BMW iX3 prototype drive: your next-gen EV is nearly here

There's a fight for control going on inside the cockpits of many modern cars. Enable all the active safety systems in a Tesla, and it'll do most of the steering for you. But if it makes an errant turn or meanders a little too far this way or that in the lane (and trust me, it will), you're left wrestling the wheel out of Autopilot's virtual hands.
Assistance systems from other manufacturers do better at ceding control whenever you feel like taking over, but BMW is about to take that to a new level with the first car built on its upcoming Neue Klasse platform. It includes an advanced driver assist system that the company says is a proper symbiosis, where the car's sensors and systems don't fight with or yell at you but instead work with you to make driving safer and less stressful.
I sampled this suite in a prototype of BMW's iX3, the first electric SUV on the Neue Klasse platform, designed from the ground up to offer more range, better handling, and way more smarts. BMW is promising 400 miles of range from a new battery architecture that can charge at up to 400 kW. That means adding something like 200 miles of range in 10 minutes, but there's a lot more to it than that.
Better brains
At the core of the iX3's safety system is a computing platform that BMW calls a 'superbrain.' That's an evocative term for a Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride chip, but it does offer far more power than anything the company has put on the road before. That's paired with a more advanced sensor suite, with better cameras and higher-fidelity radar sensors, all combined to give a better view of the world around.
One of those key sensors is the driver monitoring suite, which can detect where you're looking and whether you're paying attention while behind the wheel. Plenty of cars offer some degree of monitoring like this, usually nagging you with beeping and blinking unpleasantries when your eyes linger on a roadside distraction for too long. The iX3 goes beyond that by using eye-tracking technology to not just complain, but actually improve your experience.
If you're driving down the highway and BMW's highway assistant is active, it'll steer itself and even change lanes. In some current BMWs, you can just look in the mirror to initiate a lane change. The iX3 takes that a step further by proactively putting on the turn signal for you should you take the wheel and change lanes yourself.
Yes, finally, a BMW designed to tackle the most common preconception about BMW drivers: they never signal before changing lanes.
Try to change lanes manually without checking the blind spot, the lane-keep assistance system will resist the change and try to keep you where you are. But, if you've looked first, the car won't resist your control at all, as you've proved to it that you're doing your part.
The car will detect your attention in other ways, too. I had a chance to drive next to a dummy pedestrian standing partially in my lane. Without any input from me, the car came smoothly to a stop. But, when I tried again, steering slightly to the left and showing that I was paying attention, the car allowed me to move out of the lane without resistance.
Smooth driving, smoother stopping
I also got a chance to sample the other brain inside the new iX3, which the company has unfortunately labeled 'Heart of Joy.' This in-house developed processor aggregates all the traction, stability, and electric motor management functions that are typically handled by a dozen different processors sourced from a dozen different suppliers and scattered throughout the car.
Unifying all that has some significant implications. The car can more quickly and seamlessly manage power to the dual motors that give it 400 horsepower and all-wheel drive, so when I was sliding the camouflaged prototype around a wet test track, it felt like the stability and traction control systems were working to help me, rather than just trying desperately to slow me down.
But when it was time to pause the action, something almost magical happened. On a test track, I was told to close my eyes and let the iX3 bring itself to a stop. That process of deceleration was so smooth that I genuinely couldn't tell when the wheels had stopped rolling. The new systems controlling those electric motors allow more precise application of the regenerative braking function. That not only means smoother one-pedal driving, but the kind of perfectly controlled stop that'll keep your passengers from getting jostled at every red light.
An irresistible EV?
Ultra-smooth stopping is a small thing, but it really does increase the comfort of driving around in the iX3. By the end of the day, I was blown away by everything BMW's new EV brings to the table. And that's on top of the big, dashboard-spanning Panoramic Vision display, which runs from one pillar to another to provide a customizable and interactive information display.
The big question, though, is whether any of this will be enough to convince the largely EV-skeptical luxury car buyers out there that all this is good enough to finally make the switch away from internal combustion. The company's gas-powered X3 is consistently one of its top sellers, and while that isn't going away, BMW clearly has high hopes that the iX3 will bring that kind of sales success to its battery-powered efforts.
But it's just the first of multiple models planned on this Neue Klasse platform, all with the same combination of tech and finesse. If they're successful, maybe the world can finally put that BMW blinker stigma to bed for good.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Forbes

