BMW is previewing the hotly anticipated Vision Neue Klasse with a teaser video shot inside the car. We barely get to see anything, although the official preview hints the purely electric concept is going to have a predominantly yellow interior. What’s truly interesting here is perhaps not the vehicle itself but rather the statements made by some of the company representatives.
Head of BMW Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk, says “BMW will be a different brand” in 2025 when the first EVs based on the Neue Klasse platform are scheduled to hit the market. Later in the video, a different person goes as far as to say: “We’re changing the heart of BMW now, and that in such a cool way. What could be better?”
The Vision Neue Klasse will be unveiled on Saturday, September 2, a few days before making its public debut at the 2023 IAA Munich show in Germany. It’s expected to be an evolution of the i Vision Circular and i Vision Dee concepts by illustrating a closer-to-production variant of what will go on sale in roughly two years’ time.
BMW has been tight-lipped about the new concept but it has spoken to great lengths about the sixth-generation batteries set to premiere with the Neue Klasse. Switching to round cells, the new batteries promise to deliver 30% longer range, 20% higher energy density, and 30% quicker charging compared to today’s fifth-gen prismatic cells. Production costs are projected to be halved while the CO2 emissions generated during manufacturing could be reduced by as much as 60%.
These new lithium-ion battery packs will come in two different sizes – one for cars and the other for SUVs. Both will have a diameter of 46 mm (1.61 in) but the ones going into SUVs are going to be taller, at 120 mm (4.7 in), compared to the 95-mm (3.7-in) tall batteries going into non-SUV applications.
It looks as though the Vision Neue Klasse will represent the dawn of a new era for BMW, which projects at least one in three cars sold by the Group (including MINI) by 2026 is going to be an EV.
Source: BMW Group / Instagram
