The regulation calls out 19 vehicle functions which must have physical controls inside the vehicle, with additional requirements about size and usability of the buttons.
Those functions include:
Turn signals
Hazard lights
Horn
PRND gear shifter
Driver assist function, if present
Windshield wipers
Windshield defroster
Power windows
Emergency call system
Power off switch for EVs
It really wouldn’t be crazy. The polestar 2 has a physical shifter and acts exactly like you’d expect from a shifter. You bump it forward to put it in reverse, and pull back on it to put it in drive. You can shift both directions while rolling slightly, which is actually really nice and useful. I think I tried shifting while it was driving and it likely has a software limit to the speed at which it let’s you shift while rolling (above 5 mph for example). I think only going from drive to reverse requires touching the brake, similar to a standard automatic.
I don’t get what was wrong with a PRNDL with big physical detents and feedback. I don’t understand what these goofy little knobs and blobs improve about the user experience.
I agree, though low in the context of an EV would be pointless until you just want the acceleration curve to be different for some reason