BMW Wants To Replace The Steering Wheel With Joysticks

Autonomous vehicles are coming sooner or later. It's just a matter of when the technological and legal aspects of the idea are ready for public use. However, even autonomous vehicles will need some sort of human intervention at some point, whether it be to park in an unmarked spot or to move off designated roads. To that end, manufacturers are looking at ways to allow some form of human intervention without taking up too much space, and BMW is one of the companies looking to innovate how cars are steered. Its latest patent shows a complex steering setup that combines a pair of joysticks to drive the car. What car? Possibly the upcomingTesla Model 3rival, thei4.

BMW isn't the only company looking at alternative steering solutions either. Ferrari has filed a patent for aseat-mounted joystickwhileHyundai's stunning new Prophecy EVconcept also wants to remove the steering wheel in favor of a pair of joysticks.

BMW's idea seems to be fairly complex, with U-shaped sticks integrating turn signals, drive mode selection, and other functions too. We don't know exactly how this would work, but the top of each stick appears to have a configurable dial that could control anything from speed to braking. At this point, the full functions of the new steering setup are open to conjecture, but it seems that the way cars are driven could change dramatically over the next decade or two.