When BMW’s Neue Klasse platform launches in 2025, it’ll arrive packed with new technology and other innovations. The automaker has been dropping nuggets of information about the new architecture for several months, and at CES, BMW previewed the Neue Klasse car’s interior.
At the event, the automaker debuted a new generation of head-up displays. It’s wide, taking up the entire width of the windscreen. The cabin lacked screens when BMW first showed it off inside the i Vision Dee concept. However, BMW released a teaser image that revealed a thin, wide screen sitting at the base of the windshield. The angle is odd, distorting the proportions, but it appears to span the entire dash. Is the era of big in-car screens coming to an end? BMW CEO Oliver Zipse certainly thinks so.
Gallery: 2023 BMW i Vision Dee concept
At CES, BMW’s boss said he was “absolutely convinced” that big center-console-based screens will disappear from cars. He believes they are a distraction and that government regulation could force automakers to abandon them. Automakers have been installing larger screens into cars, and entertainment options like movie streaming and cloud gaming are following.
The i Vision Dee is a window into the Neue Klasse platform, and we expect to learn more about the electric vehicle later this year. BMW is already developing the platform, and we know it’ll launch with models in the midsize segment, so expect to see something like the 3 Series and X3 in 2025. The automaker is already working on a high-performance EV with a quad-motor setup.
The Neue Klasse models won’t offer more than 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) of range, with the automaker promising they can add 30 miles (48 km) of range for every minute of recharging. Production for the new platform begins in 2025 in Hungary before BMW starts building them in Germany. Its South Carolina factory will make them by the end of the decade when at least six electric SUVs riding on the new platform will be rolling off the assembly line. There’s still a lot to learn about the concept and the platform before the first model goes on sale in a couple of years.
