‘Unnecessary’: These modern-car features are the worst

At Drive, we test hundreds of cars a year, ranging from pint-sized hatchbacks to full over-sized utes, seven-seat SUVs and everything in between.

And while the best of the best have been put to the test at the annual Drive Car of the Year – with the Tesla Model Y electric SUV taking home the overall crown in 2026 – occasionally, there are some features that while trying to offer convenience become more annoying and impractical.

But what exactly are the worst and most unnecessary car features in 2026? To find out, we reached out to our editorial team. Here's what they said.

For me, the number-one miscreant is driver attention monitors that don't work. When the first tranche of Volvo EX30s were released to market, the attention monitor was so sensitive that it sounded virtually every time the driver's eyes went to the touchscreen.

That's a problem when the speedometer is on the touchscreen. Some are almost spookily well calibrated, which only throws into sharp relief the ones that aren't.

I've lost count of the number of press cars I've driven where you can see residue from gaffer tape over the monitoring camera, so I don't think it's just me who gets irked by this.

Keys that aren't keys. I’ll never understand why some engineers took a 4000-year-old invention that worked perfectly and decided ‘let's make this like a credit card, or a smooth shiny rock – no one will ever lose those'.

Even worse is when the 'key' can’t even be put on a keyring – and if you want to pop your pebble or egg or Tamagotchi or whatever it resembles on a keyring, you have to buy a special case for it, making it even more unwieldy! Argh!

Then there is the mobile phone app as a key. Apparently, some people live in an alternative universe where their phone isn’t always on 2 per cent and apps and Bluetooth are without fault.

Call me old and grumpy, but why should we trade tactile reliability for something flimsy, antithetical, or at the mercy of a battery?

Side-view cameras. I understand they look cool and futuristic, but this is very much a case of form over function.

Maybe it's just me, but having to look at another screen – which is positioned differently from where a side-view mirror would be – feels unnatural and oddly unsettling after driving for nearly 20 years.

The argument is having a camera mounted to the side of a car makes it more aerodynamic, enabling more driving range in an EV, but I'm betting turning up regenerative braking and popping a window instead of running the air conditioning will have more of an effect.

This is absolutely a piece of new-car tech that needs to go away, and go away soon.

Wireless phone chargers without wireless Apple CarPlay, and vice versa.

This one might be stretching the rules, but I fail to see the point of installing a wireless phone charger in a car if it doesn't have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, or vice versa. 

I want to charge my phone while I'm driving, and if I need to plug in to use Apple CarPlay via USB, the wireless charger becomes redundant.

I've got a severe case of the touchscreen ick lately. I know most brands are resorting back to the good old buttons and stalks, but the integration of touchscreens for cabin controls and 'quirky' features just dilutes the driving experience. 

Additionally, the speed limit recognition in modern cars is still a thorn in most drivers' sides, including mine.

I don't want to be that guy who still complains about it, but until the technology can recognise changing speed limits (for example, when entering a school zone) properly without yelling at me, I will be dying on this hill that it's not necessary when you already have two eyes and a digital speedometer. 

I don’t think they’re the worst, but definitely unnecessary are puddle lights/lamps. A light in the dark is not a bad thing, but one that features the manufacturer’s logo is just pure indulgence. No-one needs that. 

Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.

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