BMW Vision Next 100 Concept celebrates BMW’s Centenary and points to its future

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The BMW Vision Next 100 Concept has been revealed to celebrate BMW’s centenary as a futuristic concept looking at BMW’s view of the future.

It’s 100 years since the Bavarian Motor Woks opened for business, and BMW is celebrating that landmark with this – the BMW Vision Next 100 Concept – revealed today at BMW’s Group Classic building in Moosacher Straße 66, the birthplace of BMW.

Although, like most concepts that look forward, the Next 100 Concept and its aims will seem either ludicrous or passe as time goes by, but BMW are focussing not just on future looks, but on future technology for the rapidly approaching autonomous cars.

So convinced are BMW that the future will be saloon cars (really?) that the Net 100 is just that, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to see the concept as an evolution of the i8 EV, although its sleek body is even slippier, with a drag coefficient of just 0.18.

A bit shorter than a 5-Series (and a lot lower), the concept’s body is made out of a combination of carbon fibre and plastic, some of which are made from the residue created from the manufacturing of other carbon fibre structures, and the bodywork even covers the wheels – a notion BMW calls ‘Alive Geometry.

Access to the interior is through wing doors, with the interior eschewing buttons and touchscreens in favour of 800 moving triangles set in the instrument panel and side panels which deliver information with intuitive signals which, say BMW, are so prescient they’re a form of pre-conscious communication.

But even though the default ‘Ease’ mode of the concept makes the interior a relaxing space, BMW still see the potential for driver involvement with ‘Boost’ mode handing control to the driver yet still providing the information support needed.

BMW hasn’t bothered to say what’s under the Next 100 Concept’s body – save to say it’s zero emissions – so it’s safe to assume, if there’s actually anything under the bonnet, that it’s either a pure electric or hydrogen powertrain.

The BMW Vision Next 100 Concept is just the first of a series of four concepts arriving to celebrate BMW’s centenary, with concept due from Rolls Royce, MINI and BMW motorcycles.