Huawei and Xpeng just turned an entire EV windshield into a head-up display – and it could be a glimpse of your distracting driving future

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng has announced its latest partnership with tech giant Huawei, which has spawned a new take on the augmented reality head-up display — or AR HUD, if you favor brevity.

Dubbed the Light-Chasing Panoramic Display (does that make it the LCPD AR HUD?), the innovative set-up projects a series of colorful graphics onto the windshield, effectively transforming a driver’s entire field of view into an interactive canvas of light and animation.

While AR HUDs aren’t anything new, seeing as both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche offer accomplished versions in the likes of S-Class and Panamera, Xpeng’s forthcoming offering takes things a little further.

During a recent demonstration in China, the two companies revealed that the system can essentially cover an entire windshield, or the equivalent of a 2K resolution, 87-inch display with a contrast ratio of 1,800:1 and a brightness of 12,000 nits.

Videos that have surfaced from a recent launch event reveal the system running in poor weather conditions, beaming information on speed, correct lane, upcoming navigation instructions and even traffic on the route directly to the entire span of a windshield.

Similar to current systems, Xpeng and Huawei’s technology uses colorful animations to display upcoming navigational directions, seemingly ‘painting’ easy-to-follow blue lines onto the road ahead.

However, where current technology displays this in front of the driver, it looks as if Huawei can extend said instructions all the way to the front passenger’s side, allowing for various pieces of information to be dotted around the windshield in real-time.

Analysis: a distraction too far?

Xpeng says the new system will debut on the 250,000 yuan (around $35,000 / £26,000 / AU$53,000) G7 electric SUV, which will arrive later this year in China – although there have been no plans to roll it out to further markets yet.

According to the marque, the Light-Chasing Panoramic Display can warn of pedestrians entering the road, upcoming lane changes and warnings of approaching vehicles from the sides and rear.

It is also said to assist in foggy and other adverse weather conditions, but the video examples used during the company’s live demonstrations looked hectic… there’s just so much going on.

The company says the system was developed using autonomous driving data covering millions of kilometers, according to Car News China, which signifies that it is predominantly designed for usage when the vehicle takes over driving duties.

But Xpeng also believes that it can reduce driver distractions by negating the need to look at instrument panels and central infotainment displays.

However, the idea of a windshield being covered in information, colorful animated graphics and real-time alerts sounds a lot like a huge distraction to me.

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