BMW’s next all-electric concept is called the Vision Neue Klasse X. It is the company’s second next-gen vehicle revealed so far and one that’s positioned as “nearly production-ready”, so the wait is almost over.
The Bavarian automaker doesn’t explicitly state that it’s an SUV, but the letter X usually denotes as much. Like the Vision Neue Klasse sedan introduced early last fall (see video), it sports a laconic dash panel with a novelty hexagonal display in the middle. We suspect that the BMW Panoramic Vision HUD projecting image across the entire windshield will also be included in the main spec. A closer look reveals fragments of the steering wheel, the front passenger’s seat and the transmission tunnel, as well as a rearview mirror.
The first image of a camouflaged electric SUV cropped up in BMW’s presentation of the Neue Klasse sedan last fall. Later on, various pre-production examples have been spotted testing on public roads multiple times. Both vehicles revealed so far look drastically different from the current BMWs. They run on next-gen batteries using cylindrical cells instead of the current prismatic ones. Switching to the cylindrical cells will let BMW EVs to have up to 30% more range and faster charging times thanks to 350kW charger support. Not only that, but assembling the battery pack will cost 50% less for the company.