好奇心レポート009：『BMWデザイン、傑作の予感』ーーー【ノイエ・クラッセ：EV-M3】/ 【Neue Klasse EV-M3】ーーーGuaranteed 『The Future Masterpiece』

“Now then, the first topic is the [Neue Klasse]. In German, this means ‘new class’ (or ‘new standard’). It’s the name of the legendary car that BMW launched in the 1960s, staking the company’s very future on it, and which defined the brand’s sporty image today. They went out of their way to revive it in this era of EVs. You can really tell how committed the company is. So, what is the core of the design that this Neue Klasse brings? In a nutshell, it’s the ‘aesthetics of subtraction’ and the ‘reversal of priorities’!”

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Hans crossed his arms and nodded in admiration.

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“A reversal of priorities, huh? How exactly does that change things?”

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“Listen. In gasoline-powered cars up until now, the star of the show—the massive, hot, and proud ‘engine’ (internal combustion engine)—sat enthroned at the front. That’s why the ‘long nose, short deck’—a long hood and a tight, short rear—was a symbol of power and an absolute requirement for beautiful design. It was a sign of respect for the powerful ‘heart’ at the front, a tradition dating back to the days of horse-drawn carriages. But EVs don’t have that. Mechanically speaking, there’s simply no need to leave a long empty space under the hood anymore.”

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“I see. So, we should shorten the front end and use that space to make the passenger compartment wider. That’s practical, isn’t it? In our line of work, too, customers are happier when we trim the excess fat off the bone to carve out a larger cut of the most delicious lean meat.”

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“Exactly! But Hans, there’s a ‘huge trap’ here that drives designers crazy. You see, humans have had the ‘golden ratio of an engine-powered car’—something we’ve been accustomed to for decades, even centuries—unconsciously ingrained in our brains as ‘beautiful.’ So, if you just earnestly build a car with an extremely short front end, it ends up looking kind of squat and plump, like a ‘driving mayonnaise bottle’ or just a boring minivan. The sense of dynamism—like kicking off the ground—and the “class” expected of a luxury car, which we value above all else, would vanish. That’s what’s so terrifying.”

(Bang! Bang!)

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“I see. So if you design the shape based solely on function, it just becomes a tool with absolutely no sex appeal. We need that sex appeal to tear down the Autobahn at 200 km/h. So, how do you maintain that beauty?”

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“That’s exactly why, with the Neue Klasse, we’re elevating the ‘compromises of the mechanical system’ into a ‘new sense of tension’ in the exterior design. If there’s an opening in the front, we don’t just leave it as a blank space or wasted area. We carve it out as a sculptural mass of aerodynamics designed to smoothly channel airflow and press the tires against the road.

Furthermore, take the ‘kidney grille’—the face of BMW. It no longer needs to be merely a ‘radiator air intake’ for cooling the engine. The grille of the future will be reborn as a digital ‘eye’ that stares sharply at the ground, and as a ‘window of intelligence’ that elegantly conceals the sensors and cameras for autonomous driving. We’ll thoroughly strip away the unnecessary press lines that used to clump the surface. A muscular, solid volume—as if a single sheet of metal were tautly stretched. This is the first step in the future exterior design we’re presenting!”

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Second Topic: [Quad Motor]—The Roar from the Four Corners, a Sturdy Frame—

(Bang! Bang! Bang!)

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“Now, things are really going to pick up from here! The second theme is [Quad Motor]. ‘Quad’ means ‘four.’ In other words, it’s not just about placing one large motor on each of the front and rear axles. It’s the ultimate drive system, featuring one powerful, fully independent small motor on each of the four wheels!”

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Hans’s eyes widened, and he set down his beer mug.

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“Whoa, wait—four motors!? That’s a bit over the top. Usually, one big motor right in the middle is more than enough to power a car. Even Hans’s workshop smoker only needs one heat source—it’s enough to circulate heat throughout the whole thing.”

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“That’s fine for smoking food (laughs). But listen, Hans—when it comes to a car that pushes ‘driving, turning, and stopping’ to the absolute limit, what do you think would happen if all four tires applied completely independent forces and could accelerate and decelerate—literally—‘in milliseconds’? It would enable cornering on a whole new level, far beyond conventional physical limits. Acrobatic maneuvers—like the right wheel surging forward while the left wheel is subjected to powerful braking—become effortless. We call this ‘absolute freedom of dynamic performance.’

And how does this powerful mechanism, the ‘Quad Motor,’ affect the exterior design? That’s exactly what we mean by ‘the visual shift of the center of gravity to the four corners’!”

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“Shift to the four corners? Thomas, you’re using those complicated designer terms again. Translate that so I can understand it!”

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“What I mean is, the heavy mechanisms that used to be located at the center of the car—whether front- or mid-engine—have completely disappeared, and that mass and energy are now fully distributed right next to the four wheels—that is, to the ‘four corners’ of the car. That means, from a design perspective, there’s no longer any need to emphasize the car’s ‘center.’ Instead, we must visually emphasize the image of ‘the four tires gripping the Earth’s surface with fierce, unyielding force!’