an hour ago

• Forbes

What The June 28 European Accessibility Act Deadline Means For Brands

This photograph taken on March 19, 2025 shows European flags outside the EU headquarters in ... More Brussels. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images) In less than a week from now, on June 28, 2025, the requirements of the European Accessibility Act come into force. The intention behind the EAA is to provide fair and equitable access to digital products to the more than 100 million consumers with disabilities living across the European Union. One of the key things to keep in mind about the EEA is that it doesn't just affect European companies. It applies to any organization from around the world selling into the EU market. It goes beyond standard web accessibility and e-commerce, incorporating areas such as computers and operating systems, smartphones, digital TV services, ATMS, ticketing machines and other digital kiosks within its remit. The legislation requires companies to do more than simply make digital products and content accessible. Instead, it seeks to embed accessibility commitments and best practices at a more fundamental organizational level through requirements like official accessibility statements and providing specialized training to staff. Non-compliance with the EAA can lead to fines and ultimately the termination of EU market access. The proximity of the deadline may for some be a cause for panic but cutting through the noise, here are what some digital accessibility specialists are urging organizations to keep in mind with less than a week to go: It's still not too late to get started 'It's not too late to start addressing accessibility. Starting now is better than not doing anything about EAA compliance,' says Jon Avila, Chief Accessibility Officer at Level Access, one of the leading providers of digital accessibility services in the United States. Avila continues, 'For organizations just getting started, the most important steps to take now to mitigate risk are demonstrating that you're taking action to make sustained progress, and beginning to put processes in place aligned with EAA requirements. One of the biggest gaps we observe is third-party content. Companies often assume that embedded tools or plugins are outside their responsibility, but under the EAA, they're very much in scope. We recommend that organizations make accessibility a requirement during the procurement process and request documented proof of accessibility (e.g., a completed VPAT report) from vendors prior to making a purchase.' Eric Portis, a Developer Evangelist at Cloudinary, a software company that helps organizations manage their visual content online, also agrees that it's still not too late to get started with EAA compliance. 'The best time to consider the accessibility of a project was before you shipped it, but the second-best time is today. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are just a big checklist. And while checking every item off the list before June is not a realistic goal for many teams, everyone can start tackling an item or two and begin building momentum towards full compliance. All progress is good progress,' Portis says. The AI landscape has changed Back in 2020, when AI website accessibility overlay widgets hit the market, they were met with a degree of skepticism. That's because the marketing claims were bold – buy a software subscription and let AI do its magic in both spotting and fixing accessibility fails, saving you time and money. It quickly became widely accepted that the technology was, in fact, nowhere near ready to entirely replace human oversight for accessibility remediation. Fast forward five years, and the same remains true but the technology has undoubtedly gotten a lot better meaning that, though AI won't solve all digital accessibility issues, it can now do a lot more of the heavy lifting which genuinely allows teams to focus more precisely on the more nuanced human elements related to user experience. What this ultimately means for the market was recently brought into sharp relief in a report authored by AAAnow, leading digital compliance benchmarking specialists based in London. AAAnow's report looked at the websites of organizations comprising The Valuable 500, a collective of some of the most profitable companies on the planet with long-standing pledges to accessibility and inclusion, including the likes of Apple, Google and BP. According to the V500 scorecard, the average member organization manages around 178 websites, each comprising around 211 pages. To remediate accessibility on the average of 85% of pages where it is required would take 3,480 workdays, or 13 full-time staff working for a year (per org). In terms of cost, this equates to $767,000 per company just for initial compliance, let alone maintenance. Scaled across the full Valuable 500, that's over $380 million and 9 years of full-time work at current capacity. 'We argue that only a risk-managed, AI-powered approach can address the scale, cost, and operational complexity. It's not a 'nice-to-have' - it's fundamental,' commented AAAnow CEO Lawrence Shaw in an earlier interview. Regulation is not something to fear Instinctively, when any type of new regulation comes into force, particularly one that potentially involves fines and other punitive measures, fear and trepidation tend to be the most common reactions off the bat. Yet, it can be argued that brands should welcome the new regulations from the EU as they provide clarity and a roadmap into areas of technical compliance that have previously been murky. In a recent company press release, Amit Borsok, CEO of Italy-based Accessiway, which takes an end-to-end approach to accessibility remediation involving both automation and human testers, said, 'European regulations have shifted the narrative around accessibility from a compliance issue to a strategic investment. Until now, regulatory fragmentation across member states has prevented companies from fully capitalizing on this potential, increasing compliance costs and limiting competitiveness. 'Now, instead of being a hurdle, the new framework provides clarity that encourages companies to invest in accessible technologies and services to expand their market reach. For many organizations, accessibility has evolved from a nice-to-have to a competitive necessity. With regulation now offering predictability and standardization, uncertainty is reduced for investors, and new opportunities for innovation are unlocked.' Though the word deadline usually implies finality, whether, as an organization, you are right at the start of your digital accessibility journey and anxiously playing catch-up, or significantly further down the line, June 28 will surely be the opening of a new chapter for all involved. The story about to unfold will be one of whether human intention layered onto ever more advanced technology can ultimately help make access to the digital realm an equitable experience for everyone.

