- BMW's first Neue Klasse EV due in 2025
- Neue Klasse design and technology won't be excluded from gas cars
- Next 3-Series likely to be first gas car with Neue Klasse design
BMW is working on a new generation of electric vehicles known as the Neue Klasse series, and in the past year has previewed the first two arrivals with the Vision Neue Klasse sedan and Vision Neue Klasse X SUV concepts.
However, those concepts also preview designs—as well as technology—that BMW will use for future gas-powered cars, the automaker's design chief, Adrian van Hooydonk, told Top Gear in an interview published on Thursday.
"The big push with EVs, these technologies and this design language, will transfer over the entire product portfolio including our combustion vehicles,” he said.
He added that there will be some slight differences in proportions between vehicles to suit their particular powertrain, particularly inside since the gas models will still require a transmission tunnel, but the overall look and feel, as well as any in-car technology, will be the same.
Adrian van Hooydonk
In his interview with Top Gear, van Hooydonk also said the production models the Vision Neue Klasse and Vision Neue Klasse X will spawn will be very similar to the concepts, likening the closeness in the design to that of the earlier i3 and i8 and their respective concepts.
"You know how close the i3 and i8 were to their concept cars, that's what's going to happen here,” he said.
The Vision Neue Klasse X previews a compact crossover that will likely be called an iX3, and is due out in 2025 as the first Neue Klasse EV. Camouflaged prototypes have been spotted in the wild.
BMW Vision Neue Klasse
It will be followed in 2026 by a production version of the Vision Neue Klasse concept, which will be a compact sedan likely badged an i3. This model is expected to closely resemble the next gas-powered 3-Series, due around 2027.
One of the new in-car technologies debuting in the first Neue Klasse vehicle and expected to be common across future BMWs is a user interface that relies on head-up displays and controls on the steering wheel. There will be one head-up display to present important driving information and another for the infotainment system. There will also be a touchscreen in the center of the dash, though the digital gauge cluster of BMW's current fleet may disappear.
The vehicles, regardless of their powertrain, will also feature a significant amount of recycled materials to help reduce the overall environmental footprint.
