BMW i Vision Dee previews future electric 3 Series with colour-changing paint, AR infotainment
January 05, 2023 by Nick Lette van Oostvoorne
Car changing is a big deal
This is the i Vision Dee. It’s a high-tech concept that shows what sort of electric cars BMW plans to sell in the future. It’s packed with features that’ll eventually find their way into a 3 Series-sized EV that’ll arrive in 2025. Read on for full details…
- BMW i Vision Dee concept revealed
- Ultra-minimalist design
- Colour-changing paint
- Next-level infotainment tech
- Previews future EVs
This is the BMW i Vision Dee concept car. It previews loads of brand-new tech that’ll feature in BMW’s forthcoming ‘Neue Klasse’ electric cars from 2025 and shows you what an all-new electric 3 Series could look like.
The new iVision Dee gets its name from ‘D.E.E’, which stands for ‘Digital Emotional Experience’.
That sounds a bit like marketing speak, but the whole point of this car is to show off the incredible features that BMW will put in its next-generation electric cars. The car’s minimalist design is one thing that’ll inspire future BMW road cars, but there’s much more to it than that…
BMW i Vision Dee design
One of the most interesting parts of this new concept is the front end. Yes, it’s another new BMW with a huge front grille…
Instead of huge vertical grilles like the 4 Series, the X7 and the 7 Series, the i Vision Dee has two horizontal kidneys instead. So it doesn’t look like an angry rabbit on wheels…
The two-piece vertical headlights are reminiscent of the pairs of round lamps you used to get on classic BMW saloons and, from the side, the car’s silhouette looks like someone took a classic E30 3 Series and rounded off all the edges.
This design isn’t 100% finished yet, though. BMW plans to reveal an updated concept later this year that’ll be closer to what the forthcoming production car will look like. For now, this is your best look yet at BMW’s next fully electric saloon.
BMW i Vision Dee colour-changing paint
If you think the i Vision Dee looks a bit too subtle, how about a colour-changing model? This concept comes with special E Ink-coated body panels that can instantly switch between 32 colours to display patterns and even animations.
You can even change the colour of the kidney grilles at the front. So you can make them smaller, change their shape, or even make them disappear completely.
The new car can also display images on the side windows including your digital avatar. Think that’s a bit strange? Well, the i Vision Dee also has gesture-controlled doors, so you have to wave at the car before it’ll let you inside.
BMW i Vision Dee interior
If this sounds like a bit too much tech, then wait until you get inside the new i Vision Dee – it looks like BMW has put this concept on a digital detox.
The dashboard and seats have a simple one-piece fabric covering and you’ll struggle to find any buttons or switches anywhere in the car. But where’s the obligatory massive touchscreen?
Well, the i Vision Dee doesn’t have one. Instead, the whole infotainment system is built into the car’s huge full-screen head-up display.
You can choose how much information it displays using a slider on the dashboard, from a basic speedo to full-screen augmented-reality animations that might make you feel like you’re having an impromptu acid trip.
Fancy driving along surrounded by swarms of pink jellyfish? Well, BMW has got you covered.
On a more down-to-earth note, the system can highlight potential hazards such as cyclists by displaying a big red box around them on the windscreen as shown below….
Despite the sci-fi AR graphics, BMW has said it plans to introduce some form of full-width head-up-display technology on the next-generation ‘New Class’ electric cars that’ll arrive in 2025.
BMW Neue Klasse
But what does this ‘New Class’ phrase actually mean?
Well, BMW has confirmed that it’s developing some brand-new tech that’ll underpin a range of new electric cars that’ll go on sale from 2025. This platform will be called the ‘Neue Klasse’ in German, or ‘New Class’ in English.
These cars will be inspired by concepts like the i Vision Circular (shown above left) and the new i Vision Dee (above right) and they’ll be completely different from any electric-, petrol- or diesel-powered car BMW has ever made.
Oliver Zipse, the chairman of BMW, confirmed that the first car using this platform will be a saloon, about the same size as today’s 3 Series.
And there’ll also be a ‘sporty SUV’ along afterwards that’ll probably be a replacement for the iX3 SUV, shown below…
Zipse also said that vehicles built on the New Class platform will account for about half of the cars BMW plans to sell globally by 2030. So that means it’ll spread into other segments, too, like hatchbacks, luxury cars, and performance models.
BMW Neue Klasse batteries
BMW hasn’t gone into detail about the i Vision Dee’s batteries, but it has already said that it plans to fit the New Class with some next-generation lithium-ion cells that could help improve a car’s range by around 30%.
Currently, the BMW with the longest electric range is the iX 50. This SUV has a 109.4kWh battery and it’s supposed to manage more than 380 miles on a full charge. Watch Mat’s video review of the BMW IX, below…
If you take that figure and add an extra 30% like BMW claims, you get almost 500 miles of range. That’s over 30 miles farther than you can drive in the longest-range Mercedes EQS which has a claimed range of 464 miles.
But that’s not all. The new technology will help cars charge faster, too. BMW reckons you’ll be able to fully charge your car 30% quicker using these new batteries and an uprated 800V electrical system.
Can’t wait for these new cars to go on sale? Compare the latest BMW deals available through carwow or see offers on the best electric cars.
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