FIRST LOOK: BMW Neue Klasse X: we go inside the new iX3! | Electrifying.com

#neueklassex #bmwix3 #electriccars
The Neue Klasse - it’s a new concept, but not a new name. That first honour belongs to a mid-sized sedan from 1962 that pioneered a whole new design direction for BMW, along with new technology. Which is exactly what this car is doing. Now we first saw the ‘Vision Neue Klasse’ at the back end of 2023 and that car, along with this SUV shaped one, showcase all the elements that will define new BMWs from next year onwards.
Eventually, at least six new BMW models will be based on the hardware showcased in the concept we saw next year. Even our rudimentary German can work out that ‘neue klasse’ translates to ‘new class’, and the ‘X’ well that's because it sets the scene for the new direction of all of BMW’s future X SUV-shaped cars - of which 12 million have been sold around the world.
This might officially be a ‘concept car’ but, in reality it’s very close - and we mean VERY close - to what the next generation iX3 will become.
One of the key parts of any electric car is the battery and powering all Neue Klasse models, including this one, will be a new battery which has also been developed in-house, it comes with liquid cooled cells and while it does contain more nickel, it has less of the contentious mineral cobalt compared to battery in use today. Also developed in-house are bespoke BMW motors and while the standard models are expected to use a single, rear-mounted electric motor up to four motors could potentially be used.
That ‘Heart of Joy’ super computer will electronically control the motors and their throttle repose which BMW claim will help them deliver the driving character its customers want. All of which bodes well for the future of electric ‘M’ cars - including a rumoured four-wheel-drive iX3 M60 flagship due in 2026.
BMW says this plan will give more driving range and a shift from the 400 volt electric architecture currently used in BMWs electric cars to a more advanced 800V system - menas that the battery should also charge 30% faster than the unit it replaces. Based on current figures that could mean 500 miles between charging is possible, and all the Neue Klasse models are expected to support DC charging of up to 350kW, potentially giving charging times of 10-80% in just 12 minutes. How are they managing that? Well, in BMW’s own words it’s not only the electric motor that contributes to efficiency. It’s the entire system - all the components, along with elements like weight, aerodynamics and rolling resistance.
Join Ginny as she takes a close look around the Vision Neue Klasse X. Are you a fan? Is BMW heading in the right direction? Let us know in the comments below.
-------------------------------
We upload new videos to Electrifying.com every week. Don't miss one by subscribing now: bit.ly/3U9z1RE
Visit our website at www.electrifying.com/
Electrifying.com is the UK’s leading car electric car news and review site. Founded by Ginny Buckley, we are the go-to site for the latest developments in the world of electric cars and the latest reviews of the newest models. Our site is packed with advice and information written in plain english for those looking to make the switch or wanting to find out more about the world of electric cars.
Our reviews are written by some of the most experienced reviewers in the business and will even help you find the perfect new or used car.
New Car reviews: bit.ly/3VrTy5c
The latest electric car news: bit.ly/3gvFfh5
Tips and advice: bit.ly/3XtKWMW
Sign up to our email newsletter for a monthly round-up of all our electric car news, reviews and advice: bit.ly/3Ud6zyw
Follow Electrifying.com:
LIKE Electrifying.com on Facebook: bit.ly/3XvUjMo
FOLLOW Electrifying.com on Twitter: bit.ly/3OG04TG
FOLLOW Electrifying.com on Instagram: bit.ly/3tZnBVS
Check out our full video library: bit.ly/2W81iu9

[@colinharvey1049]

So much better looking car than current BMW cars.

[@PsjogrenGoS]

Looks much better, but why on earth is the front and bonnet so high? Too bigly in my opinion.

[@kingdomofashes]

Yeah am surprised how good it looks. I feel like it is a bit retrofuturistic like the boxy ioniq 5 that is also very cool

[@felixterm]

BMW has finally lost its style

[@unowen-nh9ov]

@volinharvey1049. The record-selling current cars.

[@howertingsyaboya3789]

@@PsjogrenGoSAgreed, it looks like style over substance. It's also the current flavour of the month amongst stylists for cars of this type, unfortunately.

[@vmpgsc]

Heck yes, would LOVE to have an iX3 that looks like this. Just fantastic.

[@darrens3]

That front end is a massive improvement. And the nod back to the historic design to justify it makes a lot of sense.

[@mikadavies660]

Finally... BMWs are starting to look futuristic. Assuming they don't bottle it on delivering them!

