Can we keep the gauge cluster around, please?

Let’s not follow Tesla’s lead in the elimination of the gauge cluster. I might be too late, but I’m going to say it anyway.

The cute 2025 Volvo EX30 is to blame for this needing to be said. I genuinely like most things about the EX30 and its cost-oriented approach to a luxury EV. However, Volvo went and deleted the gauge cluster, and that’s just one cost-saving step too many.

Of course, center-mounted instruments is nothing new, but Tesla popularized the idea of removing the cluster entirely years ago with its Model 3 and Model Y. I didn’t like the idea when I first saw it, and my displeasure with driving around a car with no cluster was confirmed when I drove a Model 3 for the first time. There are numerous reasons, but it all boils down to the importance of having vital information in your direct line of sight. The transition to EVs allows for the elimination of certain monitoring gauges within a cluster, but basics like speed, gear position, headlight status, cruise control and range are all things I want directly in front of me. I don’t want to glance down and to the right to see these things. You could make a valid safety argument for such an arrangement, but including all of that info just for the sake of convenience is enough.

The only excuse I see for eliminating the cluster is if a comprehensive head-up display impervious to polarized sunglasses comes as standard equipment. It’d still be bothersome in a gasoline-powered car to lose all those gauges, but I could live with just a HUD in an electric car if it meant a lower cost to the buyer. That said, my favorite integrations are the smaller clusters installed in some EVs like the Ford Mustang Mach-E or Volkswagen ID.4. These little clusters are smaller and simpler than many of the massive instrument screens going into cars these days, but they include all the information you might want at a glance.

Beyond the safety and convenience aspect, there’s a nostalgic angle to the gauge cluster. Just a short while ago, I trumpeted the return of retro designs in digital gauge clusters. You can quite literally do whatever you’d like when you’re working with a screen, which leaves the field of opportunities wide open. We won’t have the privilege of enjoying old-school (or revolutionary new-school) designs if OEMs start eliminating them entirely.

Trying to find ways to make cars cheaper in today’s ever-more-expensive market is a valiant effort, but the gauge cluster is one area we shouldn’t be pinching pennies. And let's be clear: This is why Tesla and others got rid of the gauge cluster along with other typically expected interior controls. It's not for design purposes or whatever other reasons might be dreamed up as cover. Tesla wasn’t right to go down the cluster-cutting road in the first place; let's hope the trend doesn't go much further than the EX30.