BMW Vision iNEXT Gallery

What does the car of the near-future look like? That's what the BMW Vision iNEXT aims to answer, picking up from where the BMW i3 left off, and looking ahead to 2021. Indeed, that's when the automaker expects a production version of the concept you see here to arrive in dealerships.

It may be midsized in comparison to most of the other cars in BMW's line-up – it's actually closer to an X5 in size than an i3 – but it's intended as a technology flagship nonetheless. The Vision iNEXT gets color-shifting paint and an oversized double-kidney grille, though rather than delivering cooling to a gas engine, the all-electric car uses it for various sensors.

Inside, there's fabric with integrated touch-sensors, a cabin laid out more like a lounge than your typical car, and two different driving modes: Boost and Ease. The former positions all the controls for eager driving, while the latter is a more spaced-out configuration for exploring at leisure. The infotainment systems managed primarily by voice, though LEDs will glow through the surfaces, and projected displays will replace LCDs.