BMW iNext Electric Crossover With Automated Driving Coming in 2021
The BMW iNext isn't expected to launch until a couple more years, but that doesn't mean that the German automaker isn't already busy preparing for its arrival. Recently, the company outlined its plans for the upcoming electric vehicle.
During a press conference announcing the company's financial results for the first quarter of 2017, BMW announced that the iNext will be built at their production facility in Dingolfing, Germany, which is just an hour or so away from the automaker's headquarters in Munich. Production is expected to begin in 2021.
Dr. Andreas Wendt, head of BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, said that Dingolfing will be the ideal location to produce the iNext due to the plant's experience and expertise when it comes to complex products.
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"With its pure-electric drive train, larger dimensions and new technologies, such as autonomous driving and digital connectivity, the BMW iNext will be a real innovation driver," he added. "For me, the BMW iNext clearly signals the start of a new era and our intention to make the next 50 years just as successful," he went on to say.
According to BMW, the iNext will "set the benchmark in terms of automated driving, electrification and connectivity." Though specific details have yet to be revealed, the iNext is also expected to feature a futuristic infotainment system with gesture control and holographic display, which was previewed by BMW's Vision Next 100 concept.
However, the iNext isn't expected to look like the Vision Next 100 concept. A source told Top Gear that the upcoming electric vehicle will be a crossover with a silhouette similar to the Jaguar I-Pace.
Before the arrival of the iNext, BMW is first expected to introduce a Mini plug-in hybrid this summer, an i8 roadster in 2018, an electric Mini in 2019 and a battery-operated X3 in 2020.
The BMW iNext is expected to break cover in 2021.
