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A new test vehicle expected to foreshadow the next-generation electric BMW M3 sports sedan debuts clever computers that promise to make brake discs (nearly) redundant.
Big performance brakes have been an important attribute of the BMW M3 for the past 39 years – but clever electric motor tech could help pull future EV versions of the iconic performance sedan up from race-track speeds in other ways.
BMW has revealed the Vision Driving Experience, a prototype officially pitched as a test bed for the high-tech electronics destined for its next-generation ‘Neue Klasse’ electric vehicles (EV).
Unofficially, it is a rolling test lab for the electric M3, due no sooner than 2027 after the regular 'Neue Klasse' 3 Series EV on which it is based is unveiled in 2026 – and alongside a new, but unrelated petrol version.
Among the systems on board are four computers named Heart of Joy – and regenerative braking tech promised to mean drivers will almost never need to use the conventional brake discs, extending driving range.
‘Neue Klasse’ is the name of the car maker’s dedicated electric-vehicle architecture, first expected to be seen on the next BMW iX3 due for unveiling late in 2025 before its arrival in showrooms in 2026.
BMW said the not-for-production Vision Driving Experience uses ‘Heart of Joy’, a new electronic ‘super brain’ combining control of the drivetrain, braking, energy recuperation and steering systems which have typically been separated.
“We are further increasing efficiency, and therefore boosting range, as in future the driver will brake almost exclusively using energy regeneration. This is Efficient Dynamics squared,” BMW Research and Development boss, Frank Weber, said in a media statement.
The German car giant said in a media release "integrated drivetrain, braking and energy recuperation control allows energy to be used more sustainably … 98 per cent of drivers do not need to make any inputs using the conventional brakes."
Improvements from the Heart of Joy – long rumoured to be the centrepiece of the electric M3, which could produce up to 1000kW – include a promised 25 per cent gain in energy efficiency.
Claimed electric driving ranges in the current generation of electric BMWs stretch up to the iX's 701km, based on European WLTP testing.
While BMW has not claimed the gains translate to a 25 per cent increase in driving range, such an improvement would see this figure increase close to 900km.
One of four ‘superbrain’ computers in the concept car, the ‘Heart of Joy’ computer was developed entirely in-house at BMW and is ten times faster than current BMW systems, the car maker said.
It works with BMW Dynamic Performance Software to handle the Vision Driving Experience test car’s staggering 18,000Nm of torque.
On paper, this would be significantly more than any electric production car on sale in 2025, though BMW may be quoting the torque at the wheels, which is the motor's torque multiplied by the gear ratio.
A 10:1 gear ratio would place the motors' torque at 1800Nm, still among the highest in the world, alongside the Rimac Nevera R electric hypercar's 2362Nm, a Bugatti Chiron hypercar's 1600Nm and the BMW i7 M70's 1100Nm.
The power output is expected to be harnessed by simulated engine noises and gear shifts, as part of a ‘synthetic driving experience' spoken about by BMW M Division boss Frank van Meel.
The Neue Klasse underpinnings will be used beneath an electric version of the BMW M3, while a new petrol model has been confirmed, using what's expected to be an evolution of the current model's underpinnings.
The Vision Driving Experience houses BMW's next-generation Panoramic iDrive infotainment system – destined for all of its future models across electric Neue Klasse, petrol and hybrid models from late 2025 – at January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
