AI this, AI that. Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in our lives, whether we like it or not. Before it takes our jobs, it’s making car ownership 0.1% easier. Take, for example, the new iX3. The next generation of Bavaria’s electric crossover features what BMW calls an AI-assisted charging flap.
How does that work? The EV recognizes when you’re approaching a charging port that the driver has previously used. Once you’re close enough, the AI figures out that you want to charge the battery and opens the flap. It also works if you’re already out of the car and holding the charger, as demonstrated in the video below. After the charging process is complete, the flap automatically closes when you remove the connector. Gimmick or genuinely convenient?
Of course, an automatically opening charging flap is hardly a novelty. Cars like Teslas have had that for years. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for BMW to explain precisely how AI plays a role here in conjunction with the usual sensors and what sets it apart from similar features offered by other automakers.
We do know that the iX3 will support bidirectional charging, although there has been no mention of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) charging so far. BMW has confirmed support only for Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) applications.
The charging flap isn’t the only part of the iX3 with AI built in. BMW says the parking functions include “an AI-based selection of parking assistance services, parking space recognition, maneuver planning, and an improved parking experience.” Additionally, we’re learning that innovations introduced with the Neue Klasse are “AI-based, smart, and update-compatible.”
We’ll be hearing more from BMW about how it plans to leverage AI to make life a bit easier. The new tech brought by Neue Klasse won’t be exclusive to electric vehicles. It’s also coming to cars with combustion engines, starting with next year’s 3 Series “G50” and the X5 “G65.”