There’s an Electric BMW M Car in Our Future
Motorsport division boss Frank Van Meel confirms an all-electric M car is “unavoidable”
In an interview with Auto Express, BMW M boss Frank Van Meel revealed that an all-electric M car will be “unavoidable,” showing that even the brand’s hardcore motorsport division isn’t immune to the future of electrification.
Don’t scream blasphemy quite yet, though. Pure electric M cars are still a ways off, and hybrids will have to bridge a gap between current M cars and fully electric models. The hybrids will be focused on performance, a la the Ferrari LaFerrari, using electricity to augment the car’s internal combustion engine and not necessarily increasing fuel economy. That's left for the i brand of BMW.
Apparently, neither is the technology quite there, or up to M standards. Van Meel mentioned, “Currently we still have a power to weight issue with electrification which makes that difficult to fit into a motorsports philosophy.”
Just a few years ago, we would scoff at the idea of hybrid technology finding its way into performance cars. Times have changed, and assuming BMW M can pull it off, we say bring it.