From a designer’s perspective, the dynamic bulges of the wheel wells (the fenders surrounding the tires) and the waistline of the body—which tapers in from there—take on greater significance than ever before. Future EVs equipped with quad motors must adopt proportions that make them appear to be crouching low and powerfully on the ground, much like a leopard on all fours, muscles tensed, stalking its prey. If the mechanics have expanded outward, then the design, too, must explode with energy outward. This overwhelming sense of “grip” and “wildness” is precisely the new expression of sportiness in the EV era, where the roar of the engine is gone!”

(Bang!)

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Topic 3: [Long Wheelbase]—The Giant Under the Floor, Visual Magic—

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“Now, as we approach the climax, let’s move on to the third topic: [Long Wheelbase]. The wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear wheels. With EVs, in order to extend the driving range at all costs, you have to pack as many heavy, flat, massive batteries as possible into the ‘underfloor’ space between the front and rear tires. That’s why every EV is inevitably destined to have a long wheelbase, as well as a high and thick floor.”

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Hans nodded vigorously and puffed out his chest proudly.

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“Oh, I know that too! You widen the distance between the axles as much as possible to fit in lots of batteries, right? But Thomas, if you just widen the distance between the tires and make the floor thicker, won’t the whole car end up looking bulky and unsophisticated—like an ‘obese car’?”

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“Exactly, Hans! That’s exactly the biggest hurdle that keeps us designers tossing and turning all night!”

(Bang, bang, bang!)

“Just imagine this. If the floor gets thicker, the overall height of the car goes up. If the wheelbase gets longer, it looks stretched out when viewed from the side. A car built strictly to meet technical requirements ends up being nothing more than a ‘heavy iron box’—not an agile athlete.

That’s why we designers make full use of the ‘magic of light and shadow’ (visual tricks).

Thanks to the long wheelbase, the door length and interior space are overwhelmingly more spacious than anything seen in the era of gasoline-powered cars. For passengers, this is a supreme evolution—they can stretch out and relax as if in a first-class lounge.

To make this “overwhelmingly long cabin” appear sleek and dynamic from the outside, we deliberately run sharp black lines along the side sills (the base beneath the doors) and deeply carve large, sculptural “shadows” (indentations) into the sides of the body that catch the light. By controlling the reflection of light, we visually “erase” the thickness of the underbody where the battery is packed, making the entire body look light and nimble, as if it were floating in the air!

Furthermore, by adopting a long wheelbase, we can drastically shorten the front and rear overhangs (the distance from the tires to the edges of the car)—this is our greatest asset. Because the front and rear are so tightly packed, when viewed from the side, the car appears much more compact than its actual dimensions, conveying a sense of agility—as if it’s about to dart forward at any moment.

We brilliantly turn the mechanical constraint of a “long floor” into an exterior characterized by “overwhelming elegance” and a “luxurious new interior space.” This is the answer born of our designers’ relentless determination in the face of the massive challenge posed by the long wheelbase!”

(Pop! Pop!)

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Core Question: How do we turn innovation into “true innovation”?

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Hans remained silent for a moment, overwhelmed by Thomas’s impassioned speech. The breeze blowing across the courtyard gently rippled the foam on his beer. Hans exhaled deeply and looked at Thomas with a serious expression.

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“I see… With the Neue Klasse, you’re creating the face of the future by stripping away the unnecessary; with the Quad Motor, you’re expressing a firm grip on all four corners; and with the long wheelbase, you’re creating supreme space and a taut form. I fully understand the ‘visual battle’ you designers are waging.

But listen, Thomas. As a senior figure in the world of manufacturing, may I ask you something fundamental?”

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“What is it, Hans?”

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“What you just said—as technology advances, other manufacturers will be able to imitate it perfectly, won’t they? Companies in Silicon Valley, even the new giant manufacturers in Asia, will do the same: lay flat batteries across the floor, attach four motors, and churn out cars with similar shapes at even lower prices in a flood-like wave.

This is a time of once-in-a-century transformation. What exactly is the difference between mere ‘change’—simply saying, ‘We used new technology to make a new kind of car’—and the ‘true innovation’ you’ve been talking about all this time?”

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Thomas’s eyes widened for a moment, then he smiled happily.

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“…Hans, you really do pinpoint exactly the ‘most painful issue’ we’ve been debating all night, day after day. That’s right—mere ‘innovation’ is nothing more than a replacement of technology. Saying ‘we switched from gas cars to electric cars’ or ‘we made the screen bigger’ is just a change in the means.

What’s absolutely necessary to elevate that to ‘true innovation’ is the ‘creation of meaning’ and its ‘establishment as culture.’”

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“Creating meaning? Culture?”

(Bang! Bang!)

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