Better, Cheaper, Faster EVs? BMW's Next-Gen Platform Is Aiming For All Three
BMW's Neue Klasse tech is not only boosting efficiency and energy density but also lowering cost and increasing reliability.
We're inching closer and closer to the unveiling of BMW's Neue Klasse, a release that the company is positioning as its most significant reboot ever. Previewed in 2023's Vision Neue Klasse concept and 2024's Vision Neue Klasse X concept, it's said to be the ultimate execution of everything BMW has learned over the past 60-odd years of making electric cars.
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But this is much more than just a funky new shape for a new generation of electric cars and SUVs. The launch of Neue Klasse is serving as a top-to-bottom reboot of the entire BMW electrified portfolio, and this week at various facilities in and around Munich, we learned a lot more about some of the core technologies that'll make it all work.
Next-Gen Batteries
To recap, BMW is broadly calling Neue Klasse its "Gen6" platform, the successor to the Gen5 platform that has recently been elevated to new heights in the freshly redesigned iX, which ekes out 340 miles of range to a charge.
Gen5, along with BMW's earlier generation EVs like the BMW i3, relied on prismatic-cell batteries, which are designed and encapsulated in their own rigid, rectangular cases. Multiples of those cells are combined together to form modules, and those modules are then combined to form the overall battery pack.
In the new Neue Klasse, all that is thrown out the window. For this next generation, BMW will switch to cylindrical cells similar to those used by Tesla and many other EV makers.
The Gen6 platform will rely on 4695 and 46120 cells, cylinders that are 46 mm (1.8 inches) in diameter and either 95 mm (3.7 inches) or 120 mm (4.7 inches) in height—about the same size as a can of Red Bull. The shorter cells will be primarily intended for smaller, lower cars, the taller ones for SUVs.
BMW says this shift in packaging and internal cell design results in a 20 percent increase in energy density. The redesign, plus a new chemistry that reduces the need for expensive nickel and cobalt, also drives a reduction in overall pack cost of up to 50 percent. That'll mean more affordable EVs that go farther, up to 559 miles on a charge.
And, just as importantly, that charge will happen faster, thanks to an 800-volt architecture, equating to a 30 percent increase in charging speed. BMW says that'll be enough to Hoover down 186 miles worth of juice in just 10 minutes in optimal conditions, which would be just about enough time for a quick run into one of IONNA's flagship restrooms.
BMW will source cells from several suppliers, including CATL and EVE Energy in China, but it will assemble those cells into packs itself. Given the somewhat... dynamic state of the industry when it comes to global market dynamics (and the tariffs that threaten to upend them), BMW is covering its bases by building six different battery manufacturing facilities around the world, including one currently under construction in Woodruff, South Carolina.
Next-Gen Motors
The next-gen batteries sound great, but they won't get you far without motors. BMW has some fresh components coming in that department, too, new designs that will power the various cars that spin out of the Gen6 platform. BMW has confirmed they'll build single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive machines, plus three- and four-motor performance variants.
To handle that variety, BMW will rely on two different motor types, the first being an evolution of the Externally Excited Synchronous Motor (EESM) used in today's cars, like that new iX. These motors will use the same basic, brushed design as the current solution, but repackaged in a lighter, smaller housing and with updated electronics to work with the 800-volt architecture.
The gear sets in these motors have been updated as well to make them even quieter. Right now, BMW plans to make four variants of EESM motors for use in different models with differing performance demands, ranging from 268 up to 402 hp. These motors will be exclusively found on the rear axle.
Up front, BMW will optionally use lower-cost, lower-power Asynchronous motors (ASM). Their design makes them better suited for regenerative braking, thus the front-axle placement. There will be two varieties of ASM motor, one making 161 hp, and another making 241 horsepower.
Does that mean a potential total of 1,286 horsepower from two EESM motors at the rear and two ASM motors at the front? We'll have to wait and see .
Perhaps more importantly, BMW says that these new and revised motor designs equate to a 20 percent reduction in cost and a 10 percent reduction in weight from the drivetrain components.
The Energy Master in the Penthouse
The final big piece to this puzzle is something BMW is, rather evocatively, calling the Energy Master. (Clearly named by whichever marketing guru dubbed the company's new stability control system "Heart of Joy.") This is basically a combination power supply and battery controller.
It sits on top of the battery pack, a position that BMW calls "the penthouse," and when installed in the car will be situated beneath the rear seats—assuming the car has rear seats. It's here that the 800-volt, bidirectional architecture will be controlled, dishing out both high voltage for the drivetrain components and low voltage for everything else. It also manages details like battery health and charging, the latter of which is said to be more efficient thanks to silicon carbide internals.
That's all reasonably standard fare, but BMW says this new design not only boosts efficiency but also repairability. Previously, many of these components were integrated directly into the battery pack, meaning any issue here meant yanking the whole pack. Now, by positioning it on top, BMW says many common pack issues could be resolved by having a technician make a quick visit to the penthouse.
Price and Weight Parity?
Remember when we said that this new platform had driven a 50 percent reduction in battery cost and a 20 percent reduction in drivetrain cost? Does that mean we might finally see EVs that cost the same as cars with internal combustion? Not yet. "Of course, we all want to have price parity," BMW's Dr. Joachim Post said. He's in charge of the company's supplier network. Sadly, according to Dr. Post, that's not quite feasible yet. There still will be a gap, but it's narrowing.
Increasingly, though, cost isn't just about materials, manufacturing, and research. Modern EV economics are as much about tariffs and incentives that could throw the world's greatest plans out the window. But, to that end, BMW has tried to preserve itself as well.
Again, it's building six separate battery pack manufacturing facilities and is sourcing the cells for those batteries locally. That means American-market Neue Klasse-derived cars and SUVs might be assembled in the U.S. using batteries built and sourced domestically, too, hopefully avoiding much of the current administration's ire.
BMW's Dr. Post put it quite diplomatically: "[This] enhances our resilience against natural disasters as well as political and economic eventualities."
And what about weight? BMW's most recent machines haven't exactly been tipping the scales in a favorable direction. Again, the new powertrain is 10 percent lighter than before, but while nobody is quoting actual weights for the new battery platform yet, Philip Guerrero, BMW's project lead for high-voltage batteries, cautioned: "The overall weight is not changing too much."
In other words, don't necessarily expect the first Neue Klasse sedan to be substantially lighter than something like today's i4. But, hey, that also means it shouldn't be substantially heavier, either. We'll find out for sure when the first Neue Klasse model releases later this year.
