How big screens complicate GM’s right-hand drive plans

Previously, the main obstacle to converting a car from left-hand drive to right-hand drive was managing mechanical components like the steering box. Now, a technological feature inside the car has become the obstacle.

“The display is the most important thing when it comes to left and right hand driving with an electric car. [electric vehicles]It’s the screen and where that screen is pointed,” said Lauren Indiveri-Clarke, director of communications for GM International. Car expert.

But it’s not just electric cars that have trouble switching to right-hand drive mode.

“That’s why we don’t get it. [GMC] Tahoe, we will have Yukon instead, because the screen is designed in a way that it cannot be moved while [the] “The Yukon screen can be remanufactured,” she said.

“Obviously there’s a lot more to it, but the screen… for us was the most important factor in deciding whether we could re-engineer it to be right-hand drive.”

Gasoline engine GMC Yukon It is expected to launch in 2025 and will feature a 16.8-inch portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen. It is being re-engineered for right-hand drive in Australia alongside Chevrolet Silverado pick up

The Yukon’s Chevrolet sibling, the Tahoe, has a 17.7-inch landscape-oriented display. But unlike the display in the SilveradoThis section is particularly slanted towards the driver.

It’s clear that the original Tahoe wasn’t designed to be a right-hand drive vehicle, unlike the Cadillac Lyriq Tram

Both left- and right-hand drive Lyriqs get a 33-inch curved display that houses a digital instrument cluster and infotainment touchscreen.

Lyriq is expected to be available in Australia later this year.

The complexity of the display does not necessarily mean that General Motors vehicles with large displays will automatically be eliminated from our market.

“From the very beginning of every program today, there is [often] a discussion about the opportunities for… Japan, Australia, the UK and New Zealand and then a decision,” Ms Indiveri-Clarke said Car expert.

“Electric cars are a little easier [than combustion-powered vehicles] to turn the steering wheel to one side,” said Kevin Cansiani, principal development engineer of Cadillac Lyriq.

While it’s unclear how many of GM’s electric vehicles will be designed to be right-hand drive, Cansiani said those related to the Lyriq support both left- and right-hand drive “just because they’re fundamentally similar in nature in terms of platform.”

Including means such as Cadillac Optiq And Vistiq.

There are no significant mechanical obstacles to making Cadillac’s new ‘Ultium’-based electric SUVs right-hand drive, Mr Cansiani said, detailing what needs to be done inside the cabin to build them for the right-hand drive configuration.

“We basically had to redo the interior,” he said.

“We had to change some of the controls on the dashboard to be able to tell the body controller exactly where the input signal is coming from, who is actually the driver and not the passenger.

“Then there is some orientation about what is behind [instrument panel].

“We use firewalls to attach different things, it could be a ground cable or a computer module, etc.

“We just had to move them around, reorient them, and then we had to redesign the acoustics to accommodate all the movement.

“Then there are some other aspects. If you turn on [bonnet] When driving left-handed versus right-handed, you’ll notice things like the brake fluid reservoir has been shifted due to the way it’s oriented toward the brake pedal.”

Since the Lyriq was planned from the start to come in both left- and right-hand drive versions, that’s clearly shown on the car’s display.

“That beveled design is symmetrical. It’s not oriented toward the driver or toward the passenger. It’s a simple curve,” Cansiani said, adding that the content essentially had to be flipped.