CNN

an hour ago

• CNN

How your AI prompts could harm the environment

AI Sustainability Climate change EconomyFacebookTweetLink Follow Sign up for CNN's Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety. Whether it's answering work emails or drafting wedding vows, generative artificial intelligence tools have become a trusty copilot in many people's lives. But a growing body of research shows that for every problem AI solves, hidden environmental costs are racking up. Each word in an AI prompt is broken down into clusters of numbers called 'token IDs' and sent to massive data centers — some larger than football fields — powered by coal or natural gas plants. There, stacks of large computers generate responses through dozens of rapid calculations. The whole process can take up to 10 times more energy to complete than a regular Google search, according to a frequently cited estimation by the Electric Power Research Institute. So, for each prompt you give AI, what's the damage? To find out, researchers in Germany tested 14 large language model (LLM) AI systems by asking them both free-response and multiple-choice questions. Complex questions produced up to six times more carbon dioxide emissions than questions with concise answers. In addition, 'smarter' LLMs with more reasoning abilities produced up to 50 times more carbon emissions than simpler systems to answer the same question, the study reported. 'This shows us the tradeoff between energy consumption and the accuracy of model performance,' said Maximilian Dauner, a doctoral student at Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences and first author of the Frontiers in Communication study published Wednesday. Typically, these smarter, more energy intensive LLMs have tens of billions more parameters — the biases used for processing token IDs — than smaller, more concise models. 'You can think of it like a neural network in the brain. The more neuron connections, the more thinking you can do to answer a question,' Dauner said. Complex questions require more energy in part because of the lengthy explanations many AI models are trained to provide, Dauner said. If you ask an AI chatbot to solve an algebra question for you, it may take you through the steps it took to find the answer, he said. 'AI expends a lot of energy being polite, especially if the user is polite, saying 'please' and 'thank you,'' Dauner explained. 'But this just makes their responses even longer, expending more energy to generate each word.' For this reason, Dauner suggests users be more straightforward when communicating with AI models. Specify the length of the answer you want and limit it to one or two sentences, or say you don't need an explanation at all. Most important, Dauner's study highlights that not all AI models are created equally, said Sasha Luccioni, the climate lead at AI company Hugging Face, in an email. Users looking to reduce their carbon footprint can be more intentional about which model they chose for which task. 'Task-specific models are often much smaller and more efficient, and just as good at any context-specific task,' Luccioni explained. If you are a software engineer who solves complex coding problems every day, an AI model suited for coding may be necessary. But for the average high school student who wants help with homework, relying on powerful AI tools is like using a nuclear-powered digital calculator. Even within the same AI company, different model offerings can vary in their reasoning power, so research what capabilities best suit your needs, Dauner said. When possible, Luccioni recommends going back to basic sources — online encyclopedias and phone calculators — to accomplish simple tasks. Putting a number on the environmental impact of AI has proved challenging. The study noted that energy consumption can vary based on the user's proximity to local energy grids and the hardware used to run AI partly why the researchers chose to represent carbon emissions within a range, Dauner said. Furthermore, many AI companies don't share information about their energy consumption — or details like server size or optimization techniques that could help researchers estimate energy consumption, said Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside who studies AI's water consumption. 'You can't really say AI consumes this much energy or water on average — that's just not meaningful. We need to look at each individual model and then (examine what it uses) for each task,' Ren said. One way AI companies could be more transparent is by disclosing the amount of carbon emissions associated with each prompt, Dauner suggested. 'Generally, if people were more informed about the average (environmental) cost of generating a response, people would maybe start thinking, 'Is it really necessary to turn myself into an action figure just because I'm bored?' Or 'do I have to tell ChatGPT jokes because I have nothing to do?'' Dauner said. Additionally, as more companies push to add generative AI tools to their systems, people may not have much choice how or when they use the technology, Luccioni said. 'We don't need generative AI in web search. Nobody asked for AI chatbots in (messaging apps) or on social media,' Luccioni said. 'This race to stuff them into every single existing technology is truly infuriating, since it comes with real consequences to our planet.' With less available information about AI's resource usage, consumers have less choice, Ren said, adding that regulatory pressures for more transparency are unlikely to the United States anytime soon. Instead, the best hope for more energy-efficient AI may lie in the cost efficacy of using less energy. 'Overall, I'm still positive about (the future). There are many software engineers working hard to improve resource efficiency,' Ren said. 'Other industries consume a lot of energy too, but it's not a reason to suggest AI's environmental impact is not a problem. We should definitely pay attention.'