[@Ianmundo]

This is the first BMW in years that I like the design of 🎉

[@sazingayerampa]

I love how they have put value in sustainability and efficiency ❤❤, If I was not a 17 year old teen , I'd buy this car ,it looks retro and features futuristic functionality ❤❤❤

[@johnspedding3980]

At last as an i3 owner why did we have to wait so long …brilliant !

[@tusker4954]

As a BMW fanboy - love it! Striking but not ugly design, cool interior, love the terracotta interior. Just drop name “Heart of Joy” and it’ll be perfect!

[@sebastian5903]

that looks good. good proportions and I like the kidney grill. looks retro.

[@btrinhspambox]

Sold! Simply gorgeous.

[@terryhumphries1]

At last BMW are moving forward with clean shuttle modern design, I like it.

[@thirolf]

What a huge step in the right direction!

[@Vilmir]

I am in BMW, you nailed it. Except for the Corduroy seats, but I am sure you will let us choose a more classic seat design. Holding off my car purchase for 1 more year.

[@simonevans8979]

With a near-black interior in my current car, terracotta is definitely a worthy addtion for this BMW

[@Checkmate025]

Actually it looks not bad. I think its nice

[@maartenschenk4119]

Love love love the i3 design, so glad they still think highly of that stubborn little car!

[@StefanHPetkov]

Exactly what I have been hoping they will do! Hope it delivers all these promises when it comes out

[@J0ker81]

The best looking electric BMW car so far

[@RosstheBoss10-4]

I love the Neue Klasse and X. I am glad they are going to do brighter interiors. Far too drab at present. I like the door handles. I hope they can bring it to market with as few changes from concept as possible.

[@Skiridr22]

BMW finally got my attention wow I’m in love 😊

[@CyAn-S]

"BMW has been behind the curve by not having dedicated electric only underpinnings". What? It should be "Despite not having dedicated Electric only underpinnings, they have still managed to make quite a few very good electric cars". Come on. Aside maybe iX1 and iX2, most of their cars have been quite competitive in terms of specs and features. Only bad thing was the packaging.

[@bodrulm1]

Yes this is just bias for the sake of electric. Also the iX is a ground up EV. It should be about what's the best product, not whether it's ground up or not

[@paulsouthern9955]

Wow looks amazing 🤩

[@unholy691]

Beautiful exterior

[@Pottery4Life]

Well it's a wonderful looking concept car. Full marks there.

[@PaulMeier-cu3ds]

Thank you for the preview which I enjoyed. I think BMW have been clever with their present platform which supports both ICE and EV, because I doubt most markets are completely ready to switch to EV. So the timing of this pure EV platform looks exactly right. I think they are also right to take the time to evolve their software central brain and you might make the comparison with VW/Audi who got it wrong by going too early without the software expertise. Then the focus on battery and motor efficiency is just what is needed. Several suppliers are now really working on sustainable manufacturing and end of life recycling, so it sounds as if BMW are getting this right too. Not yet sure about the UI/UX yet though.

[@victorwillis8901]

Superb looking motor…. Love ultra modern looks

[@walidmohammed93]

Wonderful car , fantastic expansion, waiting for drive test , price ?

[@finn.hermansen]

Oh YES, it is so beautiful ❤️👍

[@HarryLivestream]

Great new design indeed!❤

[@richardjackson139]

It looks amazing 🤩

[@jaysontang]

so much more elegant, that's what happen when you don't have a massive grill, let the designer design, I never understood why they moved away from the I3, which is timeless

[@brierwood11]

I've noticed people don't seem to like the body shape of the latest cars,it's not just BMW,it looks like it's the latest trend. Personally, I like how car manufacturers are making cars more colourful, not just boring black,I think it makes the care more inviting to sit in it.

[@russellpenman7366]

Keep up the good work!

[@robsmith1a]

I've seen a few videos with manufacturers proudly saying they are using recycled fishing net waste in their cars. This raises a few questions in my mind. It implies they can easily access a huge amount of the stuff? My suspicion is that the actual percentage of fishing next waste in the car is very low and it's just a marketing exercise. More worrying would be that there is such a huge amount of fishing net waste being produced that it's easy to collect it for recycling and there's plenty to go round (no doubt even more ends up at the bottom of the sea?)

[@DirkMoeller]

Estimates are that between 40% and 75% of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are fishing equipment and ghost nets. There is A LOT of that material available. How much of it actually gets recycled into reusable materials? Hard to tell. There's tons of smaller ventures and start ups in that field. And it comes with its own problems, too, like microplastics that are a byproduct in any plastic recycle effort.

