BMW M confirms its first EV

BMW M CEO Markus Flasch has revealed the first all-electric vehicle from the Bavarian car-maker’s performance division will be based on the upcoming BMW i4 in 2021.

Speaking to Australian media ahead of today’s launch of the new BMW M3 and M4, Flasch said BMW M’s first EV will be launched next year, followed by undisclosed hybrid M models.

“Next year we will launch the first battery-electric M car in the performance segment based on the [BMW] i4,” he said.

“So that’s something I can confirm, and then we are working on hybrid performance and high-performance electric cars, but it’s too early to disclose which models they are going to be.”

The BMW M boss cautioned that the company’s first EV will not be a full-blown M high-performance model, but rather an M Performance vehicle.

“We will bring the first battery-electric M car, but this will be a performance car, not a high-performance car, so it will not be a competitor to the M3 and M4,” he said.

However, that doesn’t mean the 2021 BMW i4 M Performance, as it’s expected to be called, will be slow.

Far from it, given the concept that previewed the all-new BMW i4 at the 2020 Geneva motor show in March packed a 390kW power punch (and an estimated 800Nm of torque) from a big 80kWh battery pack.

That would make the standard BMW i4 more powerful than the new M4 Competition Coupe, which brings an upgraded 375kW/650Nm twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six and is claimed to hit 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

The M version will naturally be more powerful and quicker than the standard BMW i4, which is based on the 4 Series Gran Coupe four-door sedan, but it won’t be quicker or faster than the M4 – because it will be a lot heavier.

That said, BMW is promising 0-100km/h times of around four seconds and a 200km/h-plus top speed for the i4, so the M version won’t be too far off the M4’s pace.

But even if the BMW i4 M produces close to 500kW/1000Nm, Flasch said building performance EVs is not just about power.

“First of all it’s not just about power output,” he said. “It’s about when can we combine the power of the electric systems that we develop within the company and bring it into an M package.

“Steering-wise, lateral dynamics-wise, this is the big question. Sound of course is another one that we have science going on [around] to create the M-specific feeling.

“And first of all the biggest question to answer is how to handle the weight of the battery-electric car and still offer M-style dynamics.”

Indeed, Flasch indicated the energy density and therefore weight of current battery technology was not yet mature enough for a pure EV to be a fully-fledged M car, which would likely incorporate at least two electric motors.

“The [EV] technology that we’re looking at on the high-performance side will take some more years to come and you can imagine that weight will play a significant role in that,” he said.

“And then of course driving dynamically… chassis controlling, powertrain controlling – there are opportunities within electrified powertrains very much in the control systems and this something that needs further development.

“If you imagine today we have an engine and a friction-based brake and if you think about that you can use an electric engine for both directions and what you can do with multiple engines then you probably know where we’re going to.

“On the high-performance battery-electric technology there is still some time that we need until the technology is ready and we can take it on with an existing high-performance car like an M3 or M4.

“This will take some more time, but we are also working on that.”

Flasch said battery-electric and petrol-electric hybrid powertrains would allow the M division to play its role in reducing BMW’s fleet-wide average CO2 emissions in the face of the strict new EU7 regulations from 2026.

For the record, if the concept car is any guide, the standard BMW i4 will have a real-world WLTP-rated range of 600km, and will be able to swallow 100km of range in as little as six minutes, or 80 per cent of its maximum range in 35 minutes.

The third i model from BMW after the i3 and the i8 will replace the stillborn i5. To be built at BMW’s flagship Munich HQ factory, the i4 will be more conventional than any i-car before it.

As we’ve reported, Flasch ruled out a conventional M4 Gran Coupe in the near future but confirmed a new M4 Convertible would join the new BMW M4 Coupe and M3 sedan (which arrive in Australia early next year) in mid-2021, before the first M3 Touring arrives in 2022.