With the Vision Neue Klasse and the i Vision Dee before it, BMW has previewed a completely new head-up display that it will put into production in 2025. The technology is going to premiere on a road car with the first bespoke electric models built on the Neue Klasse platform, namely a sedan and a crossover in the 3 Series segment. However, we are learning that the highly advanced HUD won’t be exclusive to NE cars. In fact, the setup won’t even be reserved for electric vehicles.
Speaking with Automotive News Europe at the 2023 IAA Mobility in Munich, Stephan Durach, BMW Group senior vice president for connected company development, said the Panoramic Vision will be offered across the entire lineup: “You will see it in every car regardless of powertrain.” In other words, whether you’ll be buying a gasoline, diesel, plug-in hybrid, or an EV in the second half of the decade, the ultra-wide display is going to be available.
Developed in collaboration with Bosch, work on the Panoramic Vision started in 2019 but BMW first came up with the idea nearly 10 years ago. As to why it took so long to conceive, Durach said there were some technical hurdles the engineers had to overcome since the hardware for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) had to be repositioned along with other components. Why? Because the HUD’s placement is where you’d normally find the air vents.
According to BMW Vice President of User Experience Joern Freyer, the display benefits from “matrix backlight,” which makes it “several times stronger” compared to any screen offered in current vehicles. Despite being a pillar-to-pillar screen, drivers won’t be overwhelmed with information since the goal is to limit the projected info and only show what’s truly relevant. Doing so should help minimize distraction so that the driver can focus on the road ahead.
Some of you will remember an interesting statement made by BMW’s CEO at the beginning of the year. During CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Oliver Zipse said he is “absolutely convinced” that massive screens will be a thing of the past in a decade from now as he believes the regulators will outlaw XXL-sized displays by around 2033. He believes looking down at a screen is “a big mistake” because it poses a safety risk.
The Panoramic Vision aims to solve that problem by projecting the necessary info in the driver’s line of sight. That said, as we saw in the Vision Neue Klasse, the next-generation iDrive is still going to feature a large central display. In the concept, it was shaped like a parallelogram and benefitted from OLED technology.
Source: Automotive News Europe
