As an old rival of Mercedes-Benz, BMW has been benchmarking Mercedes-Benz in terms of products, Mercedes-Benz has C/E/S class, and BMW corresponds to 3/5/7 series, in which the existence of Mercedes-Benz's flagship sedan S-class has established the appearance of D-class luxury cars. Although the S-class has become a hegemonic existence, BMW has not given up and has been using various high-tech means to create a 7-series flagship sedan to catch up with its opponents.
Recently, BMW announced at the group's annual meeting of the financial report that in 2022, the mass production and trial production of pure electric vehicle models will reach 15 models, including the new iX, new i4, new iX3 that have been listed; as well as the upcoming release of the new 3 series (i3 L), the new 5 series (i5), the new X1 (iX1) and other pure electric versions. Of course, the most interesting thing is that the new generation of 7 series and pure electric i7 models are officially launched, and some of the design details and technological highlights of the new generation 7 series are displayed to the world.
The design has been completely redesigned
In terms of model planning, the new generation of 7 Series won or will be officially unveiled at this year's Beijing Auto Show. It is understood that the new car will provide both internal combustion engine and plug-in hybrid and pure electric versions. (Among them, the pure electric version of the model is i7) At the appearance level, it can be seen from the trailer video released that the design features of its double kidney network will be further enlarged, and it will also be equipped with a contour light strip similar to the redesigned 8 series model. At the same time, the LED daytime running light part adopts a similar design to the XM concept car, composed of luxury crystal elements, with a BMW ring-shaped flare grille, which looks imposing and impactful. Because of the limited video conditions, the 100% detailed design of the new car can only be officially revealed when it is unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show.
Entering the car, the new car once again exerts the crystal element design to the extreme after the crystal barrier, and the central control part adopts a through-channel crystal decorative strip and a through-surface screen. In addition, the new iDrive operating system not only has more functional operations, but also provides a mode selection system linked to the whole car's mood lights.
The rear of the new car is equipped with a hovering screen up to 31 inches in size, with a resolution of up to 8K and an ultra-wide ratio of 32:9. It is worth mentioning that this in-car entertainment system, through the "suspension of the giant screen" to create the rear space into an exclusive private theater, through the adjustment of the sun blinds, 5G network playback, the introduction of panoramic star track canopy also further enhance the riding experience of this flagship car.
In terms of power, bmw has only released the battery life parameters of the pure electric model i7. It is understood that this pure electric model will have more than 600 kilometers of driving range. In addition, the official also announced that in the future, its factories will be gradually upgraded to a highly intelligent and environment-friendly iFactory, thereby ensuring the supply of batteries for new energy models, the group suppliers will build 5 new battery factories, and the BMW Group will continue to make efforts in the construction of charging facilities and hydrogen refueling stations.
What exactly does iFACTORY mean?
To sum up, this set of standards can be summed up in three words: green, lean, and digital. Green refers to the use of circular economy models and state-of-the-art technologies to maximize the reduction of the carbon footprint of each vehicle produced; lean refers to high production efficiency, high flexibility and high precision; digitalization means the use of artificial intelligence and data science in production for better real-time planning and development.
It is reported that whether it is a century-old factory in Munich, Germany, or a factory in Debrecen, Hungary, which is about to start construction, it will strictly follow the iFACTORY standard, and this future production model will also allow consumers to get better products from BMW. Not only that, the BMW Group's global sales of new energy vehicles have increased by 70% in the past 2021, and in order to continue this momentum, the BMW Group will accelerate the promotion of pure electric product lineups and accelerate electrification.
We can truly feel the acceleration of BMW, the official said: by 2030, bmw group plans to deliver a total of 10 million pure electric vehicles to customers. At that time, the other major brands of the BMW Group will also be fully electrified, including Rolls-Royce and MINI. Moreover, the development of hydrogen energy electric vehicle technology of the BMW Group is also in an orderly manner.
Che Yun summary
Whether it is Mercedes-Benz or BMW, the release of each flagship model has announced the beginning of a new era. From this BMW annual meeting, we can see the bmw group's great determination to transform new energy, and from the facts, they have also planned a clear direction from many fields. BMW has now sounded the horn of new energy, and let's wait for the arrival of the "new generation" together!