THE BMW Vision iNext is no stranger to the pages of Ledger Automobile. The prototype is a technological concentrate that anticipates the brand's future developments in autonomous driving, electric mobility and connectivity, and will derive a production model from it in 2021.
His public presentation in Los Angeles also allowed us to discover that his role in the future of BMW will be even more crucial.
Future proof foundations
It will be up to the production version of Vision iNext to debut a new platform that will be the foundation of all models from the 3 Series and upwards, evolved from the CLAR (Cluster Architecture), which already serves as the basis for virtually all traction BMWs rear and/or integral.
The advantage of this new iteration will be its flexibility, designed to integrate different types of propulsion: internal combustion and semi-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and 100% electric (batteries).
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All hypotheses are safeguarded, regardless of what the future holds, whether in the speed of adoption of electric ones, or in the need to prolong the existence of internal combustion engines.
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In addition to CLAR, FAAR, the replacement for the current UKL, the base architecture for its range of front-wheel drive models, will also incorporate the same flexibility in adopting any type of engine.
In the case of Vision iNext, which is assumed to be 100% electric, in the standard version the motor will be positioned on the rear axle, with the possibility of a variant with all-wheel drive, adding an electric motor to the front axle.
5th generation
This flexibility is possible thanks to the development of what BMW defines as the 5th generation of its electrification module, which comprises from a 48 V electrical system complementing the internal combustion engine, to battery packs of different capacities, to electric motors in themselves.
According to data from BMW, the 5th generation of the electrification module will allow its plug-in hybrids have up to 100 km of autonomy in electric mode, and pure electric have up to 700 km of autonomy, values already taking into account the WLTP.
autonomous driving
In addition to driving flexibility, the new platform will also incorporate the latest technology for autonomous vehicles from BMW.Vision iNext will be released with level 3 , which will allow semi-autonomous driving on the highway at up to 130 km/h, but the aim is to offer level 5 (fully autonomous vehicle) — tests with pilot cars for levels 4 and 5 should take place at the beginning of the next decade.
design
In Vision iNext resides, thus, the foundations of the future of BMW, but it doesn't stop there, since the presented aesthetic should also serve as a starting point for the BMW of the next decade, being the point of greatest discussion here.
Everything points to the fact that a large part of what we see will find a place in the production model — surface modeling or large windows —, but what has caused the most stir is the interpretation of the brand's unavoidable double kidney , with large dimensions and with the kidneys united in a single element… Inside, the tactile surfaces, which appear only when necessary, may also find a place in the production model.
The future BMW iX3, the 100% electric version of the SUV, to appear a year before Vision iNext, despite maintaining the current platform, will already debut some of the elements of the 5th generation of the electrification module.