MUNICH, Sept 5 — A lot of the news in the motoring media recently has been focusing on the first all-electric models from the likes of Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Audi and one may forget that BMW beat its major rivals in bringing its own EV to market in the shape of the i3 quite a while ago now. But the Bavarian automaker looks to be regaining momentum by releasing a couple of teaser clips of its upcoming new electric concept, the Vision iNext.
The clips reveal little more than hints of what the front and rear of this exciting new concept will look like, which appears to be a sleek crossover wearing a somewhat familiar illuminated and exaggerated version of the company’s signature twin-kidney front grille. It’s certainly not the first time BMW has used this type of grille, as something similar has already been seen on previous concepts the iX3, X7 i-Performance and the i-Vision Dynamics.
When news first started to surface about the Vision iNext as long ago now as 2016, it was believed to be a fully autonomous plug-in hybrid targeting a launch date sometime in 2021. However, more recent reports suggest the concept will instead feature level 3 autonomy, which is where the vehicle alerts a human driver when it needs them to take over from the computerised systems in certain circumstances.
Vision iNext is based on the Vision Next 100 concept, and it’s been revealed that BMW is pretty serious about showing this one off. So much so that BMW has partnered with German airline Lufthansa Cargo to specially outfit a Boeing 777F to fly it around the globe for auto journalists to get to see it in the metal.
The future has a name: #BMW #VisioniNEXT. #MyFavoriteSpace pic.twitter.com/G7mveEhe2g
— BMW (@BMW) September 3, 2018
First up on the global itinerary is a flight that will see the Vision iNext fly from Munich to New York, San Francisco and then Beijing, and after those stops it will return to Frankfurt on September 14.
Nothing is yet known about potential powertrains for the Vision iNext, but it seems more detail will be revealed next week. — AFP-Relaxnews
