Author: Sid
This is both the best of times and the worst of times; it’s a regretful age for “fuel fanatics” but an exciting era for “electric geeks”. It’s the last carnival for “mechanics supremacy” and the earliest aspiration for “digital natives”. All of these are showcased to the fullest extent at the BMW booth of the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show.
At this year’s auto show, BMW Group unveiled six new models, including the innovative BMW iX, which made its Asia debut, the global debut of the new BMW 7 Series “Yao Ying” special edition, and the Chinese debut of the new season MINI three-door, five-door, CABRIO convertible, and the innovative BMW X2 “Night Shadow” edition/Sharper edition. In addition, they announced the launch of the new BMW M3 Thunder edition and the new BMW M4 two-door coupe Thunder edition. At the same time, the all-new BMW iDrive was also globally debuted at this auto show. By showcasing its muscle, BMW interpreted its emotional genes and rational logic in the face of the future.
Do you still remember 2014, when we first sensed the trend of smart and electric cars and started to devote ourselves to the auto tech media industry? At that time, the BMW i brand had emerged with its carbon fiber cockpit, pure electric and range-extended power solutions, composite material interior materials, and stunning exterior design. BMW bravely presented its answer to the future.
In the following years, the BMW i brand has become a label for a group of pioneers, and established a high brand and technical barrier, making BMW more confident to face the “pre-explosion” electric era.
Therefore, under this background, BMW gave its answer to the first question of the intelligent electric era – the innovative BMW iX.
The Triumph of Humanism
Intelligent electric vehicles are a “double revolution” of energy and technology. But as a result, we have seen a large number of “emotionless electric machines” in the market, trying to implant brand value into every aspect of their products with cold numbers and lousy stories, but it’s nothing more than innovation, breakthrough and technologism. In contrast, for the BMW brand, which is known as the “driver’s car”, there is more humanistic care infused into its electric car products, which is BMW’s respect for each driver and passenger.The innovative exterior design of the BMW iX “Faceted Icon” complements the classic appearance of the X family, presenting a powerful, sturdy and steady posture for the entire vehicle. In the parts such as front and rear wheel arches and the tail of the car, flat surfaces and dynamic and concise lines are left like with sharp knives, adding a sense of strength to the body.
For example, the interior design of the innovative BMW iX combines minimalism and BMW’s profound aesthetic accomplishment, resembling a luxurious living room that carries the quality of life. When I first sat in the BMW iX, this all-around shock of visual, tactile, gustatory and auditory senses indeed shocked me.
The 12.3-inch dashboard and the 14.9-inch touch central control screen that tilts nearly 6 degrees towards the driver, form the “Integrated Floating Curved Screen” supported by geometric shapes, which is “quietly” placed on the central console wrapped in leather made from olive leaves extracted and tanned in Europe every year.
This atmosphere makes it difficult for you to believe that you are sitting in a BMW car, but rather like sitting in a cutting-edge modern home experience store with minimalist style in an old European building in a certain street corner of Europe. Taking a deep breath, you can even smell the faint scent of olive leaves, which is really wonderful.
At the same time, BMW has appropriately incorporated the concepts of sustainability and environmental protection into the interior design of the innovative BMW iX. In fact, the BMW Group has applied the experience accumulated over the years in the sustainable field to the product itself and the manufacturing concept of the innovative BMW iX, and has established very strict environmental protection requirements for the entire value chain and the entire life cycle of the car. Even the electrical energy used in the production process is renewable energy.
This feeling is just like the following question on Zhihu, which is “Versailles”…
The BMW iX is a sustainable EV made of quality materials. Innovative features, such as the FSC certified sustainable wood used for the control panel, and interior and fabric made from recycled materials, including 50% recycled polyester fibers for the fabric/microfiber interior and 100% recycled nylon for the floor mats, make it a “humanistic victory” that bridges the gap between humans and nature.
