Love it or loathe it, the Neue Klasse lineup of next-generation electric cars will have an impact on the appearance of BMW’s usual crop of gasoline and diesel vehicles. The important disclosure was made by BMW i Head of Design, Kai Langer, in an interview with the Australian magazine Cars Guide. That shouldn’t come as a surprise since an automaker aspires to offer a cohesive design language across its entire lineup, even if the portfolio is as big as BMW’s.
“If we would see it in ICE products – we would see it in products all over BMW. Because that’s like a philosophy that brings us towards the future, in general. When it comes to specific design solutions that you could find in a new architecture, some of them are just possible with the new architecture because they allow us to do [things] like this right. But in general, it is also in our goal … to have a coherent design language all over our products.”
Reading between the lines, some design cues that we’ll see on Neue Klasse cars will eventually rub off on combustion-engined vehicles. However, there will be some styling traits exclusive to NK-based models because these cars will sit on a dedicated electric platform. Bespoke EV underpinnings typically give designers more freedom when drawing up a new car. Getting rid of the transmission tunnel makes things easier, which is why dedicated EVs tend to have longer wheelbases, shorter overhangs, and a flat floor.
Aside from the design, some of the technology previewed by the Vision Neue Klasse sedan and Vision Neue Klasse X crossover concepts will make it to ICE cars. The iDrive X with the large central display is likely to come to conventionally powered vehicles, as is the next-gen head-up display. The latter goes by the name of Panoramic Vision and stretches across almost the entire width of the dashboard, covering the base of the windshield from one corner to the other. There are also rumors BMW might put a screen just for the front passenger in its Neue Klasse cars but it’s too soon to say whether this feature will come to CLAR-based models.
BMW will enter a new era of electrification in 2025 when the Vision Neue Klasse X will morph into the next-generation iX3. Unlike today’s model built in China, its replacement will come alive from Hungary. The i3 sedan will follow in 2026 from the Munich plant.
Source: Cars Guide