The Vision Driving Experience is BMW’s idea of a truly engaging EV

Advertised as a “lab on wheels”, the Vision Driving Experience is a design study through and through, but certain of its features will find implementation in the company’s long-anticipated Neue Klasse lineup.

You may have seen camouflaged pics of the car a few months ago, but this is the first time the VDE showed up without any camo. It’s now obvious that BMW took its two-year-old Vision Neue Klasse and reworked it from the ground up yet again.

The biggest highlights of the prototype include its mountain-moving 18,000 Newton-meters (13,276 pound-feet) of torque and an on-board computer lovingly called the Heart of Joy. It automatically adjusts all systems having to do with driving enjoyment and comes standard with all Neue Klasse EVs. Speaking of which, the first model is actually scheduled for production in Hungary later this year, so we should see it in action soon enough.

BMW says the Heart of Joy subtly tweaks the output of the e-motors, the handling and the braking to suit your driving style. Among other things, its extremely efficient regenerative braking lets drivers avoid 98% of all situations where an application of traditional friction-based brakes is required.