BMW has announced a new generation of sound effects for its upcoming Neue Klasse electric car family.
Called HypersonX, the new EV soundscape will be a part of BMW’s equally new Operating System X software, which is a part of the Neue Klasse electric cars, pictured below, that will begin rolling out later in 2025.
An element of the BMW Panoramic iDrive concept we tried out earlier this year, HypersonX is described as a “multi-dimensional spectrum” that “adapts the sounds precisely to the driving situation at hand and, in so doing, creates an emotional interaction between the driver and their vehicle.” BMW says.
EVs making noise is nothing new. Many seek to create the electrical equivalent of an engine and exhaust, both to entertain the driver but also to help convey a sense of speed.
Porsche has leaned into the creation of augmented EV sound tracks more than most with the optional Porsche Electric Sport Sound system of its Taycan. Hyundai offers a system that mimics the sound of an engine with its Ioniq 5 N, while other EVs instead opt to whisk their occupants around in silence, and the Tesla Model 3 makes childish fart sounds with its "Emission Testing Mode".
In fact, BMW's existing EVs all use sound composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer, which sounds more like a spaceship than a car.
BMW says the new sound system is only possible thanks to technological advancements in EV hardware and software brought about by the Neue Klasse platform. Together with Operating System X and a new control unit, BMW says the HypersonX soundscape will bring “an innovative audio architecture” to its future cars, giving them character and enhancing the driving experience.
Comprising 43 sound signals and driving sounds, HypersonX is said to adjust the car’s sound based on driving situation, and create “an emotional interaction” between the driver and their vehicle. In a bid to increase driving pleasure, BMW says the system gives more colour, depth and precision to the sound of its EVs, and that the artificial sounds made by its Neue Klasse vehicles will represent a significant expansion on what’s previously been possible.
Under acceleration while using Sport or Personal driving modes, BMW says, “the vehicle gives the impression of moving between different three-dimensional layers of sound, thus transporting the feeling of speed and BMW-typical driving dynamics authentically into the cabin.”
As well as giving its EVs a sporty drive, BMW says the HypersonX sound system can emphasise the middle and low sound frequency ranges, and work with ambient lighting to “give those on board a fine sense of wellbeing.”
The carmaker used a new algorithm to generate more than nine million sound instances based on its sound DNA, which were then filtered into a “brand-typical essence” that helped it generate a cohesive, multi-dimensional acoustic experience.
Clever bit of marketing, or a genuine attempt at producing an EV as acoustically exciting as a petrol-powered, six-cylinder BMW M3 of yesteryear? We’ll see (and hear) the first of its Neue Klasse EVs later this year, and I can’t wait to find out.
