The new BMW iX3 is the first all-electric model based on the automaker’s Neue Klasse platform – but it won’t be the last. The Bavarian automaker’s CEO said Monday that 40 new and updated products using the “new class” technology will roll out over the next two years. Up next: the i3, an all-electric version of the 3-Series, reports Headlight.News.
The new BMW iX3 makes its Munich debut.
BMW’s Neue Klasse technology will show up across the automaker’s line-up, with 40 new or updated models in the works, CEO Oliver Zipse revealed during a news conference at IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich on Monday.
The first of the new models, the iX3 sport-utility vehicle is making its official public debut this week after a media preview last Friday. Up next: the i3, and all-electric version of the iconic BMW 3-Series.
While many of those products will be all-electric, the technology will be used in future products “regardless of the drivetrain,” said Zipse, during a speech at the Munich Auto Show., adding “each will have the Neue Klasse genes” which include “an unprecedented interplay of multiple, ground-breaking technologies.”
What’s Neue Klasse
A schematic shows the layout of the iX3 50 xDrive powertrain.
Based on the Vision X concept revealed in 2023, iX3 is the first vehicle based on Neue Klasse technology. It’s an all-electric crossover using the automaker’s seventh-generation eDrive system which, BMW claims, is 40% more energy-efficient, lighter and cheaper to produce. It boasts up to around 400 miles range using the EPA test cycle and is expected to add as much as 230 miles range in about 10 minutes when using a powerful enough public charger.
That technology will carry over into other all-electric models, including the i3 which is scheduled to go into production at the BMW plant near its headquarters in Munich in November 2026. That will be the first variant of the next-generation 3-Series, though additional gas and hybrid models will follow.
Though Neue Klasse is expected to enhance BMW’s position in the emerging EV market, the technology touches on virtually every aspect of the vehicle, including design and the underlying “smarts” essential to today’s vehicles.
Superbrains
The new BMW iX3 with CEO Oliver Zipse.
One of the big changes in iX3 and Neue Klasse models to come can be found in their electrical architecture. The “Heart of Joy” system migrates away from today’s model which uses dozens – even hundreds – of low-power microprocessors distributed around the vehicles. Instead, virtually all processing will be handled by four “superbrains” that together have at least 10 times the computing power of the fastest systems now used in BMW vehicles.
This technology will operate everything from the powertrain to the infotainment system – with an all-new version of the now-familiar BMW iDrive launching with the iX3.
With iX3, a floating instrument panel features a 17.9-inch central touchscreen that also can be operated by voice or steering wheel buttons. The big surprise is the lack of a rotary knob on the center console. With the Panoramic Vision System, key data points are displayed on the left lower corner of the windshield, meaning a driver’s eyes will seldom stray from the road. There’s also an optional 3D Head-Up Display.
More BMW News
- First Look: BMW’s All-New iX3
- BMW’s New, All-Electric 3-Series will get a “Heart of Joy”
- BMW Plans to Build the Speedtop Concept
A “massive leap”
The Neue Klasse is more than just new drivetrain technology. It introduces a new, centralized computing system 10 times faster than what BMW technology now can muster.
Neue Klasse represents “a massive leap that will shape the entire brand for years to come,” proclaimed Zipse.
Beyond the technology, however, there will be significant changes in the automaker’s design language – also signaled by the iX3. But don’t expect a family of look-alike products, global design chief Adrian van Hooydonk stressed during the Munich news conference.
“We have grown our range in the last couple of years and in the last decades, and the secret to that success is that we offer real choices to our customers. We offer a family resemblance, but it’s not Russian dolls. We’re going to continue in that vein with this new family.”
Production of the Neue Klasse is set to start late this year at BMW’s Debrecen plant in Hungary. Sales in the European Union will start early in 2026, with U.S. dealers starting deliveries by summer.
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