BMW Boss: Big Screens To Be Replaced By Big HUDs

by Chris Teague

Published: January 6th, 2023

bmw boss big screens to be replaced by big huds

Automotive technology is developing at a dizzying pace, but that rapid progress has created quite a few side effects along the way. Take screens, for example. It’s illegal to even hold a cell phone while driving in many states, yet there’s a large screen on the dash of almost every new car today – sometimes more than one. BMW’s board chair has thoughts on the issue and believes we’ll see a big shift in how screens are used in the next few years.

Automotive News reports that at CES 2023, Oliver Zipse said, “In 10 years, that is gone. Probably the regulator will not allow it,” speaking of the touchscreens and displays in the center consoles of new cars. He also noted that distracted driving is a more significant source of accidents than speed.

BMW is working toward that vision and will roll out a new head-up display system in vehicles by 2025. The technology will expand the size of BMW’s HUD systems with more information and visuals that can be seen by everyone in the car.

A large display splattered across the windshield sounds slightly more distracting than a touchscreen in the center stack, but BMW is working toward a just-in-time display that shows information only when it’s needed. The company showed an early version of the system in its Dee concept car. The visuals accompanying the car show a display that stretches the width of the windshield but only at the bottom. The driver controls the system using a touch slider on the dash.

[Images: BMW]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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4 of 10 comments

ToolGuy on Jan 06, 2023

"Automotive technology is developing at a dizzying pace"
Is it? Or just starting to catch up with the rest of the world after decades of relative stagnation?

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- 95_SC on Jan 07, 2023
  
  When you are right, you are right
  
  Like
- Slavuta on Jan 07, 2023
  
  It is step forward and 1.5 back. As usual. Lets say we want to improve efficiency. Ok. The manufacturers spend time and money to pull that 1 mile extra per gallon. They make cars incredibly more expensive for that. And spend a lot of actual energy to produce the additional sophisticated engine components.
  Then, they go and put those cheap tires and brake rotors that last 30K miles. Now, you need to replace these and manufacturers need to spend additional energy and material to produce new, and recycle old. Because most economical way is when part lasts longer on the car.
  
  How do digital screens improve my life in the car? - they don't.
  
  1
Wheatridger on Jan 09, 2023

Rather this this, I'd rather have a car with just a speedo, gas gauge and some warning lights. My problem is I don't regard driving as a data-driven activity. I rarely need data, I just need to maintain my attention and situational awareness. The most important screen in my car is the one the Brits call "the windscreen."

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