The BMW Vision iNEXT.
Future focused.
What‘s your favorite space?
People, their emotions and wants, are at the forefront of all BMW Group thinking about the mobility of the future. At the BMW Group, we ask ourselves how we can create a vehicle that will become our customers’ favorite space.
This documentary provides you with an insight into the design process of the BMW Vision iNEXT and what it meant to create “My Favorite Space”. Accompany the designers to their personal favorite spaces and discover what inspired them to rethink conventional automotive design in order to create a space that never existed before.
Symbol of a new age.
Individual mobility is facing changes. Topics such as autonomous driving, electrification and increasing connectivity are opening up new experiences. Going forward, drivers will have much more control over how they use their time on the road. With the BMW Vision iNEXT, we seek to make a bold and positive statement for the future and provide a human response to the question “How will the BMW Group design a car that doesn’t have to be driven any more – but can be?”
The BMW Vision iNEXT is fully electric, fully connected and offers highly autonomous driving. The series-production model, set to become the company’s new technology flagship, will be built at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing from 2021. It will integrate the BMW Group’s strategic areas of innovation (“D+ACES”) and bring them to the roads.
FOCUSING ON THE INTERIOR.
The strategic innovation areas Autonomous Driving, Connectivity, Electro-mobility and Services are opening up completely new possibilities for car interior design. As a result, the interior is acquiring a whole new significance.
The BMW Vision iNEXT can be a place of relaxation, interaction, entertainment or concentration – the possibilities are as manifold as the occupants’ needs. Accordingly, the cabin is more akin to a comfortable and fashionably furnished “living space” on wheels – a new “Favorite Space”. In “Boost” mode, the steering wheel and displays are positioned clearly towards the driver. When “Ease” mode is engaged, the driver’s immediate environment changes: The steering wheel retracts slightly, creating a more open sense of space. Inside the generously sized cockpit, the driver’s area is defined by the two visible digital display panels and the steering wheel.
The exterior – modern elegance, expressed with confidence.
Boasting the size and proportions of a modern BMW SAV, the BMW Vision iNEXT cuts an authoritative figure. The vehicle instantly conveys its trailblazing character through clearly sculpted forms and surfaces. Striking paintwork and sophisticated details strengthen this impression further. The Liquid Greyrose Copper exterior gradually changes in shade from warm copper to dark rose and injects the vehicle with dynamic flair even when stationary.
The large, interlinked double-kidney grille, the iconic side window graphic, and the blue accent surfaces at the front, sides and rear have clearly adopted the BMW i styling that already featured on the BMW i Vision Dynamics presented in 2017. Unlocking the vehicle causes the blue accents to light up, accentuating its eye-catching lines. Glass surfaces such as the large windows and the lights are integrated seamlessly into the design and have the appearance of elaborate inlays.
Shy tech - Innovative technology virtually invisible, but always available.
Apart from the steering wheel and displays in the driver’s area, there are no other screens or controls to be seen in the BMW Vision iNEXT. In order to preserve the comfortable character of the rear compartment, and therefore keep the people on board at centre stage, the intelligent technology is integrated out of sight. Only when it is required by the driver or passengers does the technology become visible and operable. With the focus of attention on people, technology deliberately fades into the background and only becomes visible and operable, when the driver or passengers want it to be.
Intelligent Personal Assistant.
The vehicle’s Intelligent Personal Assistant switches on in response to the prompt “Hey BMW”. The BMW Vision iNEXT forms an integral part of the digital world and is seamlessly interlinked with the BMW Connected, smart devices and smart home network, making it possible for drivers to close the windows of their house, for example, by voice command.
Intelligent Material.
When driving in “Boost” mood the Control Display can be operated in conventional style using its touch functionality. But in “Ease” mode, the centre console’s wooden surface assumes this control function instead. Arm and hand posture is just as relaxed as when using the iDrive Controller: the hand simply lies on the perforated wooden surface and, whenever any inputs are made, points of light resembling a comet’s tail will follow the finger. The Jacquard cloth in the rear also possesses integral control functionality. It comes to life at the touch of a finger and allows music playback to be controlled using various gestures, which are given visual emphasis by LEDs that light up underneath the cloth.
Intelligent Beam.
In the use of media, as with vehicle operation, the digital and analogue worlds will merge into one more and more in future. It is becoming increasingly possible to visualise information in projected form, which could dispense with the need for displays in the long term. The Intelligent Beam technology being showcased in the BMW Vision iNEXT already goes one step in this direction, as it can serve as both a reading light and an interactive projection screen. This enables, for instance, the text in a printed book to be supplemented by images, moving content and interactive graphics, all of which can be controlled by touch.
IMPLEMENTATION of Strategy
NUMBER ONE >NEXT.
iNEXT addresses the big question that is at the heart of the BMW Group’s day-to-day work: “How will we be moving around in future?” iNEXT builds resolutely on the idea that first took shape in 2007 with “project i” and evolved into the launch of the BMW i3 in 2013. The BMW Group has already achieved a great deal on this front: it now has over ten years of experience with electric mobility under its belt in both small-scale and large-scale production, the BMW i models are being improved all the time, and their technology is being employed to gradually electrify models from the BMW and MINI ranges. The next step now is the complete in-car integration of the strategic innovation fields Autonomy + Connectivity + Electric + Services.
The Design, meanwhile, is a visual expression of the innovation fields and answers the question about what the driving pleasure experience is going to look like in future.
INTEGRATION OF D+ACES.
The BMW Vision iNEXT World Flight.
REVEALING NEW HORIZONS.
The BMW Vision iNEXT is a strong proofpoint of how the BMW Group envisions the future mobility experience. We are teaming up with Lufthansa Cargo to present the BMW Vision iNEXT World Flight as part of an event unparalleled in its execution.
At four destinations around the world – Munich, New York, San Francisco and Beijing – international media representatives will have the opportunity to experience tomorrow today and engage in expert talks with the inspiring minds behind the Vision Vehicle.
Lufthansa Cargo and the BMW Group team have worked together closely to turn this extraordinary vehicle and technology presentation from idea into reality. The assembled guests will be introduced to the pioneering vehicle and given a preview of the BMW Group’s future as part of an exclusive closed room concept specially conceived and designed for the occasion.
Stay tuned.
Impressions of the World Flight.
