In its test of 11 cars, they found that drivers now, on average, take 2 seconds longer to complete a common task; 2 seconds when a driver’s focus is pulled from the road. At a constant speed of 110 km/h, this equates to a distance of 813 meters compared to 756 meters in 2022.

The task involved four routine in-car tasks: turning the seat heater on while increasing the cabin temperature by two degrees and activating the defroster; turning on and switching radio stations; resetting the trip computer; and dimming the instrument cluster to its lowest level while turning off the center display.

Drivers were given time to familiarize themselves with each of the 11 cars beforehand. In any run where they drifted out of lane, or failed to maintain speed, the test is repeated. Each task was timed separately, beginning when the driver placed both hands on the steering wheel and ending when the action was complete.

Voice command or voice control was left out for this test.

During its tests, the Mazda CX-60 and its button-heavy interface finished dead last taking a full 1,137 meters to complete all four tasks. On the other hand, the Volvo XC60 took just 485 meters. This is how the cars ranked (best to worst):

1. Volvo XC60 – 485 meters
2. Skoda Kodiaq – 542 meters
3. Tesla Model Y – 608 meters
4. Citroen C3 Aircross – 774 meters
5. Kia EV3 – 812 meters
6. Nissan Qashqai – 813 meters
7. BYD Seal U / Sealion 6 – 819 meters
8. Volvo V60 (2016) – 863 meters
9. Toyota Corolla Cross – 1,024 meters
10. Mercedes-Benz CLA – 1 ,116 meters
11. Mazda CX-60 – 1,137 meters

Looking at 2026’s results, Vi Bilägare concluded that touchscreens themselves aren’t the issue, but rather the user interface itself.

For example, XC60 with its tablet-style touchscreen required the least distance to complete the test compared to the button-heavy CX-60. The CX-60, the publication notes, has 50 buttons—the most in the 2026 test.

Between the 2022 and 2026 test, the Tesla Model Y which removed more physical controls—the publication just counted 4—actually improved. This highlights that offering a clearer user interface (as opposed to the number of physical knobs and switches) means more to accomplishing in-car tasks to a driver.

The Corolla Cross initially scored well completing three of the four tasks in just 444 meters. However, drivers needed an additional 580 meters to just adjust the instrument cluster brightness because it was buried deep in the digital instrument cluster.

Oddly enough, when it came to subjective ratings, the testers actually ranked Tesla’s touchscreen heavy interface last with an average rating of just 3.7 out 5. This is how the others did:

1. Skoda – 4.7
2. Toyota – 4.5
3. Mazda – 4.4
4. Nissan – 4.4
5. Citroen – 4.1
6. Volvo – 4.1
7. Kia – 3.9
8. Mercedes-Benz – 3.9
9. BYD – 3.8
10. Tesla – 3.7

When it came to screen placement, the publication also noted the amount of angle the driver’s eyes needed to drop to read the touchscreen. Unsurprisingly, the CX-60 required the least amount of degrees at just 7 degrees meaning the driver’s eyes need less time to re-focus . This is how the cars measured:

1. Mazda – 7 degrees
2. Citroen – 9 degrees
3. Kia – 10 degrees
4. Nissan – 11 degrees
5. Toyota – 12 degrees
6. Mercedes-Benz – 13 degrees
7. Skoda – 16 degrees
8. BYD – 18 degrees
9. Tesla – 21 degrees
10. Volvo – 23 degrees