BMW’s Heart Of Joy Promises Ultimate Driving Machines

BMW ran into one big problem on the road to developing EVs: It didn't have a car that was fast or powerful enough to really test its new vehicle dynamics computer.

To really test the new computer it calls the Heart of Joy, BMW had to build a four-motor EV with well over 1,000 horsepower, 13,269 lb-ft of torque, and a series of fans to suck the car to the pavement like a banned F1 car. A few months ago in South Carolina, I got to sit in the passenger seat while one of BMW's pro drivers did his best to scare me and my two poor colleagues sitting in the back.

The Heart of Joy is a clever name for a serious bit of computer hardware. In a gas-powered car, a series of computers are responsible for how the car drives. The brakes, fuel, ignition, boost, and even the shocks are all handled separately. They can be run by the fastest computers in the world, but they're still at the mercy of the limits of a gas engine to respond. In an EV, there are no such limits.

BMW's new control unit does everything, and it does it faster. Motor output, brakes, charging, recuperation, and steering functions, and it does it all at the same time. With no gas engine limits and ten times faster than before.

The brand's current EVs aren't quick enough or complex enough to really tax the system, so BMW had to build something to push the limits of the hardware. The Vision Vehicle is a four-motor monster that is just the trick.

I'm not thinking about how the Heart of Joy is controlling four motors, brakes, steering, active aero, and the fans that suck this car to the surface of the BMW experience test track, though. I'm trying not to be sick as the hot shoe behind the wheel does his best to make sure that I am.

He's a pro, though, so even though we're going at triple-digit speeds through corners where an M4 would be going half as fast, he's talking calmly through the entire experience. Pointing out what he's trying to do and how the car responds to it.

ICE vehicles are largely on or off. The ECU can pull fuel and boost, but only a small amount. The fuel injectors work in a narrow range, so outside of that the car is just cutting the throttle. An EV doesn't have that limitation. The Heart of Joy can pull back tiny amounts of torque before you can even notice the tire is losing traction. Making minuscule adjustments more quickly than your mind can process, adding and cutting power to each wheel individually, firming or softening shocks, and even adding and removing regenerative braking on a single-wheel basis, all so that the car tracks exactly where you want it to go.

Want to go sideways? You can still do that. The computer makes big drifts more intuitive thanks to the same incredible response times, as long as you're in the drift mode instead of the standard mode. Our test driver tosses the car into full four-tire-smoking donuts so quickly and smoothly that it if the cabin wasn't filling with smoke and I wasn't pinned against the harnesses, I'd think I was watching a simulation.

BMW describes the Heart of Joy as a "superbrain." Future BMWs will have four of them, with one for the autonomous driving systems, one for the car's internet connectivity, and one for the climate control. The future of performance driving might not be loud, but it feels like BMW will be able to give the rest of your senses a workout anyway.

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