Under the design and above the technology lies what BMW calls “Shy Tech.” Unlike other EV manufacturers who display their latest technology prominently, BMW prefers to hide theirs, believing that “real black technology” is simple on the surface but complex on the inside. The BMW iX exemplifies this idea with features like hidden sensors under its classic “BMW kidney” grille for advanced autonomous driving functions, a windshield washer fluid filler cap under the BMW logo, hidden buttons beneath the wooden control panel, and 4D audio speakers integrated into the seats.
Compared to other technology-laden EVs that may cause social anxiety, the BMW iX confidently and luxuriously showcases what a premium brand should look like in the electric world, providing a valuable lesson for those who turn their EVs into “large technology showrooms.”## “Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division” of human-computer interaction
In the trend of “minimalistic technological aesthetics” spreading in the field of intelligent cockpit human-computer interaction, almost all manufacturers are learning from Tesla’s simple and rude method of eliminating physical buttons. However, for BMW, subtraction is undoubtedly important (the physical buttons on the innovative BMW iX have been reduced by 50%), but if only subtraction is done, it seems that the ambitions of BMW designers and engineers cannot be satisfied. Moreover, the more important issue is that subtraction often brings “inconvenience and higher learning costs”.
Therefore, in terms of human-computer interaction, while subtracting, BMW also uses “addition” to select some frequently used and safety-related functions from the functions that have been removed, and place them in other suitable locations, such as seat adjustment buttons and hazard warning light buttons. With BMW’s efforts, multiplication has been achieved in terms of functional convenience, and division has been achieved in terms of minimalistic visual effect.
In addition, the innovative BMW iX cockpit is equipped with the brand-new BMW iDrive. With an extremely high graphic resolution of 200 pixels per inch (ppi) on a curved surface screen, radical changes have been made to the interaction interface and interaction logic. Generally speaking, it is to display appropriate information in appropriate positions, for example, to achieve three different personalized immersive experiences on the instrument panel, and to provide clear and concise driving information for drivers in combination with the usual display system.
The upgraded BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant was unveiled with the brand-new BMW iDrive. Through breathing-style light balls of different sizes and brightness, it brings a brand-new emotional expression method. The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant can be awakened by buttons and voice, can achieve left and right identification and drive recognition, realize natural semantic comprehension, and complete various functions such as navigation, music, adjusting air conditioning, ambient lighting, windows, panorama dimming roof, and switching My Modes driving modes. In addition, proactive recommendation function is introduced for the first time, reminding users to use appropriate functions at appropriate times. Compared with the “personification” of intelligent assistants of other manufacturers, the breath-style light ball of BMW may lack a little affinity, but it is more in line with its luxurious brand positioning.
The all-new BMW iDrive is equipped with Tencent Xiao Cheng Shi 2.0, expanding its ecological applications. WeChat Car Edition achieves full user satisfaction in every life scenario through full voice interaction, including listening and sending messages, answering and making WeChat voice calls, receiving POI locations, and starting the car navigation function.
Emotional “Bimmer” vs Rational “Geek”
For “new forces” electric car brands without brand culture burden, they never need to worry about this issue. However, for BMW, it is not an easy task to take care of the feelings of Bimmers who cherish the BMW brand culture and win the recognition of Geeks with the concept of “embracing change” for BMW’s creativity and transformation determination. There are differences and commonalities.
The difference lies in the “form”: whether it is fuel or electric, performance control or user experience, but the commonality lies in the “core”: for BMW, it is the love of life, the passion for driving, and the high-level pursuit of human-car interaction.
BMW’s “independent thinking” at this era of change has created an answer for the future facing BMW, namely, BMW iX. We can feel that Geek is the new sexy when innovating BMW iX, and we can also feel BMW’s efforts at every important moment of the electric era.
Do you still remember the unforgettable and moving moment during the BMW brand night before the auto show a few days ago, when the last generation of BMW i8 and innovative BMW iX brushed past each other? Perhaps it foreshadowed BMW’s turn and transformation from “new energy pioneer” to “smart electric pioneer”. We hope that the innovative BMW iX can take over the baton of BMW’s electrification, not disappointing the expectations of Bimmers, and at the same time finding itself in the wave of smart electric vehicles.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.