[@robsmith1a]

@@DirkMoeller thanks for that information, very interesting

[@user-so5vj8qq9l]

Super thanks for the advice

[@GadgetsBoy]

Looks great

[@DwainDwight]

these look amazing. hope they build them.

[@hansgodden4433]

I hope they don’t change much of it, looks great!!

[@bcbgvb1436]

BMW X in Iraq 🇮🇶 ❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤❤

[@sonstnichtszutun1383]

Ohh that is very lovely 😍

[@corinnareilly]

Love this. Looks super cool. I own an IX today. Bmw developing the Sw - well depends who does it today as it can be quite buggy so hopefully will improve.

[@DriveWithTom]

I love this! I hope they don’t change much on the exterior.

[@Colgateras]

It’s awesome that the i3 still looks modern today

[@You_Can_Do_If]

is it aerodynamically? does it make sense?

[@Stan-at-KangarooIslandTV]

Absolutely gorgeous and exciting for the future. I can see some design cues or at least inspiration from my Polestar.

[@markderosa5242]

I need to grow longer arms so I can reach the screen. I have an I4 M50 and love the I drive dial and physical buttons. I use it 70 percent of the time and the screen about 30 percent.

[@DigitalDesignET]

German engineering alive and kicking. The world needs you.

[@gianvisentin1232]

This is going back to what the bmw i3 started! Loving everything I’m seeing in this and the previous sedan. I’m keeping my i3s until these platform shows up. I want something close to the size of my i3s.

[@MA-em7wb]

Beautiful

[@andersjensen3805]

That car is so cool, I hope it will look like this yes....

[@p-jronkainen368]

Classic look, looks like attack mode is on

[@heikobratke919]

Love it.

[@anthonyweldon4346]

The first car that takes us forwards, and not just a regurgitation of old ideas.

[@anthonystevens8683]

Plus points, I like that it has the vertical trademark kidneys, so much better than the huge snout on recent models. It looks like the designer of the front end actually met and communicated ideas with whoever designed the rear. I think it looks pretty good as well. New colours are a big plus for me as is recycled bits used for the trim and carpets. Could do betters: I hate that it looks like everything is done via the touch screen even if you can customise it. Bring back some knobs and buttons and charge (no pun intended for this EV) a bit more for it. With advances on charging speed this will only make a difference if ultra fast chargers are available otherwise charge at a place that is near restaurant facilities and have a couple of mugs of some strong hot rosie lea and a toasted tea cake. Many thanks Ginny for sharing.

[@chrispark4310]

At last a BMW that looks like one!

[@ergo4422]

can't wait to see the iX5 version

[@adamskaboy]

I’ll take one…change is always good…it’s an attractive interior color…I’ve seen it with pillows in the backseat…cool.

[@CMCNestT]

In the USA , dealers stock 90% of their inventory with Black/Charcoal Grey interiors. Terracotta will be special order and take months to get.

[@MB-uw6eh]

They’ve finally cracked open a new design schema from the tired box look of current BMW models. Love the pinched nose but wouldn’t like the illuminated kidney grill but one similar to the brilliant sporty pinched nose grill of the 3 and 4 series. I love the look of this car and a smart move to build an in-house computer system as the brain of the car.

[@ericb9881]

Ginny, in German the 'e' at the end of Klasse should be voiced. Otherwise, thanks for the first look. It's a big improvement on recent BMW design language.

[@Moazmishariff]

I love it

[@thomasabbott9943]

Love it

[@francescoferri7062]

È subito diventato il mio SUV preferito.👍👌

[@emsik185]

Finally looking interesting

[@emsik185]

I want one :)

[@paulmiddletons2158]

Aside from the aesthetics, the improvements in technology represents the reasons why we should be late adopters of EVs

[@tmdad]

Bimmer fan here. Rear and side look great, not fond of the front design....😮. Interior is clean.

[@damaine1jlg1999]

I think I like it.

[@e-trippingwithadamgebbett8024]

❤ it. The interior is the colour I would spec. However when I get a chance to purchase one I would probably bottle it and get black for resale 😳

[@FormulaWhine]

Most people PCP anyway - go with what you like, don't worry about resale. The effects will be marginal and you'll get much more pleasure from having what you want rather than thinking about what the owner after you might like.

[@gurugamer8632]

Price ?

