Aren’t wheels meant to be round?
This concept steering wheel was shared by GM Design recently. It’s technically not a wheel, and it does look a lot like a Nintendo Switch with leather-wrapped controls. Could it be a sign of the future of motoring, where autonomous systems will handle most situations and the driver is just an afterthought?
This concept was shared via Instagram by General Motors Design studios. This means that you won’t find this in a new Chevrolet Silverado, but it does change the traditional steering wheel control. There have been many concept cars with half-wheels like the one in Model S. But, we’ve also seen them in thin-rimmed ovals and aircraft. They all share a minimalist look. This steering device is , but minimal.
Although the Instagram post does not give a detailed description of how this concept control works, a few things are clear. The touchscreen can turn the front wheels and the left haptic controls allow you to select your direction. The right-hand side shows what appears to be a thumb control for selecting items. But if it’s touchscreen, could it actually be an accelerator button. The brake feature is on the left and acceleration on the right make sense. This means that the whole car can be controlled by the hand on this wheel.
The wheel is presented in two modes: one in autonomous mode, with a futuristic screen, and the other in “human”, which, for reasons that we don’t know, shows a Texas highway. The dial at the lower left shows that speed limits will be very flexible in the future. It also indicates that the dial on the lower right of the screen is showing 108 mph. In case you were thinking this was an electric car from the 22nd century, the auto mode displays both temperature and oil readings as well as a fuel tank level. This could end up on a Silverado soon.
If there is one reason, the chances of this happening are virtually zero. An airbag is not allowed to be installed on a steering device that is in front of the driver. This is not the normal way of thinking, so the Instagram post doesn’t apply.