Yahoo

2 hours ago

• Yahoo

Once Considered Passé, Hybrids Roar Back as a Best-of-Both-Worlds Powerhouse

Regardless of the industry, pendulum swings are a challenge to navigate. In 2021, automakers faced one such shift when the European Commission passed legislation requiring a 55 percent reduction in the continent's greenhouse-gas emissions within five years. In response, many marques turned to hybrids as a bridge to an all-electric future. What was once perceived as a temporary fix may, however, prove to be the golden mean. 'The charging infrastructure in most countries is not yet mature enough to support convenient mass adoption of battery-electric vehicles, and in some territories never will be,' says Jonathan Hall, head of research and advanced engineering at U.K.-based consulting group Mahle Powertrain. While Hall stops short of calling hybridization ideal, he notes that 'when extreme performance is needed, then hybrids provide a more compelling answer.' More from Robb Report Flash Is Back: Extravagance Returns to Menswear Amid Economic Upheaval Forget Tearing Down the House. Regenerative Design Is on the Rise. How Sullivan Rutherford Estate Made the Best American Cabernet Sauvignon of the Year Luxury and high-performance automakers seem to agree. Pairing an internal-combustion engine (ICE) with battery power results in more of a complement than a compromise. 'It preserves the sound signature and continuous high-speed power delivery of combustion engines while leveraging electric propulsion's instantaneous torque response and precision,' says Emilio Scervo, CTO of hypercar-builder Bugatti Rimac. Regarding Bugatti's new 1,800 hp Tourbillon hybrid, he adds that 'the electrical system enables sub-millisecond torque vectoring that mechanical differentials cannot match.' Bugatti's siblings under the Volkswagen Group echo this sentiment. 'Hybrids haven't been a transitory technology in our view, but rather an excellent solution for our customers,' says Thomas Wasserbäch, vice president of Porsche's combustion and hybrid-drive-system division. Porsche, active in this space since 2010, just hybridized its iconic 911 for this model year. Lamborghini also joined the trend with the debut of its 1,000 hp Revuelto hybrid in 2023. 'The company doesn't plan to give up the internal-combustion engine anytime soon,' says CTO Rouven Mohr. 'We are also considering synthetic fuels to keep ICE vehicles running after 2030.' Hall concurs: 'With the emergence of bio-based and even fully synthetic fuels, the link between the ICE and climate change can be broken.' Combined with the development of better batteries, this progressive hybrid model could offer the best of both worlds for years to come. Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.