BMW steering wheels will be retained despite autonomy

BMW highlighted their efforts towards autonomy and electrification in the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. The presence and implementation of fully-autonomous cars stood out most. Several car companies debuted autonomous concepts and they didn’t have traditional interaction devices anymore such as pedals and steering wheels. However, BMW confirmed that they will be retaining steering wheels despite the autonomous efforts.

Having no steering wheel is actually a cause of worry for some because cars like the Audi Aicon, will not have any means of actually controlling the car.

According to BMW, there will never be a BMW sold in the foreseeable future that lacks the ability for a driver to actually control the car and actually drive it. This was confirmed by Jalopnik in a recent conversation with BMW i brand representative Robert Irlinger in Frankfurt. Irlinger said that BMW does not “have any plans of removing steering wheels or pedals from the cars at this time.”

The possibility of this happening in the future is still there but it is good to know that BMW wants to stay true to cars being driven and controlled. Just having that option for the human to actually take over in certain circumstances may be a lot better for us to prepare for the future and actually embrace the autonomous initiative with open arms.