Photo: Magna
Back in 2020, auto parts manufacturer Magna announced the launch of something called ClearView. In essence nothing more than a camera system for vehicles, it was supposed to bring first-ever features to the market sometime last year. Elements conspired and that didn’t happen in 2022, but the wait was not too long: the company just revealed the global production debut of the system on a couple of Ram trucks.
ClearView is more or less of a bundled system that brings together the trucks’ mirrors and a series of cameras. It comprises a rear-view video mirror, the exterior mirrors, but equipped with cameras of their own, but also a camera mounted on the center stop light at the rear. Should a trailer be in need of being transported somewhere, the option of an extra camera is included in the package.
Now, such systems we’ve seen before now and then, but what makes Magna’s product different is the interior mirror, which is basically the place where all the magic happens.
The thing is coming to the two Ram trucks selected to mark the system’s entry onto the market, the Ram 2500 and 3500 HD, with the capability to show either the things that go on in the back in a traditional manner, by reflecting what’s there on the so-called Infinity glass, or to show the feed of any of the cameras around the car.
More importantly, it can show images not from just one camera, but three of them at the same time, with each feed displayed on a different portion of the central mirror. And this capability makes the ClearView something unprecedented.
There are people out there who hate default settings, even when applied to high-tech gizmos. For them, ClearView can be customized in terms of brightness, orientation (images can be rotated and even shown in different parts of the mirror), and zoom.
Magna does not say how much the system costs, and Ram, at least at the time of writing, keeps quiet on the subject. We do know the 2500 and 3500 HDs have already started being made with this technology, but we’re not informed as to the exact date when they’ll become available on dealerships’ lots.
The Magna ClearView will probably be adopted by other carmakers as well in the near future. The Canadian company is in cahoots with a large number of producers, from luxury, niche ones like Aston Martin, Rivian, and Lucid Motors, to the more mainstream BMW, Ford, and Mazda. Chinese carmakers occupy a large portion of Magna’s customer list as well.
On the truck front, where the ClearView will probably show its true potential, Magna works with the likes of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, the mammoth group that presently owns the Ram brand.
Now, such systems we’ve seen before now and then, but what makes Magna’s product different is the interior mirror, which is basically the place where all the magic happens.
The thing is coming to the two Ram trucks selected to mark the system’s entry onto the market, the Ram 2500 and 3500 HD, with the capability to show either the things that go on in the back in a traditional manner, by reflecting what’s there on the so-called Infinity glass, or to show the feed of any of the cameras around the car.
More importantly, it can show images not from just one camera, but three of them at the same time, with each feed displayed on a different portion of the central mirror. And this capability makes the ClearView something unprecedented.
There are people out there who hate default settings, even when applied to high-tech gizmos. For them, ClearView can be customized in terms of brightness, orientation (images can be rotated and even shown in different parts of the mirror), and zoom.
Magna does not say how much the system costs, and Ram, at least at the time of writing, keeps quiet on the subject. We do know the 2500 and 3500 HDs have already started being made with this technology, but we’re not informed as to the exact date when they’ll become available on dealerships’ lots.
The Magna ClearView will probably be adopted by other carmakers as well in the near future. The Canadian company is in cahoots with a large number of producers, from luxury, niche ones like Aston Martin, Rivian, and Lucid Motors, to the more mainstream BMW, Ford, and Mazda. Chinese carmakers occupy a large portion of Magna’s customer list as well.
On the truck front, where the ClearView will probably show its true potential, Magna works with the likes of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, the mammoth group that presently owns the Ram brand.
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