Motor vehicle and method for controlling a climate control system in a motor vehicle

A method for controlling a climate control system in a motor vehicle, comprising:

• displaying climate control information on a primary display;
• determining that a hand is approaching a manual control element for the climate control system;
• and
• displaying climate control information on a secondary display while the hand is approaching the manual control element, before the hand touches the manual control element, the secondary display being a multi-use changeable display that, at different times, displays information for different systems of the motor vehicle, wherein
• the climate control information remains displayed in the secondary display while the hand touches the manual control element, and
• when the hand is removed from the manual control element, the climate control information remains displayed on the secondary display for a time shorter than a time period that would be required for a driver to understand the climate control information if the climate control information first appeared on the secondary display only after the manual control element was moved.

A method for controlling a climate control system in a motor vehicle, comprising:

• displaying climate control information on a primary display;
• determining that a hand is approaching a manual control element for the climate control system;
• and
• displaying climate control information on a secondary display while the hand is approaching the manual control element, before the hand touches the manual control element, the secondary display being a multi-use changeable display that, at different times, displays information for different systems of the motor vehicle, wherein
• the primary display is a center console screen,
• the secondary display is a heads-up display or an instrument cluster display,
• the method further comprises determining a driver's direction of view, and
• the climate control information is displayed in the primary display only when the driver is looking at the primary display.

A method for controlling a climate control system in a motor vehicle, comprising:

• displaying climate control information on a primary display;
• determining that a hand is approaching a manual control element for the climate control system;
• and
• displaying climate control information on a secondary display while the hand is approaching the manual control element, before the hand touches the manual control element, the secondary display being a multi-use changeable display that, at different times, displays information for different systems of the motor vehicle, wherein
• the secondary display displays navigation information for a navigation system of the motor vehicle, and
• at least a part of the navigation information is excluded from the secondary display when displaying climate control information in the secondary display.

A motor vehicle comprising:

• a climate control device having a manual control element;
• a primary display for climate control information;
• a secondary display for climate control information, the secondary display being a multi-use changeable display that, at different times, displays information for different systems of the motor vehicle;
• a gesture recognition device to recognize when a hand is approaching the manual control element of the climate control device;
• and
• a controller to display climate control information on the secondary display while the hand is approaching the manual control element, before the hand touches the manual control element, wherein
• the secondary display is a line-of-sight display normally within a driver's line-of-sight when the driver operates the motor vehicle, and
• if it is determined that only a passenger's hand is approaching the manual control element, the climate control information is not displayed on the secondary display.