The British magazine Autocar reports that BMW has begun developing a compact and inexpensive electric car on a specialized electric platform. Moreover, the hatchback will soon be followed by a crossover in a sporty spirit. And the company’s immediate plans are to release six electric models of the Neue Klasse family from the end of 2025 to the end of 2027. Autocar sources in Munich shared other interesting information about the development of electric platforms and the company’s strategic plans. More on this below.
Sources of the English publication Autocar close to BMW report that the company’s management has given the green light to the compact electric cars i1 and i2. Work on them is already underway at the FIZ scientific and technical center. It is planned that they will be produced in parallel with the 1st and 2nd series cars with traditional internal combustion engines.
Their appearance should radically reduce the price of the “entrance ticket” for purchasing a BMW electric car. After all, the most affordable electric BMWs so far are the iX1 and iX2 crossovers (48,400 and 49,900 euros in Germany, respectively).
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The i1 will be offered as a hatchback or compact sedan; i2 – a compact crossover, including a coupe version. Insiders call the i2 a kind of spiritual successor to BMW’s first electric car, the 2013 i3 hatchback, which ended production in 2022.
Interestingly, BMW does not intend to abandon the fuel models of the first and second series – unlike Mercedes, which plans to curtail production of the A-Class in 2026. Autocar journalists quote BMW product chief Bernd Körber as saying that these compact models are important to keep the brand connected with young buyers. “Of course, the profit margin for them is lower, but they help attract young buyers to the brand and develop BMW in certain markets,” explained the top manager.
The premiere of the compact electric car BMW i1 is scheduled for 2027. The BMW i2 will get a sportier image and will be released a year later. And if the 1st and 2nd series cars remain on the UKL2 platform, which makes them similar to the Mini, then the electric compacts will be based on the new, purely electric Neue Klasse architecture.
Concept electric sedan [Vision Neue Klasse](https://motor.ru/news/bmw-vision-concept-02-09-2023.htm)
BMW Group 
Concept electric sedan [Vision Neue Klasse](https://motor.ru/news/bmw-vision-concept-02-09-2023.htm)
BMW Group 
Conceptual electric crossover [Vision Neue Klasse X](https://motor.ru/news/bmw-pokazala-novyi-elektricheskii-krossover-21-03-2024.htm)
BMW Group 
Conceptual electric crossover [Vision Neue Klasse X](https://motor.ru/news/bmw-pokazala-novyi-elektricheskii-krossover-21-03-2024.htm)
BMW Group
The mentioned compacts will not be the first electric vehicles to use the new architecture. Larger models will go into production first. A couple of recent concept cars allow us to imagine which ones: last year’s Vision Neue Klasse sedan and the Vision Neue Klasse X crossover, shown in 2023. The Neue Klasse architecture supports 800-volt electrics and various powertrain options with one, two or even four electric motors.
Sources at BMW provided interesting details: in fact, the Neue Klasse architecture unites a whole family of unified electric platforms. At first, there are two options: NBx with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive and NAx with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. But the latter will later serve as the basis for other electric platforms – NDx for large luxury models and lightweight ZAx for M sports cars.
The announced i1 and i2 electric vehicles will be the first cars on the NBx platform (front-wheel drive/all-wheel drive). In the future, it is planned to transfer the next generation of the iX1 crossover and Mini Countryman to it. Let us recall that the current generation uses the FAAR platform with a 400-volt electrical system (this designation hides the electric version of the UKL platform, originally created for cars with internal combustion engines).
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Autocar journalists mention that new battery cells will be introduced into the Neue Klasse architecture. They will have a standard diameter of 46 millimeters and two length options – 95 or 120 millimeters. Another important innovation of the so-called sixth generation batteries is a different chemistry.
As Bernd Körber said, the release of the new family will not change the logic of designations in the model line. “Neue Klasse” will not be used as a commercial name, and will remain an internal designation. The first models from the new electric family are already in the final stages of development, and preparations for production are now underway. “We have collected several pre-production samples and have already driven them,” said the concern’s top manager.
Expectation and reality: BMW concepts and their production versions
