Future BMWs could suck: German brand teases some of its latest tech including experimental fans that suck it closer to the road

February 21, 2025February 21, 2025 John Mahoney 1034 Views 0 Comments 3 series, bmw, Heart of Joy, iX3, M3, Neue Klasse

BMW has given us a new glimpse of its future tech and revealed it EVs could one day come with underbody fans designed to suck them closer to the road for faster cornering.

Releasing pics of a wild quad motor concept called the Vision Driving Experience (VDX), BMW says its new prototype has been built to develop and showcase the new tech that will be available in its future Neue Klasse electric vehicles.

Important VDX visual elements include narrower headlamps, wider lower air intake, prominent splitter, flared wheel arches, wider side skirts, a new integrated rear ducktail spoiler and an enormous diffuser.

Like the inbound M3, the BMW VDX comes with four high-output electric- motors that are thought to produce more than 750kW, although BMW M is keeping the actual figure under wraps for now.

Instead, the focus on the VDX mule is to help engineers hone new tech that includes the Neue Klasse ‘Heart of Joy’ supercomputer that manages the drivetrain and chassis tech,

The first Neue Klasse model to launch and come with the brand’s supercomputer will be the next-generation BMW iX3 mid-size SUV that lands later this year.

In 2026, BMW will then launch the next-gen Neue Klasse 3 Series sedan that is closely related to VDX mule, before the M3 rocks up a couple of years later in 2028.

The Neue Klasse M3 will be sold globally alongside a heavily-updated version of the current combustion-powered super sedan that will remain on sale as long as possible to aid the transition from petrol to all-electric power.

So advanced is the new Heart of Joy that in the future BMW thinks you’ll barely ever use conventional brake discs and pads for normal driving.

Instead. regenerative braking will claw back energy in all but extreme circumstances, boosting the driving range.

Heart of Joy will also enhance efficiency by as much as 25 per cent compared to existing tech, which could see future BMW EVs come with a range of up to 900km.

Said to be 10 times faster than existing on-board tech, the Heart of Joy can also handle where to deploy the test car’s astonishing 18,000Nm of torque.

That figure is thought to be torque at the wheel multiplied by a gear ratio, although it’s rumoured the peak figure of the next M3 could be close to a mighty 1800Nm.

More tech controlled by the BMW’s big brain is the downforce-generating impellers that consist of five 50kW fans that can instantly muster 1000kg of downforce without any drag.

That means faster more stable cornering.

Sadly, for now the new tech is too expensive for the production 2028 BMW M3, but it could arrive later.

Heart of Joy is also has enough capacity to manage torque, the rear-wheel steering, traction and stability control, on-board driver systems and the downforce boosting tech.

Commenting on the new BMW VDX mule the German brand’s R&D boss Frank Weber said: “The Heart of Joy enables us to take driving pleasure not just to the next level, but another one beyond that.”