As transportation planners, engineers, and enthusiasts anticipate a world in which autonomous vehicles powered by alternative fuels become increasingly common, it is not surprising that BMW—a company celebrating its centennial—would spend little time reflecting on its storied past. Following appearances in Munich, Beijing, and London, the BMW Group’s exhibit Vision Next 100: Iconic Impulses finished its world tour on October 16 in Santa Monica, and there was barely a mention of legendary cars like the 2002 Turbo or the iconic M3.

Instead, BMW Group’s Frank Breust (Vice President of Government and External Affairs) and Fabio Olivotti (Head of Design Identity and Media) kept the focus of their presentations on the future of transportation, which they expect to be shaped primarily by decarbonization and digitization. As a result, BMW is designing vehicles based on the acronym ACES; a world where transportation is increasingly Automated, Connected, Electrified, and Shared.

The company currently sells seven battery-powered models—five of them in the United States, with more on the way—and they are working to expand fast charging infrastructure on the east and west coast. BMW’s ReachNow “free floating car sharing service” is in operation in Seattle and Portland, and the company plans to expand to ten markets by the end of 2017. They are also negotiating with public utilities to reduce cost of ownership and impacts on the power grid by dynamically adjusting the time of day at which cars charge.

Olivotti presented design concepts representing each of BMW’s brands: BMW, Rolls Royce, MINI, and BMW Motorrad, the company’s motorcycle division. He acknowledged the tension inherent in trying to continue BMW’s reputation of driver-oriented vehicles in a future where driving may become primarily autonomous. Whereas the Rolls Royce of the future may not include a steering wheel or controls of any kind, serving as a “grand sanctuary,” BMWs will likely have a steering wheel that can be collapsed for autonomous driving, or expanded and engaged for driver-operated control. The MINI concept presented might be used in a car sharing service and would customize itself automatically according to the preferences of each driver, and the BMW motorcycle represented a vision of a world where riding is so safe one need not bother with a helmet.

Following the presentation, Dr. Rajit Gadh, Director of UCLA’s Smart Grid Energy Research Center, moderated a panel discussion with the BMW Group’s representatives, along with Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc., and Janea Scott, Commissioner of the California Energy Commission. The panelists encouraged students from fifteen schools in southern California—including about 20 planning and engineering students from USC—to keep pursuing innovative policies, to ask for help (and funding) for their projects, and to keep asking questions.

Rui Zhang, a Master of Planning student at USC’s Price School of Public Policy, said she enjoyed the immersive experience of the 360 degree presentation space: “The design concepts really got me thinking about the future of transportation, and the presentation helped me to see how radically different our lifestyles might be in the near future.”

After the panel, students had a chance to inspect the four design concepts up close, ask questions of the panelists and, of course, take plenty of photos. Anyone interested in taking a closer look at BMW’s vision for the future of transportation is encouraged to take a virtual tour of the exhibition at the Vision Next 100 website.

Eric Tunell

Eric Tunell is a Master of Planning student in the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He currently works for the METRANS Transportation Center, a joint partnership between USC and California State University Long Beach, and has worked previously in communications for the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and for National Geographic. He can be reached via email or on LinkedIn.