BMW iVision Dee concept previews new all-electric 3-Series
Concept showcases new design and tech for BMW’s EV models due from 2025
BMW has revealed its iVision Dee concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It’s a concept show car so bears little relevance to what BMW will actually sell from 2025, but it does preview the design language and technology every new electric BMW will follow and contain. Presented as a compact three-box sports saloon, BMW is hopeful it references its iconic 3-Series and doesn’t alienate its loyal customer base.
iVision Dee is part of BMW’s Neue Klasse, a forthcoming range of bespoke electric vehicles that will go into production from 2025 and be built on a specific platform that will support BMW’s next generation of electric powertrains and technology. The Neue Klasse range will sit alongside BMW’s existing ICE, hybrid and EV models, eventually replacing the all-electric versions of current models.
Elements previewed in the concept include an augmented reality-capable heads-up display that can fill the full width of the windscreen, a function which will also be integrated into all forthcoming BMW models as part of a reimagining of user interfaces. In the iVision Dee concept the driver is able to choose between five different levels of information being displayed, from a minimal analogue-style set of key data such as speed and range, up to a full augmented reality setting.
The concept’s minimalist cabin, free of any glass-fronted touch screens or physical controls, isn’t expected to be feasible for future production models, but the driver-centric shape of the dash and use of textural fabric materials is – something already previewed by the iX SUV.
The iVision Dee also expands on BMW’s exploration of colour-changing e-ink surfaces that it first debuted in 2022 on an iX prototype. Using similar technology as used in e-book readers, this type of passive colour changing technology doesn’t use screens or lights to colour shift, rather electric currents that change the hue of tiny capsules embedded within the car’s surfaces. It’s not dissimilar to the way an octopus or cuttlefish expand and contract chromatophores within their skin to change colours underwater. This application builds on the previous concept by being able to switch between 32 colours, rather than just black and white as before. While it is still too early for any application on its forthcoming series-production models, BMW says it is being developed for more than just its show cars.
These new technologies sit atop a design that’s clearly recognisable as a BMW. The three-box saloon design features historic BMW style motifs, including a double-kidney grille, twin-headlight graphics and the Hofmeister kink – all reimagined for the next generation.
BMW will continue to preview its Neue Klasse generation with concepts such as this throughout 2023, before the first model is formally introduced in 2025.
