BMW i Vision Circular concept courts controversy with yet another take on the once-sacred corporate kidney grille

BMW has wheeled out a not-for-production electric vehicle (EV) concept as the carmaker’s centrepiece at this year’s IAA motor show in Munich, boasting laudable eco traits including 100 per cent recyclability and zero emissions power, as well as a whole new look for the German brand.

Dubbed i Vision Circular, and only slightly larger than the existing BMW i3 hatch, it’s an imagining (hence the ‘vision’ bit) of what a circa-2040 premium family car would look like.

That said, as futuristic as it is, the four-metre long, four-seat, monospace EV seems to also have been influenced by 1980s Memphis Design motifs, as well as autumnal hues from 40 years ago.

As with recent BMW releases like the coming iX and i4 EVs, the IAA concept’s ‘face’ makes a divisive statement, since all the lighting elements are contained within a full-length kidney grille shape – though in a horizontal rather than vertical plane this time around. A glass panel also takes care of the lighting duties out back.

While BMW design director Adrian van Hooydonk revealed that some of the i Vision Circular’s details will find their way to some near-future production models, his boss, BMW chairman Oliver Zipse, emphasised that this is not a “foretaste” of the highly-anticipated ‘Neue Klasse’ platform announced earlier this year.

Set to debut in 2025, that’s an EV-prioritising all-new electric-first/internal combustion engine-second architecture expected to underpin the next-generation 3 Series/X3 models and their offshoots. In the BMW universe, ‘Neue Klasse’ is historical shorthand for breaking with tradition, since it applied to the then-radical 1962 1500 range that saved the company from bankruptcy and moulded its reputation as a maker of sports sedans.

Back to the present, the i Vision Circular’s main takeaway is its industry-leading sustainability, since everything from its conception and manufacturing processes to the finished car revolves around not harming the planet even more.

Adhering to what BMW calls a “circular economy” philosophy, it includes the unpainted aluminium body that’s finished in anodised bronze, the absence of conventional ‘ornamentation’ like chrome, the adoption of highly energy-dense solid-state battery technology (sadly that’s all the company has to say about that for now) and even specially produced natural rubber tyres.

Accessed via i3-style outer-hinged ‘portal’ doors, the fully recyclable, ultra-minimal cabin too neutralises its environmental footprint throughout, even to the point where end-of-life dismantling requirements are met with non-toxic adhesives and easy-release single-piece fasteners to aid removal. Seat upholstery includes mauve velvet-like textures.

Also present is a square steering wheel, a floating dashboard brandishing natural wood and crystal elements that look like a glacier that’s swallowed a disco dancefloor, but no dials or visible switchgear. BMW is using the term “phygital” (a portmanteau of physical and digital) to describe the feel of using the electronic interface.

Furthermore, all instrumentation, vehicle data and multimedia info are flashed across a lower strip of the massive windscreen and completely multi-configurable, upstaging Mercedes’ latest 1.4-metre Hyperscreen tech found in the EQS and EQC.

While much of what we see in the i Vision Circular today remains in the fantasy realm for now, the concept’s goal is to reassure the public that going carbon neutral is the new must-have luxury of the future.

“Premium needs responsibility – and this is what BMW stands for,” Mr Zipse said.