Car complexity and the new user journey

Why is the user journey for driving a car for the first time so reliably poor? Given that for many this is our biggest purchase after a house, there would seem to be a huge opportunity for gain in making this as seamless, enjoyable and also safe as possible and not leaving it to "guess and hope" and pure chance. An opportunity for more agile and product centric thinking perhaps?

A couple of items of context:

1. I don't buy new cars, but I do hire cars several times a year (work, holiday and emergencies) and also get very new cars on loan when my 10+ year old car is in the garage. So I'm driving lots of different sorts of cars especially for a short time and have to do this "onboarding as a new user" experience regularly and get the pain frequently.

2. I have a varied driving experience across several countries in Europe and North America, left hand and right hand drive, manual and automatic and driven from Scottish single track roads to German autobahns with no speed limit and also have an interest in safe driving having passed the RoSPA advanced driving course. My licence has 10 permitted categories on it. There's a lot to take in across different driving environments, signage, side of the road, rules and so on without adding to the load with vehicle complexity.

So some examples of where this is significantly failing.

1. In 2013 I got a call my mother was dying. I got a taxi to the airport, flew up to Scotland, hired a car and it wouldn't start. She had hours left to live. Significantly stressed out had to ask for help. This was one of the first cars where you had to put your foot on the footbrake for the car to start. No instructions though. Why not? I still made it to the hospital in time, but didn't need the stress or delay.

2. Prior to this was coming up to Scotland monthly. Hired a car, it stopped at a junction without warning. This was the first time I'd got a car with automatic start stop and whatever happened it didn't quite work right leaving me stranded at a junction with an oncoming car and me just being able to get the engine going again and out of the way as the auto stop start was a little temperamental. Thanks for no warning or instructions there either.

3. A few years ago drove my first car with lane assist. Contrary to what I'd learned in my RoSPA test with Police supervision around "only indicating when useful to other road users" and there being none around on a high speed road, the lane assist tried to take over as there was no need to indicate. Unaware what was actually going on here, this increased the risk of an accident. No prewarning was given that this feature was fitted or enabled. If I don't know about a feature, I don't know to ask the garage about it.

4. Regularly when I travel, land and need to get somewhere I'm now completely fed up with learning how to set up the satnav for the first time or pair my phone. Realised this was a time wasting exercise I now just bring my own satnav, preprogrammed with the destination and use that instead. Android auto is fine, when it pairs. But sometimes it doesn't. Lesson learned.

5. This weekend, with the car in the garage for some work I got my first all electric vehicle. Whilst I have an interest in knowing how to effectively use such a car, since they are often cheaper to hire, I don't usually have the time to deal with the new learning when I've just landed and on the way to a meeting in a hurry. So now was the chance. What a mess it was. No explanation of what sort of charger, had to Google that with a picture. No explanation of where the chargers were, had to Google that. No quick way to find out charging times and costs for a top up if I have the car longer than expected. Tried a few apps for that. Couldn't ask the car easily, as that was for account holders only "for security" but I didn't want to register my details on the car as I could see the name of every person who had used the car recently and where they had been. Oops. No quick start guide. Of course I have no charging infrastructure at home. I don't have an electric car and there was no compatible cable supplied. Half an hour later and having downloaded two apps, found the info and came to the conclusion that unless you are charging overnight which I can't do, every other option was pretty much pointless and would have meant leaving the car in the supermarket 30 mins walk away for 2-3 hours which is about as long as you can be there, effectively writing off the afternoon. Good job I didn't have that pain after a long flight and on the way to a meeting.

The biggest purchase after a house and not so much as a one page quick start guide ever.

Apart from the safety aspects highlighted above there's a real commercial concern here.

