a reality, car companies have been dabbling with it for a decade.

Volkswagen and BMW have both attempted to incorporate gesture control into their media functionality but having used the systems over the years we can definitively say just reaching out and pushing a button is easier and works 100 per cent of the time.

Not all gesture control is disappointing. Gesture operated tailgates that open and close car boots automatically when you swish your foot are wonderfully convenient when your arms are full and they work most of the time… well at least a quarter of the time. 

Peugeot re-invents the steering wheel with i-Cockpit

Peugeot deserves more love than Australians seem to give this brand, which builds such superb-driving cars with unique designs, but then it does something like the i-Cockpit. 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary recently the i-Cockpit was a cabin redesign by Peugeot for all its models, which place the “compact” steering wheel low (like almost in your lap low) and the instrument cluster high.

It was Peugeot’s way of keeping the driver’s eyes up on the road for safety without using a windscreen projected head-up. The result is a speedo which for many people is blocked by a steering wheel. The shape of the steering wheel also means it doesn’t flow through the driver’s hands as smoothly as a rounder one. We’re not even going to mention how the gear shifter feels like you’re holding a dog’s snout in your hand.

On the topic of speedo placement we’re also looking at you Tesla for locating the car’s digital speed reading on the central display. Volvo’s EX30 is also guilty of this.

Electric cars that make petrol sounds

OK, just to be clear we’re not talking about the audible warning tone emitted at low speeds by electric cars to warn pedestrians on their approach - this is a good thing and absolutely necessary. No, we’re talking about the artificial engine sound some EVs emit to accompany the driving experience.

The Abarth 500e electric hot hatch is a culprit with a speaker mounted externally under the car, which produces the growly sound of the petrol engine Abarth 595. 

Then there’s the Mustang Mach-E which pipes the sound of a V8 engine through its stereo speakers, but rather than being played outside the car, the sound can only be heard in the cabin. 

Seriously, if you want the sound of a petrol car then you need to buy a petrol car. 

Those are our top 5 things that didn’t need changing by car companies, but the list is endless: BMW’s push of a button-opening doors, puncture repair kits instead of spare wheels, one-touch indicators, vibrating driver’s seats connected to parking sensors… 

Have we missed any of the fixes made to car design which wasn’t broken? Tell us yours.