Everything used to be better. Maybe the same goes for cars, because in 2021 the auto industry had some stupid ideas. Here are our 6 biggest annoyances of 2021. With the friendly but urgent request to the car brands to stop doing this in 2022.
1. Car brands that supposedly save the climate
We understand that new cars must be more economical and cleaner. Perhaps in the distant future we will all drive electric and save the planet. Fine. But in 2021 we got the jitters from car brands that make a whole thing out of one green mouse step. Such as the fact that the Volvo C40 Recharge is ‘completely leather-free’. And that nowadays almost every car brand processes PET bottles from the company canteen into floor mats. And then you also have Ferrari’s HELE system, which stands for ‘High Emotion, Low Emission’. vomiting.
2. EVs that don’t reach their impressive charging speed
We write a lot and often about electric cars and we believe in technology. But there is still a lot of hassle and ambiguity! One of the biggest annoyances is fast charging. To achieve the promised payload of 85, 150 or sometimes 240 kW, all the stars have to align, the wind is blowing from the east and Mariah Carey is on the radio. In other words: in many cases you do not get the maximum loading speed and that is annoying.
Nice huh, grumble? In the newsletter you can read every Friday about the good and the bad car news.
Sign up for weekly grumbles.
3. Beep. beep. peeeep! Overzealous security systems.
If you bought a new car in 2021, this annoyance needs no explanation. Modern cars contain so many cameras and sensors linked to safety systems that you hear continuous beeps. The biggest culprits are Chinese cars that check whether you are looking at the road. If you turn your head, the warnings will fly across the screen. We also hate driver assistance systems that you have to switch off every time.
4. The Dutch can no longer drive a car
This is not the fault of the car brands, but of corona. People stay at home and when they get in the car, they perform the strangest antics. Tailgating and unnecessary left-hand driving are of all times, but now there is more to it. The Dutch have forgotten the art of driving and that makes them unimaginably unpredictable.
5. Fake exhausts
It is a bad thing when an annoyance has become so great that you have given up hope. We are talking about cars with fake exhausts: rear bumpers in which a chrome-plated trim gives the illusion of a nice thick exhaust. In reality there is nothing, or a small pipe. For example, we give the new Kia Ceed, the new Volkswagen Tiguan and the new Peugeot 308. For the time being, the designers of electric cars seem to hold back…
6. Charging prices unclear
If you are going to (fast) charge an electric car, it is nowhere stated what it costs. There are websites and apps that can tell you, but not the pole itself. Our solution is simple: your electric car will look it up and show the amounts on the navigation screen. After all, almost all EVs have an internet connection, so this should be possible. Tesla is already doing this with its own cars and fast chargers.