As you know, the electric car boom is investing and will invest all car manufacturers (and customers) in just a few years. Like all other brands, too BMW is taking a big step towards the future. Its biggest investment, with the arrival of its new generation of electric and autonomous vehicles called the Neue Klasse, is announced in 2025. We have no idea what will come out in a couple of years, but a hint about the German giant's vision comes directly from CES2023. The concept car presented, BMW i Vision Dee, shows us what these cars will look like in the future and the features that could be offered to consumers.
Neue Klasse, paradigm shift
According to BMW, the new technology that will come to life in 2025 will represent a huge step forward in terms of efficiency and efficiency compared to the brand's current models. The CTO of BMW, Frank Weber, describes the Neue Klasse as around 25 percent more efficient than the i4, the current electric flagship of the Munich house. The Neue Klasse, continues Weber, will be very different from the rest of the current range and will also represent in its external appearance the total revolution that is taking place under the bonnet.
I wouldn't be surprised if in 2025 the first model of the new all-electric range and with completely new production mechanisms looks more like this "i Vision Dee" than current cars. In some ways, in fact, I would take it for granted.
i Vision Dee, the world transforms inside...
"DEE" (an acronym that stands for Digital Emotion Experience) is the approach that BMW presented at the Las Vegas show. One approach which revolves around a car which itself becomes an assistant to the driver, able to converse and interact with him. What should we expect from this step, net of marketing?
First of all the trend of mixed reality, in which many companies are investing heavily: Dee's display occupies the entire windshield, and is not only visible to the driver but to all the occupants of the car. A display that will also add informative, interactive, even playful elements to the external view at different doses (with a control that the company calls "Mixed reality slider"). Imagine changing the external view like adding a filter to a photo on Instagram, or changing parts of the scenery. Or, simply, to say goodbye to the navigator relegated to a box, and see all the information directly (from speed to safety distance, via road indications) while driving.
...and out of the cockpit
If we move on to the external aspect, the i Vision Dee has a chameleon skin: it changes color, but really. This technology, direct evolution of that of BMW iX Flow presented just a year ago, al CES 2022, allows the car to vary up to 32 different shades. And that's not all: each body panel can be adjusted individually, creating a wide range of effects and liveries.
Changing the color of the car requires only a few watts of energy and once changed, no other power is required to maintain the new colour. The impression is that we won't also see this "full-car" devilry in 2025, but I can give you for sure the fact that parts of the bodywork could incorporate it. And when you see stuff like this, you'll go crazy: whether you're an electric fan or not.
