The electric car boom, as you know, affects and will affect all car manufacturers (and customers) in just a few years. Like all other brands, too BMW is taking a big step into the future. Its major investment, with the arrival of its new generation of electric and autonomous vehicles called Neue Klasse, is announced in 2025. We have no idea what will come out in a couple of years, but a clue to the vision of the German giant gives us comes directly from CES2023. The presented concept car, BMW i Vision Dee, shows us the future appearance of these cars 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 about 25% more efficient than the i4, the current electric flagship of the Munich company. 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 happening under the bonnet.
I wouldn't be surprised if in 2025 the first model of the new totally electric range and with completely new production mechanisms looked more like this "i Vision Dee" than the 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 fair. One approach which revolves around a car which itself becomes an assistant to the driver, capable of communicating and interacting with him. What should we expect from this transition, net of marketing?
First of all the trend of mixed reality, in which many companies are investing heavily: Dee's display occupies the entire windscreen, and is visible not only to the driver but to all the occupants of the car. A display that will also add informative, interactive, even playful elements at different doses to the external view (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 directly see all the information (from speed to safety distance, passing through directions) while driving.
…and outside the cockpit
If we move on to the external appearance, the i Vision Dee has a chameleon-like skin: it changes color, but really. This technology, a 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 not only that: each body panel can be individually adjusted, 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 additional power is needed to maintain the new color. The impression is that we will not see this "full-car" devilry in 2025, but I can give you for certain 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.
