Frank van Meel, CEO of BMW’s M GmbH division, exudes confidence and excitement when discussing BMW’s forthcoming venture into the realm of high-performance electric vehicles. Promising a groundbreaking leap in automotive technology, BMW’s first fully electric performance vehicle from its M division is set to redefine expectations.
Scheduled for a debut around 2026 or 2027, this electric marvel will be based on BMW’s innovative Neue Klasse sedan platform. However, what sets it apart is its integration of four electric motors and cutting-edge software tailored to deliver nothing short of supercar-level performance and unparalleled handling dynamics.
Van Meel’s bold assertion that “It will beat everything you have ever seen” underscores the ambition behind this project. As BMW strives to uphold its legacy of engineering excellence and driving pleasure, enthusiasts and industry watchers alike await eagerly to witness how this electrifying blend of innovation and performance will reshape the future of automotive engineering.
BMW’s head of engineering and R&D Frank Weber has already hinted the car will have as much as one megawatt of power. That’s 1,341 horsepower in the old money. The new powertrain and dynamics ECU being developed in-house at BMW for the Neue Klasse platform can simultaneously control up to four e-motors and various dynamic functions, and the M team plans to utilize that capability to the full, says van Meel. “With a quad-motor concept, we are now looking at a system that can control the chassis as well as the drivetrain with one central logic.”
Van Meel says the ability to precisely control the torque at each wheel is a game changer in terms of vehicle dynamics: “We feel like Alice in Wonderland.” But he says his engineers won’t endow the electric M car with gimmicks such as the ability to do a tank turn. Instead, the aim is to use the four-motor technology to create a hyper-fast performance car with handling that is “neutral, linear, and predictable”.
The electric M’s e-motors are being designed and engineered in-house at BMW to be light and compact. The e-motors will also be cooled—either by water or oil, or both—so they can continuously produce high power and torque outputs. “We have the S68 engine [in the M5], which is a benchmark. We have the S58 engine [in the M3 and M4], which is a benchmark. And we will have our own e-motor that will be a benchmark,” says van Meel.
The all-wheel drive four-motor EV is likely to be the fastest accelerating M car in history, capable of accelerating from 0 to 60mph in less than 3.0 seconds. The Neue Klasse’s 800V electrical architecture will deliver fast charge times. Van Meel says the M car will have a different battery chemistry and battery cooling system to that used on the regular Neue Klasse models to ensure the battery pack can provide sustained power to the motors without overheating or derating.
In addition to the all-wheel drive four-motor EV, van Meel says M is also considering a two-motor, rear drive variant. This car would share all the same M-enhanced Neue Klasse hardware and software as the four-motor but would be slightly lighter and offer a different driving experience. Simple math suggests the rear-drive model could boast around 670 horsepower.
Though no-one’s talking about it yet, an M version of the forthcoming Neue Klasse X SUV, which of course shares its platform and software architecture with the sedan, would be a logical addition to BMW’s performance EV lineup. The only question is whether M would endow its Neue Klasse X model, whose higher center of gravity means it won’t have the ultimate cornering capability of the sedan, with as much power. Should it happen, the Neue Klasse X M would likely not appear until 2027 or 2028.
The electric M cars will almost certainly deliver impressive performance and handling. But will that be enough to win over the hearts and minds of M enthusiasts? Frank van Meel doesn’t appear worried that sales of ultra-high-performance EVs such as the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija have so far proven disappointing. “I just think there’s not a convincing product yet,” he says.
