Volkswagen is following Audi and Mercedes-Benz in reversing one of the biggest interior trends of recent years: replacing traditional buttons and knobs with touch-sensitive controls. The company is now bringing conventional switches back to several of its newer models.

The change is already visible in Volkswagen’s latest products. The ID.3 Neo brings back more traditional buttons while removing the unpopular temperature and volume sliders. The ID. Polo and ID. Cross also feature individual switches for the windows, rather than relying on touch-sensitive controls.

Volkswagen has now offered an unusually candid explanation for why it moved away from physical controls in the first place. According to the company’s Head of Quality Assurance, Andreas Krepp, “What seems obvious to you or me today may well be viewed quite differently at a certain point in time. Then someone says, “People won’t want that at all in the future.” And when there’s a lack of reliable customer data, a lot of things are simply tried out.”

However, Volkswagen eventually found that customers did not necessarily want their electric cars to operate like futuristic spaceships. Buyers wanted the benefits of an electric drivetrain without having to relearn basic functions such as adjusting the climate or changing the audio volume.

“With electric vehicles—including here at our company—there was this idea: Something new is beginning [electric vehicles], so the controls must also change significantly and be particularly modern. For example, we said, “Let’s install sliders instead of traditional rotary knobs. That’s the future.” Then we learned that customers who buy an electric vehicle are primarily looking for a different type of powertrain. They don’t automatically want to buy a spaceship.”

Source: Motor1

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This isn’t the Audi R8 comeback that pops up online as a rumor every six weeks. No, this is real. Say hello to the Audi Nuvolari, a titanium-colored stunner that puts Audi solidly back on the supercar map—and then some. In fact, it’s the most powerful production model in Audi’s history.

Revealed Thursday evening during the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix festivities, Ingolstadt’s newest creation is powered by a hybrid, twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 that will produce around 1,000 horsepower and rev to 10,000 RPM. The motor itself is borrowed from its corporate sibling, the Lamborghini Temerario, but will pack a bit more power. However, it will retain the same electric motor configuration: two axial-flux motors on the front axle and one on the rear axle. This package will reportedly be good enough for 0-60 mph in just 2.6 seconds, a ridiculous top speed of 217 mph, and an undisclosed electric-only driving range thanks to its 7.3-kWh battery.

Chief Technology Officer Rouven Mohr points at the automaker’s involvement in F1 with expediting various technologies and concepts from the track to the road—but as far as I see it, the biggest and best transfer between the two is the look of the thing. The titanium hue is lifted directly from Audi’s F1 car, and that’s just straight-up sick. Sure, there are other engineering elements, but that’s one that everyone can see and appreciate.

Named after the famous Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari—and following up on the sleek concept from the early 2000s—the new supercar will feature “quattro predictive ride,” the latest version of the famous all-wheel-drive system that will utilize torque vectoring during acceleration, cornering, deceleration, and braking, regenerative or otherwise. It also boasts active aerodynamics that can generate up to 882 pounds of pressure, thanks to a deployable rear wing with three settings: Closed, Low Downforce, and High Downforce. If you’re wondering how the driver will operate the wing, just look at the big button on the steering wheel.

Speaking of the interior, massive kudos to Audi for not slapping a bunch of screens on the dash of this beauty. Sure, it still has a central touchscreen to operate the car’s basic functions, as well as a digital gauge cluster for the driver, but that’s it. No passenger display, no other nonsense. It looks minimalist and borderline cold, but I have a feeling it’ll be more pleasing to the eye in person.

The new Audi Space Frame with a carbon exterior, according to Audi, uses the same manufacturing methods as those used in F1 cars. Autoclave technology takes pre-impregnated carbon-fiber shapes and then cures them under high pressure and temperature to deliver maximum structural rigidity and weight savings. This process requires extensive hand labor and expertise, as the end result will be visible in the car’s appearance. No just phoning it in.

The Nuvolari is essentially an evolution of the Concept C (which was previously touted as purely electric) that wowed last year, down to the color. It comes at the right time for the brand, as it seeks to reestablish itself with enthusiasts via its F1 efforts and now this supercar. Surely I’m not the only one who anxiously read the announcement, fearing an all-electric powertrain, then was overwhelmingly happy to see “V8.” It’s exactly what Audi’s lineup needed, though sadly, it won’t make it to many people’s homes.

Pricing was not divulged, but only 499 units will be produced. Chances are, most of them are already sold. Deliveries are set to begin in the first half of 2027, according to Audi.

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