German Carmaker BMW Unveils its Autonomous Electric Crossover SUV

BMW plans to roll out autonomous electric crossover SUV in the future. Currently, iNext (company’s vision) is just a concept vehicle and is likely to start its production in 2021. The vision car was showcased at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York where it was kept inside the belly of a cargo plane. The company exhibited working versions of some of the technologies being considered for iNext, which included sensitive fabrics and interactive projections. It’s not clear whether the aspects or capabilities would be available in the production version of the car.

If we look at the interior of the car, then it has a crafted like ambiance. The fabric that is used in the seat, walls, and dashboard are richly textured. There is a table like metal base structure with an inlaid wooden top on the front seats.

The company’s engineers are looking to turn the wood surface of the table to be used as a touchpad. Currently, BMW cars have a feature where drivers can write letters with their fingers on top of a large plastic control knob. And iNext may also have similar kind of feature where its occupants will be able to write letters using their fingers on the seat fabrics.

According to BMW, the company will create and engineer future models so they can all be produced with a choice of internal combustion, electric or hybrid power. That will allow them to easily shift production of new cars to suit consumer and regulatory demands as they shift.