As we came out of covid lockdown, car hire prices shot up. The explanation is here https://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/vehicle-hire/car/news/why-are-car-hire-prices-so-high/

.car manufacturers used to court car hire firms - the vast numbers of vehicles needed by the industry made them ideal for manufacturer's who wanted to have a steady number of cars coming off the production line straight into the fleets of an industry that wanted the latest models. It also provided free test drives, with some hirers deciding that they loved their rental car so much they would buy one as their next vehicle

For emphasis:

with some hirers deciding that they loved their rental car so much they would buy one as their next vehicle

Yes, car retailers, the car hire experience is important and drives actual car sales. So let's make the car hire experience excellent and not crap, dangerous, full of surprises and needing a thick user manual or Google to get going safely or wonder how to adjust the seat. Just the very act of turning down the radio and changing the channel and user language for the instrumentation shouldn't be adding to the cognitive load of "new country, new driving rules". Let's be clear a "car not ready to start" message should at least say WHY.

Also, the complexity is increasing significantly.

The higher computing power and integration are necessary because the number of lines of code and the complexity of the functions in the vehicle is increasing year by year. One number may make this clear: 100 million. This is how many lines of code feature in today’s car. By comparison, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner only has 14 million.

Source: Porsche. https://medium.com/next-level-german-engineering/porsche-future-of-code-526eb3de3bbe

Who is dealing with user simplicity?

What would be better?

1. A one pager left in the car when hiring a car "important things you need to know about how to drive this vehicle"
2. A universal setting app that is vendor neutral and I have in my phone and can transmit this to the car. Language. Time and date formats. Favourite destinations stored in a secure profile, favourite radio stations, preferred seating arrangements and distance to the steering wheel and then receiving back: charging point info, vehicle details and important first time user info, easily allowing me to update my parking apps with the registration number etc. What I don't need "one app per car hire per car per model" No.

Any other suggestions for getting going in a new car in less than 5 minutes safely?

Tried it out with ChatGPT and assumed there was an API for the vehicle details. Got this. Better than "guess and hope" and I even learned about regenerative braking and one foot driving. Neither explained to me by the garage. How many car sales do you think this could generate for car hire companies wanting an excellent and safe experience?

Quick-Start Guide: Mercedes-Benz EQA 250+ AMG Line (UK, Fully Electric)

1. Starting & Stopping

• Unlock via fob or proximity Keyless-Go. • Press the brake pedal and hit the Start/Stop button—look for 'Ready to Drive'. • To stop: shift to Park (P), press Stop, then exit the car.

2. Charging Port & Plug Options

• Charging flap is located on the rear off-side (right rear). • Supports both Type 2 (AC) and CCS (DC) charging plugs.

3. Charging Procedures & Times

• AC Charging (7–11 kW): ~6 hrs 30 min from 0–100%. • DC Rapid Charging (100 kW CCS): ~33 min to 80%. • Use tethered cables at stations or supplied cable for AC.

4. Recommended Charging Apps (UK)

• Zap-Map – Station finder, availability & payments. • PlugShare – Community station reviews & maps. • Chargemap – Good for roaming across networks. • Paua – App/card access across multiple UK networks.

5. Key Controls & Features

• Gear Selector: Right of steering column (P/R/N/D). • Regenerative Braking: Adjustable modes, Eco mode enables one-pedal driving. • Infotainment: MBUX dual screens with voice command. • CarPlay/Android Auto: Connect via USB.

6. Safety & First-Time EV Tips

• One-pedal driving slows car without braking—practice gently. • Low battery alerts at ~20% and ~10% — plan ahead. • Cable locks during DC charging — unlock from inside or app. • Pre-conditioning: Use app to heat/cool cabin while plugged in.

7. Finishing a Trip

• Shift to Park, press Stop. • End charging session via screen/app. • Unplug only after charging has stopped. • Close charge port flap securely.

8. Owner’s Manual

Access the full Mercedes-Benz EQA manual via: https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/passengercars/services/manuals.html/eqa-suv-2024-04-h243-mbux

9. Quick Troubleshooting

• Charging won’t start: Ensure cable is seated & locked. • Car won’t move: Brake must be pressed before Start. • Screen frozen: Hold power button 10 sec to reboot.

TIP: Pre-install Zap-Map before your journey for seamless charging access.