“This is the new normal: We will offer safe fully autonomous driving by 2021,” declared Klaus Fröhlich, the BMW board member responsible for development. He was wearing a dark suit, and standing inside a Lufthansa-branded Boeing 777 parked in a remote hanger at JFK airport. By 2025, Fröhlich claimed, BMW will offer 25 hybrid and electrified vehicles for sale, 12 of them fully electric. It was Sept. 10 and Fröhlich was standing next to a matte-copper and rose-colored car, the so-called Vision iNEXT, a four-person pure-electric SUV that allows drivers to either drive themselves in “Boost” mode or be driven in “Ease” mode. “The focus of this car is not that it’s electric; that’s normal for us, we have been doing it since 2013,” he said, referring to the i8 supercar and i3 economy car launched then. “We are now making what will be your favorite space.” The point of the conceptual exercise, he explained, was to explore a new set of values in a car. Rather than focusing on what has long been BMW’s mantra — creating “the ultimate driving” machine — the Vision iNEXT instead highlights aspects of car travel that have nothing to do with driving. “This car has to add something to the experience, something that is more about human connection,” Fröhlich said. BMW’s star designer Adrian van Hooydonk designed the Vision iNEXT “from the inside out” to make sure his team remained focused on the comforts and helpful amenities BMW should be offering passengers. “It’s high-tech, but it’s ultimately human,” he said that day. “Our customers who love driving don’t mind letting the car drive for two or three hours on a long trip or commute, but people still want to feel something warm and comfortable and easy to understand.” The interior was inspired by boutique hotels, he said: “The materials we used, the textures, are sophisticated and sensual. It’s about surfaces that are easy and inviting to touch.” In other words, automakers need to start thinking about their passenger seats the way airlines do: With convenience and personal luxury in mind. “Autonomy has a big potential to fundamentally alter how people go from point A to point B from a business context,” said Colin Nagy, the head of strategy for Fred & Farid, a global creative agency. “When you can potentially get in a car in New York and arrive at Chicago in the morning, you are looking at a business class experience. You need to think about what the cars are offering in terms of comfort.” Indeed, the interior of the Vision iNEXT looks almost retro, with jewel-toned carpeting lining a cloth-covered lounge-like back seat. The wooden console and flooring in the front look faintly like something you’d buy at Ikea. Two captain’s chairs in front are covered in something suede-adjacent; the long thin bench seat in the back, tall windows, and panoramic rooftop provide enough room for four adults to recline comfortably, drenched in daylight. The front passenger seat has a headrest that folds back to encourage conversation with the back-seated guest; the flat dashboard includes two visible digital display panels and a steering wheel that can be pushed back when not in use. The color scheme was mostly neutral tones, with elements of brown, beige, and something BMW calls “Purus Rosé,” accented in metallic bronze. There was also a center console in the front made with a cross-hatched pattern of light and dark wood; a crystal glass shell underneath the top layer of wood refracts incoming light to bathe the interior in light reflections. Could it feel like being inside a kaleidoscope? Yes, for better or worse. (Bloomberg)