BMW taunts tons of fresh vehicles including a giant SUV and an ultra-luxury electrified car – The Brink
BMW taunts tons of fresh vehicles including a giant SUV and an ultra-luxury electrical car
BMW has been going wild around its 100th anniversary celebrations this month, very first with its Vision Next one hundred concept car — a wild interpretation of what an Ultimate Driving Machine might look like a few decades from now. (And “wild” is an understatement, considering it has several hundred morphing polygons embedded in the dashboard that undulate to communicate things to to the driver.)
But the Vision Next one hundred wasn’t the only news on BMW’s agenda. There are a duo more futuristic concept cars in the works from BMW brands Rolls-Royce and Mini, for one. Then there’s a entire host of real, actual stuff you can buy that’s going to roll out over the coming months.
In a press release issued today, BMW runs through a host of programs it’s working on. It’s a little difficult to unpack, honestly — there are a lot of buzzwords BMW has packed into this thing, very first of which is iNEXT. BMW uses iNEXT to refer to a “revolutionary fresh BMW i model that will raise premium individual mobility to previously unknown levels,” featuring some form of autonomous driving capability, an electrified powertrain, and a “trailblazing interior design.” It’s unclear whether the iNEXT name will make it to production, but by all appearances, this car is going to end up as BMW’s electrical flagship — possibly a seven Series equivalent (or even fancier) but packed with a bunch of next-gen tech and Tesla-like propulsion.
BMW is also confirming the release of a drop-top i8, which we spotted taunted at CES this year as the i Vision Future Interaction concept (interestingly, this was the 2nd time we’ve seen an i8 Spyder concept, but the very first time in a duo years). This year, BMW expects to have a total of seven plug-in hybrid or unspoiled electrical models across its brands. In the future, a hybrid Mini will be coming, but it sounds like that won’t be on the road in 2016.
Speaking of the i8, BMW is relaunching its i brand with Project i Two.0, which is shifting its concentrate from electrification to “an identically ambitious path with respect to automated and fully networked driving.” That can mean a lot of things, but BMW calls out a few features and concentrate areas in particular that it’s working on for its i cars, including HD mapping and sensors (especially useful for self-driving tech), cloud connectivity, and artificial intelligence. In the Vision Next one hundred concept, BMW displayed a weird little gemstone-shaped thing called the “Companion” that it asserted could learn a driver’s habits over time to begin making decisions for them, so that’s most likely closely related to the company’s interest in AI.
In the meantime, a refreshed i3 with a thicker battery and better range is expected later this year. That’s good — the current i3 manages sub-100-mile runs inbetween charges, while cheaper cars like the new-generation Nissan Leaf and the upcoming Chevy Bolt are hitting one hundred fifty and up.
Beyond electrification and connectivity, tho’, there’s still BMW’s meat and potatoes — and the company has some news for more traditional car fans, too. Very first up, there’s a BMW X7 coming, which will be a giant SUV to do battle with the Escalades of the world. Next — and perhaps most titillating — there’s “a further expansion of the M product range” coming, which is BMW’s high-performance brand. The M2 is promising to be the most titillating M car in ages, so BMW’s railing a wave of M hype right now that it’s undoubtedly looking to capitalize on.
We don’t have photos or details on any of these things yet, but the year is youthfull: there are slew of auto shows to come, and it looks like at least some of this news is going to extend into 2017. Buckle down.
BMW taunts tons of fresh vehicles including a giant SUV and an ultra-luxury electrified car – The Brink
BMW taunts tons of fresh vehicles including a giant SUV and an ultra-luxury electrified car
BMW has been going wild around its 100th anniversary celebrations this month, very first with its Vision Next one hundred concept car — a wild interpretation of what an Ultimate Driving Machine might look like a few decades from now. (And “wild” is an understatement, considering it has several hundred morphing polygons embedded in the dashboard that undulate to communicate things to to the driver.)
But the Vision Next one hundred wasn’t the only news on BMW’s agenda. There are a duo more futuristic concept cars in the works from BMW brands Rolls-Royce and Mini, for one. Then there’s a entire host of real, actual stuff you can buy that’s going to roll out over the coming months.
In a press release issued today, BMW runs through a host of programs it’s working on. It’s a little difficult to unpack, honestly — there are a lot of buzzwords BMW has packed into this thing, very first of which is iNEXT. BMW uses iNEXT to refer to a “revolutionary fresh BMW i model that will raise premium individual mobility to previously unknown levels,” featuring some form of autonomous driving capability, an electrified powertrain, and a “trailblazing interior design.” It’s unclear whether the iNEXT name will make it to production, but by all appearances, this car is going to end up as BMW’s electrical flagship — possibly a seven Series equivalent (or even fancier) but packed with a bunch of next-gen tech and Tesla-like propulsion.
BMW is also confirming the release of a drop-top i8, which we spotted taunted at CES this year as the i Vision Future Interaction concept (interestingly, this was the 2nd time we’ve seen an i8 Spyder concept, but the very first time in a duo years). This year, BMW expects to have a total of seven plug-in hybrid or unspoiled electrified models across its brands. In the future, a hybrid Mini will be coming, but it sounds like that won’t be on the road in 2016.
Speaking of the i8, BMW is relaunching its i brand with Project i Two.0, which is shifting its concentrate from electrification to “an identically ambitious path with respect to automated and fully networked driving.” That can mean a lot of things, but BMW calls out a few features and concentrate areas in particular that it’s working on for its i cars, including HD mapping and sensors (especially useful for self-driving tech), cloud connectivity, and artificial intelligence. In the Vision Next one hundred concept, BMW showcased a weird little gemstone-shaped thing called the “Companion” that it asserted could learn a driver’s habits over time to commence making decisions for them, so that’s very likely closely related to the company’s interest in AI.
In the meantime, a refreshed i3 with a thicker battery and better range is expected later this year. That’s good — the current i3 manages sub-100-mile runs inbetween charges, while cheaper cars like the new-generation Nissan Leaf and the upcoming Chevy Bolt are hitting one hundred fifty and up.
Beyond electrification and connectivity, tho’, there’s still BMW’s meat and potatoes — and the company has some news for more traditional car fans, too. Very first up, there’s a BMW X7 coming, which will be a giant SUV to do battle with the Escalades of the world. Next — and perhaps most titillating — there’s “a further expansion of the M product range” coming, which is BMW’s high-performance brand. The M2 is promising to be the most arousing M car in ages, so BMW’s railing a wave of M hype right now that it’s undoubtedly looking to capitalize on.
We don’t have photos or details on any of these things yet, but the year is youthful: there are slew of auto shows to come, and it looks like at least some of this news is going to extend into 2017. Buckle down.
