Ficosa, Panasonic to supply interior rearview mirror with electronic toll collection for new BMW X5

Ficosa, the Tier 1 global provider devoted to the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of high-technology vision, safety, connectivity and efficiency systems for the automotive and mobility sectors, and Panasonic are to supply BMW their co-developed interior rear-view mirror with electronic toll collection (ETC) 2.0 for the new X5 model in Japan.

The ETC 2.0 Interior rear-view mirror, which includes an improved built-in unit for motorway tolls automatic payment, has been selected by the German manufacturer as a standard in Japan for its new BMW X5, which was released there on February 27. This vision solution will be developed and produced between Japan (Panasonic) and Barcelona, Spain (Ficosa). 

For this new product generation, which follows previous successful launch of co-developed electronic rear-view mirrors and telematics control units, Panasonic develops ETC wireless communication technology while Ficosa is in charge of the mirror technology.

This solution, which integrates the ETC 2.0 module into the mirror, prevents the unit from obstructing the driver’s view and makes fully inserted card to be difficult to be seen from outside thanks to its card slot located at the side of the mirror.

Intended for the Japanese market, this rearview mirror allows managing of the payment of highway tolls due to the integration of an electronic toll system with a credit card. In that sense, the mirror has a slot to insert the credit card and incorporates a small screen at the top that reports the amount to be paid. 

According to Mercedes Pujol, director of the Rearview Mirror Systems Business Unit at Ficosa, "This additional functionality goes beyond the simple payment, as the mirror communicates with the toll station and is able to transmit this information to the navigation system of the vehicle, complementing the communication vehicle-infrastructure (V2I)”.

Ficosa and Panasonic will continue to move forward with their collaborations to expand their line-up and sales of jointly developed products for OEMs.