It’s fair to say the BMW Vision Neue Klasse concepts are a big deal. “Neue Klasse is much more than just a car or a specific concept; it is redefining the BMW brand - and, at the same time, will be more BMW than ever,” according to Oliver Zipse. And he should know, he’s chairman of the management board. Last year the firm previewed what its future saloon might look like. Now, as it promised ahead of its fast approaching EV onslaught, BMW has turned its attention to SUVs: behold the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X.
We say ‘SUVs’ - obviously BMW still calls them SAVs (as in Sport Activity Vehicles) but the important letter here is plainly ‘X’. This, of course, signifies that we’re dealing with the next generation of a huge-selling lineup that kicked off with the X5 back in 1999. That was the original SAV, and, for anyone too young to remembe, its appearance was considered fairly controversial at the time. Which seems rather quaint 25 years later, on the basis that these days BMW pulls its styling punches for no one.
“The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X provides a look ahead to the X models of the Neue Klasse. The same principles apply to our Sport Activity Vehicles: electric, digital and circular,” reckons Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW design. “The X models will always remain strong in character: monolithic, clean and with a very distinctive vertical interpretation of the BMW light signature.” Fair enough - but inevitably it’s the new kidney grilles that draw the eye like a moth to blowtorch flame.
Having previously indulged the enormous, the manufacturer - evidently suddenly aware of what ’60s-era Neue Klasse cars actually looked like - has now reverted to the comparatively tiny, the grilles ‘reimagined as a three-dimensional sculpture with vertically aligned and backlit contours’. BMW makes no specific reference to its past, but the new look brings to mind the original 2000 series models - albeit reframed by the new lighting signature that van Hooydonk is keen on.
Elsewhere, the silhouette is more familiar. BMW reckons the increased ground clearance and new underlying electric vehicle architecture ‘offers new possibilities for an even more spacious interior’ - but the long wheelbase, short overhangs and classic BMW proportions (including the signature Hofmeister kink at the rear) are easy enough to spot. Aerodynamically speaking, the manufacturer reckons the new design is responsible for a 20 per cent reduction in drag when measured against a ‘comparable model’ in the current lineup.
As you might expect, this is in keeping with significant efforts made to enhance overall vehicle efficiency in the Neue Klasse. BMW says the sixth generation of eDrive technology is key to this, with the incoming EVs set to feature new lithium-ion battery cells that are now round and boast a volumetric energy density more than 20 per cent higher than those previously used. Alongside the transition to an 800-volt system architecture, this ought to mean that charging is faster by up to 30 per cent - quick enough to accrue ‘a 300-kilometre range in just ten minutes’. BMW reckons total range will be improved by up to 30 per cent, too.
It won’t all be about numbers, mind. Driving pleasure has apparently been ‘taken to the next level’ thanks to an innovative new chassis control system. “The BMW of the future will have four totally new super-brains: high-performance computers working smartly together on what, up until now, was processed separately,” insists Frank Weber, the board member responsible for development. “We developed the first super-brain completely in-house. It integrates the entire powertrain and driving dynamics with up to ten times more computing power.”
Weber says that ultimately BMW will combine these four control units into a single computer that will be capable of delivering ‘more precision, more efficiency and [be] even more fun to drive.’ And sure, ‘precision’ in this context almost certainly refers to automated driving - because that’s what the second super-brain is lined up to do - but let’s cling optimistically to the idea that the (human) driver won’t be forgotten as the Neue Klasse is brought to fruition. Expect to hear more about that and much else besides as the ‘first fully-electric raised derivative’ on BMW’s new platform is planned to go into series production in Hungary next year.
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