The September issue of IEEE Spectrum is here!
“Neue Klasse” EVs incorporate software to a new level
Lawrence Ulrich is an award-winning auto writer and former chief auto critic at The New York Times and The Detroit Free Press.
BMW's "Neue Klasse" EVs are an overhaul in the company's approach, beginning with the iX3.
Since creating its first innovative motorcycle in 1923, and a sporty small car in 1928, BMW built its “Ultimate Driving Machine“ reputation from literal nuts and bolts: Hardware, with thousands of parts engineered, tested, and tuned in the service of cars and motorcycles that would delight owners and guarantee fun.
The automaker’s Neue Klasse (or “New Class”) EVs—led by the production 2026 iX3 SUV that will debut on 8 September at the IAA Mobility show in Munich—show how the industry is being revolutionized. Software is the new king, the element that increasingly differentiates cars and gives automakers their competitive edge. IEEE Spectrum was invited to Munich in July, where BMW executives and engineers showed the iX3 prior to its public reveal, and offered a deep dive into its Neue Klasse tech.
Beneath the iX3’s strikingly modern exterior lies a new digital nervous system that will underpin up to 40 new BMW models between now and 2027, including EVs, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and cars with internal combustion engines. For these software-defined vehicles, four so-called “Superbrains” will sense their surroundings, monitor drivers, and respond to their commands. These four big brains amass 20 times as much computing power as BMW’s current-generation EVs.
As the single largest vehicle investment in BMW history, Neue Klasse includes the “Heart of Joy” controller that engineers see as their secret weapon to make EVs that are safer than ever, yet truly fun to drive—not just in the straight-line speed that has become the norm for Teslas and other models.
Christian Thalmeier, a manager of driving dynamics development at BMW, says weighty EV batteries and electric motors bring new challenges in keeping BMWs feeling agile, stable, and light-footed. The previous 10-millisecond latency of BMW’s more balkanized system controllers was fine for the lumbering responses of internal combustion engines. But they’re no match for the near-instant reactions of electric motors. The Heart of Joy combines all powertrain, chassis, and braking functions into a single unit. Predictive algorithms operate on a high-speed bus at 1,000 “beats” per second, 10 times as fast as before.
“This heart beats very fast, so it makes the car feel alive and agile,” Thalmeier says. “It makes a fairly heavy car handle lightly, something you’ll feel not only under high g-forces, but in normal driving.”
These new EVs use electric motors themselves to influence the car’s handling, stability, and braking behavior. The iX3 not only regenerates 40 percent more electricity than before; BMW estimates that 98 percent of all stops in real-world driving can be handled by the electric motors, with no need for drivers to squeeze the brake pedal. The automaker says iX3 test passengers, after closing their eyes, often can’t tell that the BMW has come to a full stop, with the system delivering precision and smoothness that human drivers can’t match. Brake wear is reduced as well.
Thalmeier offered the example of a driver making a high-speed emergency lane change, followed by a sharp return to the original lane to avoid a collision. It’s a notorious tricky move that, even for relatively skilled drivers, could result in a treacherous loss of control. Between the combined speed of electric motors and computing, the iX3 can divert torque to the rear axle while the driver has barely begun to crank the wheel to avoid a car or obstacle ahead, setting up what’s to come. The car then automatically performs brake interventions at individual wheels and shifts torque to front wheels to maintain control as the car snaps back into its lane. The result is a pro-level maneuver that could avoid a serious collision between two or more cars—and something that would be impossible in any fossil-fueled car.
The iX3’s second Superbrain combines the latest generation of semi-automonous driving systems in a single unit (versus four previously). That helps systems operate as a silent companion to boost safety. Semi-autonomous functions are designed to keep the human driver engaged and in the loop, rather than zoning out. Here, a driver can still steer the iX3, apply brakes or even drive intentionally over a lane marker—such as to steer around a bicyclist or romp through high-speed corners — without the driver-assistance system intervening, shutting down or having to be annoyingly restarted. The BMW’s driver-monitoring camera and algorithms will recognize the difference between, say, a courteous or Type-A driver and one who is distracted, and react accordingly.
A third controller manages the infotainment operating system, including AI-supported cloud-based functions, a 3D heads-up display, and a world-first system called Panoramic iDrive, in which driving information is projected onto a black nano-coated surface that stripes the entire lower windshield. Owners can configure six separate slots for the panoramic display, such as navigation maps and performance readouts. The 1.1-meter-long backlit matrix display is designed to be viewable in bright sunlight, or for drivers wearing polarized sunglasses.
