Frank Van Meel, CEO of BMW M confirmed that by the end of next decade M cars will be electric or hybrid and the first M car to get electrification will be new M3
BMW M cars are always known for their excellent performance and rear wheel drive nature. But over time, things have changed a lot as earlier performance M cars were powered by naturally aspirated powerful V8 or V10 engines but now a days most of them are powered by turbo charged engines.
Earlier M cars were rear wheel drive only and for better traction, now M cars are available with excellent four wheel drive system, which has the capability to transfer 100 percent power to rear wheels. The industry is focusing on reducing emission and electric powered cars are going to be the future.
BMW M is also moving in same direction as the industry. Frank Van Meel, CEO of BMW M confirmed that by the end of next decade M cars will be electric or hybrid. The German manufacturer is currently working on hybrid M tech and they don’t want to rush out before making the technology perfect.
One of the major obstacles for performance electric cars according to M division is that components are heavy which could affect power to weight ratio and increase overall weight of the car. The company want hybrid or electric M cars to offer same driving pleasure as combustion engine powered models.
The first M car to get electrification is going to be next generation M3, which is codenamed as G80. The new 3 series will come with 48-volt electric system, which is a first for BMW. This electric system will be used to power multiple technologies and one of them will be electric turbocharger as it can eliminate turbo lag.
BMW will make some changes for this system on M3 as it will be tuned for performance. The M3 will also come with same all wheel system available on new M5. We can expect most of the next generation M cars in pipeline to carry this tech and eventually moving into electric energy as BMW plans to have 40 percent to its production output to come from electric or hybrid cars by 2025.