BMW says it’s easy and important to create niche body styles like the upcoming Neue Klasse 4 series coupe – Jalopnik

One of the biggest advantages of a modern vehicle platform, especially one designed for electric vehicles, is that its modularity (and the typical EV skateboard setup) can make it a lot easier and cheaper to create different body styles and derivatives. You can look at almost any brand to prove this, but this is most true for higher-end brands. I mean, look at how many different types of crossovers the German brands are selling, and do you really think Porsche could get away with selling the Taycan wagon in the US if it wasn’t electric?

Some body styles and niches are more of a flash in the pan than others, while others are enduring hits – I should know, I drive a first-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS – and automakers are constantly adapting their lineups based on market demand, dropping some models and introducing others, new ones. BMW is no different; there have been reports in recent years that BMW would be trimming some of its derivatives in the coming years, particularly some of its crossover coupes. But as BMW’s head of development and engineering Joachim Post told AutocarIt’s easy and cheap for the Bavarian automaker to make derivative models, which points to the upcoming next-generation 4 Series EV, based on the Neue Klasse platform, which should debut next year.

Post told Autocar that it is “relatively easy to outline the business case” for a car like the 4 Series. “It’s not that [as] duration [as] we are making a completely new car and every time we make a 3-series or X3, we are still thinking about the 4-series or be an additional opportunity for customers who like the proportions. of cars that are a bit sportier and more dynamic,” Post added.

While the i4’s 800-volt architecture offers rear- or dual-motor configurations, ultra-fast charging, and super-long range, you can also get the 4 Series with internal combustion engines. BMW is introducing an updated version of its existing CLAR platform that can handle the more advanced technologies and infotainment system of the New Class cars, and with powertrains that should be more hybridized than the current ones. Apart from a slightly higher hood, some more intakes at the front and the presence of exhaust tips, the two different models should look basically identical despite their different platforms.

Oh yes, and there will definitely be a next-generation M4, both with an inline-6 ​​internal combustion engine and a quad-motor EV setup. Post said BMW has a “bigger advantage compared to a few others” because it has already developed its new gas engines to meet the upcoming Euro 7 regulations. (He said even Rolls-Royce’s V12 will survive.)