BWM is looking to solve this problem with wheel-mounted cupholders.
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that being able to move in a small amount of space is very important when it comes to comfort and ease. There’s a reason flight crews have weight requirements, and there’s an even better reason cops have to pass minimum physical fitness standards. But what about normal, every day drivers? As is turns out, the growing obesity crisis is leading to generation of people who have trouble getting in and out of their cars, but someone’s working on this. BMW has gathered a crew of folks of all sizes in an effort to redesign their cars for the world’s fattest generation, dubbed “Plump My Ride.”
“People are getting more obese and we want to find out how that limits their range of motion and how our vehicles can adapt to the changing needs of our customers,” said Ralf Kaiser, a member of BMW’s ergonomics team. “We know that a lot of overweight and obese people have problems in daily life, and in the car this starts with getting in and getting out. In general, these aren’t sporty people. We already have things like the parking distance control, which shows obstacles on a screen when you are reversing. For someone who can find it difficult to turn 140 degrees to look behind them, they can now just look at the screen. The study will mean we can look at things more scientifically and build a car that at least 95 per cent of people can use.”
Right now, BWM is studying a group of 800 people of all shapes, sizes, and ages, to study the drivers and their ability level when it comes to physically maneuvering within the car’s environment. The study comes as carmakers everywhere expand seats to accommodate wider rear ends, add electronic parking assist and blind spot monitors, and re-engineer things like grab handles and doors to accommodate more weight.
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