BMW is engaged on its next-generation electrical car platform, code-named Neue Klasse, German for “New Class,” and the primary mannequin spawned from the platform will arrive in 2025.

It will likely be a sedan in the identical phase because the 3-Sequence, with the Imaginative and prescient Neue Klasse idea unveiled throughout final week’s 2023 Munich auto present described by BMW CEO Oliver Zipse as a detailed illustration of it.

The sedan shall be adopted by 5 extra Neue Klasse EVs in fast succession. They are going to arrive over the house of simply 24 months and at the very least one among them shall be an SUV in the identical phase because the X3, Zipse has beforehand confirmed. It is doable among the different EVs shall be completely different variations of the preliminary sedan and SUV, comparable to a wagon or coupe-like SUV.

In an interview with Autocar revealed on Tuesday, BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk stated the short tempo of the mannequin introductions means there shall be extra design overlap in comparison with present fashions in BMW’s lineup.

Adrian van Hooydonk

“Since they’ll are available such quick succession, you will note a powerful overlap, maybe stronger than once you do a complete mannequin technology in 10 years, which is what we used to do,” he stated. “Two years is not an extended time frame, so it should seem as if they’ve grown collectively somewhat extra—however you’ll nonetheless acknowledge particular person characters.”

The Neue Klasse platform is being developed from the onset for electrical powertrains, and to be versatile sufficient for engineers to range the wheelbase size to suit quite a lot of physique types. Automobiles based mostly on the platform will even tackle a extra aerodynamic design to assist maximize vary. Consequently, proportions will differ from the previous, not just for aerodynamics but in addition to spice up inside house, one thing we have already seen with the Imaginative and prescient Neue Klasse idea.

The platform will even use BMW’s sixth-generation electrical motor and battery expertise, which guarantees improved energy and effectivity. The battery will function a brand new cylindrical cell design (as an alternative of the present prismatic cell design), and along with different enhancements ought to end in a vary enchancment of 30% over BMW’s present batteries.

BMW i Imaginative and prescient Round and that i Imaginative and prescient Dee ideas

The primary Neue Klasse car shall be constructed at a plant beneath building in Debrecen, Hungary, beginning in 2025. Neue Klasse automobiles will even be constructed at present BMW crops in Munich, Germany, and Shenyang, China, beginning in 2026, and in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, beginning in 2027.

Earlier ideas, comparable to 2021’s i Imaginative and prescient Round and this yr’s i Imaginative and prescient Dee, previewed among the sustainability measures and expertise destined for the Neue Klasse automobiles however aren’t thought to straight preview any particular mannequin. The measures will embrace elevated use of recycled components, head-up shows spanning the windshield, and automatic driver-assist options ranging as much as Degree 3 on the SAE scale of self-driving functionality. Degree 3 means a car that allows hands-off, eyes-off operation in particular situations, however requires the driving force to be able to take again management at a second’s discover.

The Neue Klasse designation was first utilized by BMW for a collection of coupes and sedans launched within the Nineteen Sixties, which helped the automaker rise from the depths of large monetary challenges and set up the status for sporty and trendy govt automobiles that BMW nonetheless depends on in the present day. The brand new Neue Klasse technology is predicted to mark an identical vital shift for the corporate.