Finally, a fourth controller manages basic onboard operations such as vehicle access and security and remote-software upgrades.
Like other legacy automakers, BMW is taking new cues from vertically integrated Chinese powerhouses such as BYD, which sources and develops raw materials, software, batteries and other tech in-house. BMW executives said today’s key is to separate vehicle and software development to future-proof cars, including via over-the-air updates.
“This means we continuously develop software rather than starting from scratch” with each new model, says Christoph Grote, senior vice-president of BMW Group electronics and software.
The iX3 will include the ability to set up a panoramic display on the lower portion of the windshield.BMW
BMW’s global teams are generating 130 times as much software as a decade ago. Roughly 10,000 developers are tasked with more than 1,000 software modules, 20 gigabits of software and 500 million lines of code that will be integrated into the Superbrains and overall architecture. Stable software platforms run on the Superbrains, with a “Shared Service Layer” acting as a connecting “middleware” element whose functions include cybersecurity and flexible over-the-air updates.
The digital nervous system allows a radically simplified wiring harness, eliminating 600 meters of wiring for a 30-percent weight savings. The brains and their high-speed data connections link with smaller “zonal controllers” that manage data flows exclusively in their zones.
As for the actual nuts and bolts of the iX3, they’re impressive in their own right. An initial iX3 M50 xDrive model churns up 345 kilowatts of power (463 horsepower) and 645 Newton-meters of torque from its electric motors. BMW’s redesigned dual electric motors, with an asynchronous front motor and a synchronous unit at the rear, integrate silicon-carbide inverters, and reduce friction losses by 40 percent. The automaker estimates the all-wheel-drive iX3 will scoot from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.9 seconds, and reach a top speed of 210 kph.
These models adopt a leading-edge 800-volt platform, double that of Tesla’s, and on par with leading models from Chinese makers, Hyundai/Kia, Porsche, Vivian and others. They can charge at up to 400 kilowatts, a faster pace than any EV currently sold in America, backed by compatible chargers that are now coming online from providers such as the new Ionna network; or in Europe, from Ionity. On the right charger, the iX4 can add 350 kilometers of driving range (217 miles) in just 10 minutes, or a 10-to-80 percent charge in 15 minutes—fast enough to quiet EV naysayers.
BMW’s former prismatic cells give way to new Generation 6 cylindrical batteries, developed in-house at the automaker’s new Battery Competence Center, in a partnership with China’s CATL. BMW says those cylindrical cells will boost energy density by 20 percent, including higher nickel content in cathodes and more silicon in anodes. For the iX3, that’s enough to deliver a generous 560 kilometers of range under the European Union’s WLTP testing regime, or 400 miles by the more real-world estimates of U.S. EPA standards. That’s a healthy 30-percent jump in driving range in a single EV generation, driven by new batteries and reductions in aerodynamic drag and powertrain energy losses.
A sunken compartment inside the BMW iX3 holds the car’s charger.BMW
Remarkably, BMW says that 50 percent of the batteries’ lithium, cobalt, and nickel will come from recycled materials. These cylindrical cells replace BMW’s previous prismatic design, in two form factors depending on the model application: A 46-mm diameter and either a 95-mm or 120-mm height. Those cells line up neatly in packs with no space-wasting modules that require individual wiring. “Pack-to-body” construction saves more space and mass: The battery’s metal upper housing actually forms the floor of the cabin (below the carpeting of course). The iX3 crams 108 kilowatt-hours of energy into roughly the same space as the automaker’s previous battery.
The iX3 will initially emerge from a new, ground-up factory in Debrecen, Hungary. European customers will see their first cars in spring, with an iX5 M50 xDrive model starting from 68,900 Euros That European debut will be followed by sales in the U.S., starting from around US $60,000, and China. (BMW plans to build Neue Klasse models in China as well, and eventually at its largest global factory in Spartanburg, S.C.). For U.S. buyers, the $7,500 federal consumer subsidies that helped ease the transition to EVs will be long gone by the time the iX3 arrives. In other words, the iX3 will need to be compelling enough to stand on its own two feet. Based on an early glimpse, though, BMW has a reasonable shot at success.
Lawrence Ulrich is an award-winning auto writer and former chief auto critic at The New York Times and The Detroit Free Press.
