In the ever-raging automotive screen wars, Jeep has planted its flag on the dash surface ahead of the passenger, where it now provides the well-heeled with access to all manner of entertainment.
Following in the internet’s rich tradition of experimentation, Car and Driver’s Ezra Dyer decided to ask “Will it game?” And the answer, much to the delight of children everywhere (and perhaps the dismay of their parents) is yes, though it is a qualified yes.
Dyer was inspired to investigate this question after noticing that Jeep’s engineers had installed an HDMI port in front of the Jeep‘s shifter. Plugging the Xbox into the HDMI proved easy enough, but plugging the power cord into it proved less simple.
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The Jeep does have a 115-watt plug but, although Microsoft claims that the Xbox One S, like the one used in this test, only draws 62 watts during play, Dyer reasons that it must use more than that on startup. About 10 seconds after starting the console, the circuit blew.
Although there are inverters that could solve that problem, Dyer didn’t have one of those. He did, though, have a Honda generator that he strapped onto a hitch-mounted cargo carrier. Strapped on and plugged in, the system worked and Dyer’s son was able to play NBA 2K.
As the journalist points out, before you go calling NHTSA on Jeep for allowing the driver to become distracted by video games, Jeep thought of that. The passenger-side screen is polarized like a laptop privacy screen, so only the person directly in front of it can see what’s happening.
Whether or not having a young boy playing Xbox next to you while driving counts as “distracted driving” is a matter I will leave to better legal minds than my own.
