BMW Neue Klasse Potential Electric Sports Car Revealed for the First Time

BMW is testing a prototype of a sports car that appears to be electric.

The prototype takes the form of a large coupe with a wedge profile and a relatively high ride height.

The prototype also features an in-wheel motor with an integrated braking system, a technology that BMW is known to be developing with its automotive supplier Continental and electric motor startup DeepDrive.

The mystery sports car could be a demonstrator model of the new in-wheel technology. The car is far from production ready. Currently, there is no external charging port, and engineers are supposed to connect the charging cable to a port under the front hood.

BMW has built such demonstrator models before; in 2015, one had a sports car-like design similar to this prototype. That demonstrator was for hydrogen fuel cell technology.

If production is planned, we may in the future be part of BMW's Neue Klasse family of electric vehicles; Neue Klasse means "new class" in German and refers to BMW's next-generation EV family. The vehicle will be based on a dedicated EV platform, with the first models expected to go on sale in 2025. It will be an electric compact crossover, likely to be badged the iX3. It will be followed in 2026 by an electric compact sedan, likely to be badged i3.

The Neueclasse family will eventually feature a coupe to replace the current 4 Series coupe, but the prototype seen here is likely too radical for a future 4 Series coupe. Instead, this prototype could be for a Neue Klassen sports car that fills the void left by the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car.

BMW's M Performance division planned just such a model several years ago and even designed it before scrapping the project. That design also featured a wedge-like profile and thin LED strips for the taillights. Perhaps the project was revived for a flagship model in the Neue Classe family.