- The usual 2027 Mercedes C-Class has three separate screens.
- The passenger-side show is mainly a digital picture body.
- It turns into a touchscreen if clients step as much as the Superscreen setup.
When Mercedes launched the brand new CLA final yr, I used to be curious to see how the bottom model seemed with out the third display screen on the dashboard. Within the entry-level configuration with zero choices, the passenger show made manner for a sea of piano-black plastic brimming with three-pointed stars. Higher or worse? It is determined by who you ask. Some don’t thoughts the display screen overload, whereas others would welcome a break from it at times.
For the brand new C-Class EV, the scenario is completely different, as you’re caught with all three. The bottom MBUX setup combines three separate shows beneath a single piece of glass: a ten.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14-inch central infotainment display screen, and a “digitally animated trim panel.” The latter is actually a digital picture body, because it doesn’t help contact enter. As a substitute, it shows a user-selected picture from the infotainment system.
To get a touch-capable passenger show, clients might want to improve to the elective Superscreen. These prepared to splurge on the Hyperscreen get a single, steady 39.1-inch show, eliminating the thick bezels of the opposite two dashboard layouts. It’s a glance we’ve already seen on the electric GLC, and it’s now being utilized to a different Mercedes EV in the identical class.
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
The combustion-engine C-Class is due for a mid-cycle facelift later this yr, and it’ll be attention-grabbing to see which course the ICE mannequin takes. Regardless of sharing a reputation, the 2 automobiles are essentially completely different, as the brand new electrical mannequin (W520) rides on a devoted EV platform with no ties to the gas-powered W206 launched in 2021.
The course Mercedes is taking is evident: it’s going all-in on screens, echoing its foremost rivals at BMW and Audi. Whereas screens have their benefits by integrating a variety of features, additionally they restrict the artistic freedom inside designers as soon as had, again when glass-covered shows didn’t dominate dashboards.
Former Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener advised High Gear final yr that supersized displays are a necessity: ‘You wish to have a visible reference on the display screen, otherwise you may wish to watch a film and stuff like that. So yeah, you want massive screens.’
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Supply: Mercedes-Benz
Motor1’s Take: A luxurious automotive ought to ship a high-end dashboard aesthetic, which is troublesome to realize when screens dominate the cabin. Even Gorden Wagener admitted in an interview with ABC Information final yr that “screens are not luxury.” But the C-Class EV is stuffed with them, and it’s hardly an exception.
Excessive-end fashions just like the 2027 S-Class and the upcoming electric AMG GT Four-Door Coupe additionally characteristic triple-screen layouts. It’s the course the Stuttgart-based automaker is taking, and proper now, it’s arduous to think about the superbly crafted switchgear of the previous making a comeback.
Hopefully, Mercedes will show us incorrect.
