BMW CEO promises 'benchmark' range, prices from new EVs

LAS VEGAS -- BMW Group’s full-electric alternative to the 3 Series and other vehicles underpinned by the Neue Klasse architecture will become the industry’s range, charging speed and pricing “benchmark,” BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said.

BMW previewed elements of the technology for Neue Klasse (German for new class) models with the I Vision Dee concept revealed at the CES here last week.

The first car on the electric platform, expected to be a midsize sedan built at BMW’s new Hungary plant, will arrive in 2025. It will have class-leading leading tech, Zipse said.

“We will be the benchmark in terms of range, charging speed and pricing. Don’t forget pricing,” Zipse told journalists at the sidelines of CES, without giving any figures.

BMW has already said that the platform will use newly developed cylindrical cells that it expects to improve energy density by more than 20 percent, charging speed by up to 30 percent and range by 30 percent compared with BMW’s current battery technology.

The cells will also be cheaper to build and will be installed straight into the battery pack, eliminating the module layer.

The cells will use a nickel-based chemistry with reduced cobalt content, BMW has said, but Zipse also promised additional battery technologies.

Asked whether they would include higher-density solid-state batteries or cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries like those used by rival Tesla, Zipse declined to provide more details.

Zipse has previously said that Neue Klasse could include a hydrogen drivetrain but told journalists at CES this wouldn’t be available at launch.

“It will be hydrogen ready but there is no decision at this point to put it in Neue Klasse,” Zipse said. The platform won’t accommodated combustion engines, BMW said.

Zipse said the Dee concept doesn’t preview the upcoming Neue Klasse sedan, but it does include features the production model will have, such as an expanded head-up display.

The display runs almost the width of the windshield and includes information currently shown on standard dashboard screens. Dee stands for Digital Emotional Experience, BMW said.

Zipse hinted that BMW is considering removing the cockpit altogether for Neue Klasse-based cars, reducing buttons and increasing the role of voice commands.

“It’s fundamentally different,” he said. Adding big screens into the car was “a thing of the past,” he added.

BMW has previously said the Neue Klasse platform will offer Level 2 Plus and Level 3 autonomous driving, with Level 2 Plus referring to hands off the wheel, but eyes on the road.

Zipse has said that the new architecture will be "mainly focused on the (midsize) segment. It does not cover from the lower segments all the way to the luxury segments."