Driving without a center mirror, or with an obstructed mirror, isn’t exactly a unique thing. You don’t even need a center mirror in many places to pass a driving test. The side mirrors are more important.
As someone who has a Volvo now, and likes their attention to detail, I’m willing to hold judgement until I can try it in person. Apparently the author of this said it was interesting in person.
If it’s an OLED, with a high refresh rate, that can get really dim at night, and handle rain / glare well, I’m down. And wider and unobstructed FOV is a pretty compelling concept. But a bright ass low frame rate screen is pretty distracting and nauseating, and that’s where a lot of these things fail.
No doubt. It isn’t obstruction proof. The obstructions are just different. You’re not dealing with heads, head wrests, pillars and roof lines, you’re dealing with dirt, rain, etc.
If the brightness and frame rate are not an issue, I’d probably take the camera over the mirror. I live in a fairly temperate area, and my Volvo’s current camera doesn’t get obstructed that often. But it’s also just a back up camera.
I test drove my last car on a shitty winter day so I could get real with it.
Well both is certainly an option. I’d say there are times when the vehicle could be designed better if it didn’t need a hole out the back to see. Quoting from the OP:
Ingenlath explained that there are a lot of advantages that come from this design change. By not having a rear window, Polestar was able to push the rear seats back further while maintaining ample headroom despite the sloping roofline, which creates a spacious cabin. I had no trouble climbing in and out
I, too, dislike screens as rearview mirrors. When you use a normal mirror, you are focusing on something that is likely around the same distance from your eyes as the car in front of you. With a screen, you’re focusing on the screen instead of the light reflected off of it, meaning that your eyes are going from focusing on something that’s a few car lengths ahead of you to something that’s a few feet from you, then back to something that’s in the distance again. It takes noticeably longer to check what’s going on behind you and takes your eyes further “off the road” as a result.
I didn’t know the sun roof has electrochromic film on it. That’s a pretty brilliant way to remove a little weight and some moving parts. I’ve only ever seen that used for privacy glass in offices or bathrooms.
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