The all-electric Vision Neue Klasse is a sedan meant to demonstrate us what to expect from future BMWs running on battery power. Despite being a design study first and foremost, it will also enjoy a production run in Hungary in 2025. It will be sized close to the latest 3-Series, BMW says.
The headlights have a greeting animation, while the lower side windows are fitted with e-ink displays. You may think that’s excessive, but the displays fulfil the vital function of showing you where the sensor replacing the conventional door handle is hidden.
The wheels are 21 inches large and aerodynamically optimized while all logos are simply printed straight on the bodywork. According to the manufacturer, the car doesn’t just make intensive use of recycled materials – it is actually built in a very specific way to facilitate dismantling and throwing it away when its lifecycle is over.
The interior seats four people and only has physical controls on the steering wheel. The rest is relegated to the next-gen iDrive system – a heads-up display called BMW Panoramic Vision spanning the entire width of the windshield. You can control it with your voice, gestures or via the touchscreen in the middle. The front seat mounting points are located away from the rear row, freeing up some extra legroom for the taller among us, and there is not a hint off leather or chrome throughout.
All technical specifications remain a mystery. All we know is that the battery unit consists of innovative cylindrical cells that outperform the currently used prismatic ones by more than 20% in energy density. According to BMW, the new cells will let the car charge up 30% faster and go 30% further than the current generation can, while being 25% more energy-efficient overall.
