iPhone the brains of future motors from BMW, Mercedes

The age of future motoring is scurrying fast toward us, and it looks like the iPhone could be coming along for the ride, at least according to Mercedes and BMW, who showcased a pair of eScooters at the Paris motorshow this week, both of which use the iPhone as the sole driver interface.

That’s right, plug your iPhone in and you’ll see a read out of all the info you need pop-up on its screen. (Jonny wonders if an RFID/NFC fingerprint-aware iPhone could eventually also become the keys to your car, as well as your wallet).

Der Spiegel seem to have been paying attention to the moves by the two top marque motor-makers, whose eScooters (under the Mini and Smart brands) both boast electric drives. They manage around 50kmh and will deliver around 100 clicks on a single charge. which takes around three to five hours to recharge.

We’re moving over to Google Translate to get an inkling of the iPhone features of the vehicles.

B”oth scooters have no way more classical instruments, but sat on a built-in handle iPhone, which is used as an onboard computer, navigation system and jukebox,” so you get your sat-nav, music and additional controls off of your iPhone — nice.

“In addition, has smart come up with a few more tricks for the scooter: he radiates namely front and rear with LED lights and transmits with ABS, airbags and an electronic surveillance blind spots the security demands of the Swabians in the world of motorbikes.”