Forget Horsepower — BMW’s New EVs Are All About Brainpower

BMW’s next-gen EVs are shaping up to be more than just electric; they’re essentially smart tech on wheels. We got our first real taste with the Neue Klasse Vision concept, which previewed a big shift in design and tech.

The standout feature was the “Heart of Joy,” a central system that controls how the car drives and responds. Now, BMW’s giving us more clues about what’s coming, starting with the upcoming iX3, set to debut this September.

Turns out, the Heart of Joy is just one piece of a much bigger system. BMW’s building an all-new “digital nervous system” that will power every Neue Klasse model. There will be four main control units: one for driving dynamics, one for autonomous driving, one for infotainment, and one to handle basics like lighting and climate.

BMW has integrated a computing system that surpasses the power of current models by 20 times. They’ve also redesigned the car’s internal wiring with a new zonal layout, reducing 600 meters of cables and cutting weight by 30%.

Even the fuses are going digital. The new smart e-fuses help manage power more efficiently, boosting energy use by around 20%. And yes, software is a huge focus. Neue Klasse models will run over 1,000 software modules with 500 million lines of code, all updated over the air, just like your phone. BMW’s also growing its in-house software team but will team up with top tech partners where it makes sense.