BMW has showcased the Vision Neue Klasse – its concept for what the next generation of vehicles from the core BMW brand may look like. The Neue Klasse platform, which underpins the concept, promises a future range of vehicles that offer more range, faster charging, more efficiency, and a range of high-tech digital features and functions.
Production models of Neue Klasse cars will be available from 2025. Those will be built at BMW’s plant in Hungary – with production to follow in Munich, China and Mexico – and be purely electric, fully digitalised and developed with a focus on sustainability.
Six models, from sedan to SUV, are scheduled to be available within 24 months of initial production.
The design of the showcased concept is clean and futuristic, keeping the cues that make a BMW a BMW, but it’s all that goes into making the car – the materials and the tech – that make it something new and so important to the company.
In addition to highly efficient electric motors, BMW says major advances in its eDrive technology include newly developed round battery cells with more than 20 per cent higher energy density than that of the prismatic cells previously used. Sixth generation eDrive tech will improve the charging speed for Neue Klasse models by up to 30 per cent, in addition to boosting range by up to 30 per cent. As a result of these measures, the company says, overall vehicle efficiency will increase by up to 25 per cent.
“30 percent more range, 30 percent faster charging, 25 percent more efficiency – the Neue Klasse represents a major technological leap that will take EfficientDynamics to new heights. The same applies to its design – which could not be any more futuristic,” said Frank Weber, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development.
“With the Neue Klasse, we have embarked on the biggest investment in the company’s history. We are not just writing the next chapter of BMW; we’re writing a whole new book. That’s why the Neue Klasse will certainly impact all model generations.”
Analogue operating controls in Neue Klasse models will be reduced to a minimum with occupant-car interaction taking place through the BMW Panoramic Vision – the vast head-up display that runs the full width of the base of the windscreen and which will be available for the first time in Neue Klasse models – as well as a central display and multifunction buttons on the steering wheel. There’s also voice control via the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.
The new BMW iDrive consolidates data related to the driving experience and infotainment with data from the vehicle’s electronics and electrical system and the BMW cloud. Interaction between human and vehicle can, the company said, then be tailored even more closely to the driving situation and individual needs.
Manufacturing will start at BMW’s Decrecen plant in Hungary, with the company saying they will be built without fossil fuels and with much wider use of raw and secondary materials produced with reduced CO2.
VIDEO: THE BMW VISION NEUE KLASSE
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (September 2023)
20 September 2023
