Automakers always try to one-up each other to sell more cars. Some introduce useful features while others resort to gimmicks to lure in customers. When BMW showed its quad-motor EV a couple of years ago, the i4 M50-based electric monster performed a tank turn. Is the ability to perform a 180-degree spin on the spot really necessary? Maybe for an off-roader to get out of a sticky situation – as seen in the new electric Mercedes G-Class. However, the hot EVs from Bavaria won’t have it.
We spoke with BMW M boss Frank van Meel and the M division’s R&D chief Dirk Häcker about what the future has in store for electric M cars. Both said they’re not fans of the tank turn, nor a burnout mode à la Ford Mustang’s Line Lock: “I’m not going to implement some kind of function like that in our cars at all. Because that is a rabbit hole, just for show.”
During our interview in Austria at the Salzburgring, the higher-ups at the M division didn’t miss an opportunity to hype up the hardware at the heart of M models: “We have our S68 engine as a benchmark. We have our S58, a six-cylinder engine, that is benchmark. And we will have our own electric motors as benchmarks.”
What we learned during the interview is that BMW M is focusing on what really matters rather than wasting time with gimmicks. Neither discussed in greater detail what’s to come in terms of pure EVs, but that’s not a surprise since the first model won’t be launched before 2027. We do know the engineers are considering dual-motor RWD and quad-motor AWD setups.
Leading the way will be an electric sports sedan in the M3 segment. It’s believed to be internally called “NA0” and should have roughly 700 horsepower. BMW has said it already has the technology for a quad-motor setup with roughly 1,300 hp, but it won’t come out with the big guns right away.
The electric M3, which won’t be called iM3, will reportedly be followed by several other models. We’re hearing the electric M3 Touring, iX3, and iX4 will all get the M treatment this decade.
