The development of the automobile industry to today, homogenization has been quite serious, how to create their own brand characteristics of the product, has become a major practical problem that many manufacturers must face.
Recently, some media reported that BMW applied for a new gear lever patent, perhaps in the near future, the much-loved "big chicken leg" shift lever will truly become history.
Judging from the rendering drawing drawn by foreign media, the new style of gear shift mechanism integrates the four gears of "PRND", and also includes the start control function and uses touch operation.
When it is not working, the gear shift mechanism is hidden in the operator station, and when the vehicle starts, the mechanism will automatically rise, which is quite a sense of technology and ritual.
According to BMW officials, after the future vehicle is stopped, the driver does not need to operate the gear lever, the car will automatically park, and the driver can directly open the door to get off the car and leave.
In fact, not only BMW, Tesla has launched a gear shift method based on touch screen operation, and Genises from South Korea has designed a "crystal ball" shifter for its GV60, it can be said that more and more car companies are trying to create exclusive features.
However, although the touch-operated gear lever is very cool, there will be some problems, such as switching gears is certainly not as direct as the big chicken legs. How to ensure the improvement of appearance and style without affecting practicality is a major problem that BMW wants to solve.