Volkswagen EV To Have Augmented HUD System, VW Brand Chief Says

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In keeping with the recent tradition of Volkswagen (obliquely) stating that it will continue following one step behind Tesla, Volkswagen brand chief Klaus Bischoff has stated that the firm’s upcoming ID electric vehicle will “completely reinvent vehicle instrumentation systems.” The VW ID isn’t slated to hit the market until the end of the decade.

volkswagen-heads-up-nav-system

Most reading this will probably recall that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously stated that the interior of the production Model 3 will be “like a space ship,” and also that most signs are pointing toward the firm making use of an innovative, next-gen Heads-Up-Display (HUD) system in the forthcoming electric sedan. The Tesla Model 3 will of course hit the market late next year (if there are no delays).

The the VW ID will “reinvent” the instrument cluster through the use of a next-gen HUD system several years after the Tesla Model 3 does? Maybe. Though, there are too many assumptions being made here — as neither the interior of the Model 3 or the ID has been revealed yet. We shouldn’t have to wait too long to see what the Model 3 interior (and the presumed HUD system) looks like though.

Our sister site Gas 2 provides more: “The system is so important to Volkswagen’s plans, it moved the electric motor to the rear of the car so it could push the dashboard forward by 200 millimeters to make room for the heads-up system. Bischoff says the new system will be able to project information and pictograms onto the windshield. The information will appear to be located about 50 feet ahead of the driver. Navigation information such as where to turn will appear as if it was on the surface of the road itself. When fully developed, the system will go well ll beyond navigational information. It will also be able to highlight approaching hazards such as pedestrian crossings and stationary obstructions in the road ahead. It will also be able to warn of low traction situations like ice or snow awaiting the driver.”

An interesting-sounding system, certainly, but 2020 is still quite a while off. What will other companies have released by then? There’s something about teasing a system that won’t be released, at the least, for another ~4 years that makes me think it’s nothing but a PR exercise.

Notably, VW’s proposed system would/will utilize the HERE mapping cloud — which is owned by Audi, BMW and Daimler. HERE, for those unfamiliar, utilizes a mix of 3D maps generated by Lidar equipped vehicles and crowd-gathered data to create highly detailed 3D maps.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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