Celebrating its centennial year, the BMW Vision Next concept outlines the manufacturer’s next century of motoring with a stunning copper vehicle.
BMW celebrates its centennial year this year, and already the Bavarian motor company has unveiled what it thinks its next 100 years should look like in the form of its head-turning BMW Vision Next concept car.
While the Vision Next certainly looks like a futuristic version of a modern day car, BMW has punted that the concept’s futurism extends more than skin deep. The Vision Next incorporates two driving modes, both of which reflect the company’s vision for how driving will be in the near future.
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The first mode, named Boost, is similar to the traditional driving experience enjoyed today, while the second, named Ease, sees the steering wheel retract and dashboard reconfigure to allow its occupants to relax and speak to one another in a more muted setting.
The Vision Next includes a massive heads-up display contained in its windscreen, which in Boost mode projects a driving line, highlights other cars and hazards, while in Ease mode offers tour-guide capabilities.
Further, the concept includes a large gemstone named The Companion, which is a visual representation of the car’s built-in AI that is capable of learning the driver’s habits and needs.
The Companion is reactive, and will sit flush in Boost mode and pop-up in Ease to interact with the driver and passengers. Think along the lines of a flashy KITT from Knight Rider.
The essential construction of the vehicle is even more futuristic, with BMW toting a new technology called ‘4D printing’, from which components made from traditional manufacturing processes and 3D printers would be fully functional once printed.
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BMW boasts that the car will be an ’emissions-free’ flight of fancy that will still deliver, as the brand’s moniker goes, ‘sheer driving pleasure’.
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