This is the new gear selector of BMW

The way gears are changed in today’s cars has not changed much in recent years. That is why BMW wants to simplify driving with a new multifunction gear selector. Now, the Bavarian brand wants to revolutionise the market, and it is not the only one, since Tesla already has a gear selector based on a touchscreen. Genesis, for its part, has added a lever called Crystal Sphere.

The German manufacturer has just filed a patent, discovered by a specialised media outlet, in which it registers a futuristic version of its gear selector. The patent was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and aims to combine the functions of a start button, a parking brake and transmission control.

This is how the new gear selector of BMW could look

BMW believes this “multiplicity of different control elements” is superfluous and proposes a single control element. This new system is capable of taking the vehicle from parked to ready to drive. In other words, after parking, the driver would only have to select “park and leave the vehicle”, without needing to press the Start&Stop button or even apply the handbrake.

The car will automatically decide whether the parking brake is needed based on several parameters, such as the gradient or whether the accelerator pedal is being used. On the other hand, the conventional procedure described by BMW only takes one or two seconds, so we are not sure why a single controller is required. BMW has also pointed out that its controller can retract so that it sits flush with the console when parked, and extends again when the car is ready to drive. It can also be rotated. A small touchscreen on the controller itself can also display the specific status the car is in.

These features may be unique, but they could be somewhat contradictory if the main goal of the patent is to simplify the tasks of starting, stopping and getting the car going. In addition, the German brand mentions in the patent that the new technology could be used in both hybrid and even fully electric models. We will have to wait a few months to see whether this new technology is a major step forward for German models. Will the next BMW XM be the first to be equipped with it?