BMW is working on an all-new generation of vehicles which will be fully electric and for this new series of models it is reviving an old moniker, Neue Klasse. It means ‘new class’ in German and it announces the transition to considerably different and more advanced vehicles, one of which will be a fully-electric 3 Series equivalent model expected to debut in 2025.

The Bavarians will still have an ICE 3 Series in their lineup in four years’ time, so the electric 3, internally dubbed NK1, will be sold alongside the regular model. It will the the first new Neue Klasse model and it will be more advanced than any BMW EV before it, benefitting from a new platform, the manufacturer’s sixth-gen electric powertrain, more range (reportedly up to 700 km/435 miles), quicker charging and more lightweight materials used in its construction.

BMW wants its vehicles to become the greenest on the market, both in terms of their efficiency, the manufacturing and assembly process, as well as the ease with which they can be recycled at the end of their life. Before we get to see the production NK1, though, expect to see it previewed by some kind of concept within the next two years.