The first of BMW’s next-generation electric vehicles will be unveiled in September at the 2025 Munich auto show, and will wear iX3 badging, the automaker confirmed Friday.
BMW brought out a camouflaged prototype of this model, the first in a family of EVs dubbed Neue Klasse (German for “new class”) at its annual financial results conference. CEO Oliver Zipse said the camouflage would come off at the Munich show, and confirmed the iX3 name, which first appeared in 2020 on an all-electric derivative of the BMW X3 that was never sold in the U.S.
Pre-production example of first BMW Neue Klasse electric vehicle at plant in Hungary
The Neue Klasse iX3 entered pre-production in November at BMW’s Debrecen, Hungary, plant. It’s expected to borrow styling from the Vision Neue Klasse X concept unveiled in March 2024, and will be followed by a sedan—which might revive the BMW i3 name—based on the Vision Neue Klasse concept first shown in late 2023.
Named after a family of vehicles from the 1960s that set BMW on its current path, the Neue Klasse debuts the automaker’s next-generation interface—including a panoramic head-up display and AI integration—and electric powertrain hardware.
BMW Vision Neue Klasse X concept
Just last month, BMW confirmed that it will use compact, cost-efficient induction motors to power the front axle in all-wheel-drive models, while keeping current-excited synchronous motors at the rear. The Neue Klasse will also feature an 800-volt electrical architecture and cylindrical battery cells installed directly into the pack, with some models using LFP chemistry to keep costs down.
Unlike the first BMW iX3, the Neue Klasse version is expected to be sold in the U.S. BMW in 2023 announced that Neue Klasse models would be built in Mexico, in addition to Hungary and Germany, which would seem to help set them up for U.S. tax credit qualification. But the Trump Administration’s war on EVs and tariff tantrums could jeopardize that.
