The all-seeing i: BMW to revamp electric sub-brand, shift focus toward autonomy
This overhaul is said to include a sportier i3, a new flagship and loads of new additions to the R&D team.
In May, BMW's shareholder meeting taught us that the Teutonic automaker plans to roll out a new flagship vehicle in 2021, allegedly called the BMW i Next. Up until recently, BMW's i sub-brand focused mainly on electricity (and freaking out Microsoft Word's auto-correct feature), but that's soon to change.
Reuters talked with both BMW board member Klaus Froehlich and an unnamed source, and it appears that BMW i is in for quite a change. While some of its efforts will remain focused on electricity, a great deal of its R&D muscle will shift to autonomous driving.
Reuters' source claims a new, sportier version of BMW's i3 is due to drop around 2018, partially based on the "lackluster response" to the vehicle as it currently exists. Along with this supposed new i3, BMW's CEO has already confirmed that the i8 Roadster is on the way, as is the aforementioned i Next, which will reportedly carry autonomous driving capabilities.
But there's a long time between now and 2021, and there's plenty of work to do in that time frame. Reuters claims that BMW will have software engineers comprising 50 percent of its R&D staff in that time. Currently, software engineers represent around 20 percent of BMW's R&D staff. It's also hiring experts in fields required in autonomous driving development, including machine learning.
If what BMW is cooking up looks anything like its absolutely bonkers Vision Next 100, all that ramp-up will be money well spent.
BMW Vision Next 100 concept is a copper-colored vision for the future (pictures)
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