Mission 2021: BMW To Launch iNEXT

It is a project for self-driving, electric and fully connected vehicles

BMW has always aimed at creating offerings with the latest automotive technology, be it engines, transmissions, in-car entertainment or safety features. The cars are conceived through years of research and development, over millions of dollars. However, the industry is now steadily moving towards a means of transport which requires minimal manual input, has an electric powerplant for zero-emissions, and is connected to the infrastructure to make the journey much less tiresome and safe at the same time.

Just like many other carmakers, BMW wants to be a main player in the future. To achieve this aim, the BMW Group is combining its development expertise in vehicle connectivity and automated driving at a new campus in Unterschleissheim near Munich. A range of self-driving, electric and fully connected vehicles will be developed at this facility, and they will fall under the BMW iNEXT category. Upon completion, the 2,000+ employees at this new location will work on everything from software development to road testing in order to enable fully-automated driving.

Klaus Fröhlich – member of the board of management, and responsible for development at the BMW Group – explains how the company plans to form this facility. From mid-2017, the expertise that’s currently spread across several locations will be brought together in Unterschleissheim. Small teams of specialists will be formed for rapid response and collaboration across the company, apart from a high level of individual decision-making authority given to these teams. For example, software developers will be able to take the code they have just written straight for testing in an actual vehicle. The swiftness of the research and development is sure to help the BMW Group launch the BMW iNEXT – the first autonomous BMW in the market – by 2021.

The company aims to start testing the prototypes of automated vehicles in the urban environment of Munich as early as 2017.