16-02-2025
BMW's New Concept Is a Teaser for Radical Performance EVs to Come
The BMW Vision Driving Experience may not have a particularly exciting name, but what that moniker disguises is the car's purpose: it's a test bed for BMW to show off its latest and greatest electric vehicle driving capabilities. And yes, it also looks a whole lot like what we'd imagine a Neue Klasse-platform M3 might be, but BMW is rather explicit when it says this Vision Vehicle will not go into series production.
Unfortunately, there's little hard info on the vehicle that BMW says took 12 months to build, but let's breakdown what we do have. BMW claims the quad-motor test car develops 13,269 pound-feet of torque, but this is surely the highly misleading 'wheel torque' figure that GMC used when it unveiled the Hummer EV. There's no way to translate that into a more traditional motor torque number to put it into perspective.
Active aerodynamics – yes, it seems to be a fan car – shove the Driving Experience into the ground, with BMW quoting an astonishing 2646 pounds of downforce and maximum lateral forces "exceeding 3G." BMW also gave me a more hands-on method of determining performance: letting me ride alongside M Motorsports Works driver Jens Klingmann at the Experience Center track in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
First impressions? This thing is Tesla Model S Plaid / Lucid Air Sapphire levels of quick. I'd wager it'd run a 0-60 mph sprint in the low twos, and there isn't much letup once you break into triple-digit speeds. Horsepower and torque are surely into the four-digit realm.
Its exterior speaks for itself, with the design clearly a branch off the Neue Klasse tree, only ramped up in aggression beyond what we'd even expect from a traditional M car. The widebody, massive front maw, enormous diffuser and tall rear spoiler all scream race car-for-the road. Shockingly wide 325-section-width Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires provide one hell of a stance, and piles of grip. The interior is stripped, race car style, with four bucket seats and not an ounce of sound deadening. It's almost jarring to see BMW's Panoramic iDrive infotainment system onboard, but the new screen and pillar-to-pillar display is functioning in this test car, too.
The main point of the Vision Vehicle, though, is to serve as a proving ground for a new computer BMW calls the 'Heart of Joy.' This computer is responsible for management of the acceleration and braking, vehicle stabilization, dynamic steering functions and charging alike. Previously, control for these would be managed by four separate computers from various suppliers, increasing complexity and introducing limitations to the system. BMW claims the in-house-built Heart of Joy processes information 10 times faster than its current control systems, giving it all sorts of advantages.
One of the big ones BMW details is brake recuperation and more refined stopping. Engineers tell us the Neue Klasse can recuperate about 60% more energy than current BMW EVs. The stopping power of the electric motors is much higher with this fully integrated system; BMW suggests the physical brakes will only ever be used in emergency stopping situations. Ultimately, the brand says this new braking system can account for a 25% system efficiency increase.
As for the added refinement, BMW touts the use of recuperation once more, as you'll be able to stop without any squeaks or chirping from the brakes. You'll notice the Vision test vehcile has lights in its wheels; these indicate acceleration in green, recuperation in blue and friction braking in is great, but the Heart of Joy's main purpose is to imbue 'BMW's characteristic driving pleasure' into every Neue Klasse model. BMW is a bit coy with specs and figures, but the meat of the matter is power management and strategic use of recuperation and braking.
For example, on a racetrack, BMW will shift recuperation power around between the front or rear axle under braking, depending on all the external factors being thrown at it. It's taking in every human input along with data like whether you're heading downhill into an off-camber turn or uphill in a flat corner. The Heart of Joy is processing all this information faster than any of us could think through it, then working its magic in the background to make the car handle better by anticipating and quelling understeer and oversteer.
Then, when you hop back on the throttle, the power management system can apply torque to give the VDX that classic BMW rear-drive feel. The quad-motor setup allows for total control over how power is distributed, allowing the EV to maintain the agile profile we're accustomed to in M cars, but also enabling it to accelerate out of corners with the silly sort of zip one expects from this absurd amount of power.
Can we say mission accomplished yet? Klingmann sure seemed like he was having a blast in the Vision Driving Experience as he cycled through various modes that changed both the power level and the amount of hooliganism allowed. It's impossible to give a yay or nay from just watching, but I can confirm both straight-laced time-optimized hot laps and endless, smoky drifts are on the menu.
The initial vehicles with The Heart of Joy installed in them will be Neue Klasse platform cars, with the first one set for production to begin this year. Every Neue Klasse EV will take advantage of the new tech, though it's clear you'll need a performance car to realize its full potential. Preferably, that comes in the form of an electric M3, M5 or some other yet-to-be-named M EV car. This future looks promising, and it's surely only a matter of time until BMW translates the Vision Vehicle's incredible capability into a production machine.
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