As I mentioned in a previous post, after driving Teslas for twelve years I’ve upgraded to the Hyundai IONIQ 5, a far superior car. But there are a few things Tesla got right that Hyundai should copy. And fortunately they’re simple software changes!
Walk Away Door Lock
When you approach the IONIQ with a fob or your phone, it unlocks the doors and presents the door handles. Great! But when you walk away, it doesn’t lock the doors. Instead, some time later you receive an alert that the doors are unlocked. This is not only inconvenient, it’s dangerous, because the door handles make it VERY obvious that the car is unlocked. Just lock the doors when I leave.
I-Pedal
Most electric car owners want to drive with a single pedal, rarely using the brakes. It’s convenient, saves battery charge, and reduces brake wear. To do this, the car needs to not “creep” when your foot is off the brake. Tesla accomplished this with a creep setting that can be turned off. On the IONIQ there is a mode called “I-Pedal” that does the same. But the mode must be engaged EVERY TIME you start the car. The car remembers the level of regenerative braking you have set, but not the I-Pedal setting. This is not only inconvenient, it’s dangerous, because you are expecting the car to behave the way it did when you turned it off. (It’s also stupid that this mode is controlled with two paddle shifters on the steering wheel. They must be spare parts left over from a gas-powered design, because this is a setting you literally never need to change, let alone on the fly.)
Automatic Garage Door Control
A handy feature of the Teslas is that it automatically opens and closes your garage door. With GPS and distance sensing, this should be trivial to implement. Perhaps the idea is patented? Otherwise I can’t imagine why all cars don’t do this now.
No “On” Button is Needed
This is more of a philosophical issue, but Tesla’s have no “On” button. You get in the car, it’s on. You get out, it’s off. Why does a modern electric car even need an “On” button?
Please, Hyundai, implement at least the first three of my wish list items! I can tell from online forums that hundreds of owners are asking for the same. Especially now, when people are abandoning Tesla, it’s a great time to make these minor tweaks that address the only issues where the Ioniq 5’s design isn’t quite as convenient.