This Futuristic Feature Is Coming to BMW Neue Klasse EVs

• BMW plans to offer Panoramic Vision, which features windscreen projection technology, in the Neue Klasse EVs.

• The feature was previewed in BMW's i Vision Dee concept earlier this year, which featured a number of augmented reality surfaces.

• The automaker's next-gen electric models, collectively dubbed Neue Klasse, will begin arriving in the second half of 2025.

BMW's funky i Vision Dee previewed plenty of new tech, from an exterior car skin that can change color to an augmented reality head-up display spanning the entire windshield. While plenty of items in the Dee, which stands for Digital Emotional Experience, seemed perfectly comfortable in a Neil Blomkamp film but somewhat less than ready for production, the truth is that BMW actually plans to offer the head-up display in its EVs in just a couple of years.

The automaker revealed that its Neue Klasse cars, headed into production starting in 2025, will offer the BMW Panoramic Vision, which will display projected information across the width of the entire windshield.

Just how will this work?

The innovative projection technology will use a dark-coated area at the lower edge of the windshield to display information relevant to the driver and the passengers with a higher light intensity and higher contrast. The Panoramic Vision will also be part of the iDrive control system, so it won't be just a fancier instrument panel that will show vehicle speed.

"The windscreen becomes a single large display with our new BMW Panoramic Vision, opening up completely new possibilities for the design of our vehicles—whether the driver decides themselves which information they want to display in their own field of vision, or that all occupants can see the entire content," said Frank Weber, Member of the Board for Development at BMW AG.

BMW is expected to keep yet another screen on the dash itself, so the Panoramic Vision won't completely replace other user interfaces.

The Neue Klasse cars will arrive starting in 2025, with BMW's first EVs from this lineup slated to be produced in Dobrecen, Hungary, and Munich, Germany, a little later. Neue Klasse EVs will also join the assembly line in North America, with BMW selecting Spartanburg, South Carolina, and San Luis Potosí, Mexico, after production in Europe kicks off.

Six EV models will be part of the first batch of vehicles slated to be launched in the first two years, promising a new generation of lithium-ion batteries, a focus on performance, and an EV-only platform that won't be shared with internal-combustion models, among other technologies.

"The revolutionary projection and the significantly more clearly structured cockpit give an impressive new feeling of space and driving," Weber added. "We are taking our proven 'eyes on the road—hands on the wheel' slogan to a new level."

BMW hasn't indicated whether the Panoramic Vision will be standard or optional equipment, but we suspect the latter.

Would you pay extra for a feature like this, or could this technology be too distracting? Let us know in the comments below.