[@AR-zr1om]

I'm not a fan of the steering wheel and I think if the grill was more like the saloon concept this would be a really cool direction. Big fan of this

[@SamiCoopers]

Looks great now... will look half as good when they release it

[@jeromedevilliers8593]

I simpy love this desighn

[@Vanuatoo]

I really like the design. Kidney Grill needs some tweaking though. I would make it less vertical and more horizontal. Also back-end lights look too big. They definitely need some tweaking as well. That skinny tires should be changed with more practical 18 or 19 inch ones. Give us good range like 500-600km usable, price adequately and it will be a good competitor to Model Y.

[@Anonymous9683]

Great presenter! Knowledgeable but not overbearing

[@ObiePaddles]

If they could change the headlights and DRLs to double round lights then it would be a great throwback to earlier Neue Klasse you showed at beginning.

[@peterurquhart7191]

It’s a BMW I would buy 🥰

[@stevenleitch8681]

Interesting

[@bartdevreeze1749]

Definitely great looks. Hope they will still offer combustion engines though.

[@edwarddejong8025]

A very nice looking car. I would not want the coral interior treatment, but love the minimalism of it. The nutty lopped off corners will not make production; there is no purpose to cutting off an LCD screen. It makes designing software so much harder.

[@musebrad]

Yes, I like most of the design. Slightly too big and no white seats please! The terra cotta color is fun. A few more physical controls too please.

[@s.tsora.]

The first BMW I really liked.

[@karman79]

The germans would read it NeuE KlassE but close enough :) Although not mentioned here this might be the first BMW - after i3- with a flat floor at the back. BMW loves huge transmission tunnels, it might be a necessity in ICE cars but even i4 and ix3 had big humps, to make it inconvenient for 3 persons at the back. So finally an electric first platform.

[@steve4296fred]

Our iX has a flat floor in the back! Remeber - this is a purpose built BMW EV!

[@thezanzibarbarian5729]

That interior "terracotta" colour. _Nice on ceramic pots for the kitchen._ *_Not so much on a cars interior._* But as for that _"information bar"_ at the bottom of the front screen. What a great idea.

[@steverobinson2389]

It looks more stylish than some other evs but I am interested more the saloon they are promising. But price is key

[@mev202]

Concept Vs reality.. if they make it look anything as striking as the concept, I'll still never be able to afford one.. lol.

[@patrickb827]

I LOVE the traditional kidneys back to their original size. Stunning!!! Current horrid tombstones RIP!

[@antandros69]

Our very first car ever was a baby blue metallic 1973 BMW 1602. Man that car brings back a lot of fond memories from my childhood, we loved it soo much. Such a shame that we couldn't bring the car back to our country and had to leave it in germany. The concept on the other hand, other then possibly the old school kidney design, nothing remotely resembles anything about the classic

[@gabrieler8376]

finally!!

[@ashc9437]

At last a BMW that looks good.

[@Ian-rj6fq]

My eyes! My eeeeyes! :O

[@enriqueali]

My issue with the current version of the kidney grill is that, unlike earlier iterations where its height matched that of of the radiator grill, the EV's lack of the latter means that that balanced proportion is missing. Resulting in that unpleasing "buck-toothed/ Bugs Bunny" appearance. The designers could learn a thing or two from the design team over at Audi, who seem to have successfully managed that delicate balancing act of incorporating historical references with more futuristic design elements

[@TerraMp]

I agree!

[@kevinsquire5460]

Looks good but what ever happens to dash board design I really don't like the all to common theme of stick an iPad in the centre

[@dfdmcb]

Looking like the new Peugoet 5008

[@x5toledo]

Design looks very contemporary for a modern EV. Interesting colours will stand out in dismal a world of too many greyscale cars. Terracotta not massively different to some iX interior colours. A sprinkling of i3 is a positive thing for the concept - the i3 got a lot right. If a production Neue Klasse X car gets close to 300 miles range in a UK winter it’s probably a viable purchase for the size of car.

[@mario2967]

A face only a mother could love

[@cavb748]

Buttons! Screens are not safe at all!

[@raybloodypurchase1941]

The front looks like a bloody....💀

[@richard63]

Yes, some things don't always transfer to other things quite right. Mind you the side profile is pretty nice.

[@s.d.918]

The seats look like a big peice of salmon filliet XD

[@richard63]

I thought the same thing.

[@derrick021]

reading the press release from the producer

[@grahamevans3635]

Totally agree in regard to battery size and efficency. I have driven EV's for over 6 years now and would happily swap a heavy beast of a car (currently Audi etron 55) to a lighter car, with a range of say 150-200 miles that could charge in a few minutes, rather than the 30/60mins or in my case overnight. And if EV's do start to offer 450 - 500 mile ranges, then charging needs to be super quick. Battery tech and infrastructure need to catch up with demand.