BMW continues to expand the number of electrified models in its lineup and that list will soon include the high performance M models. BMW has confirmed that all its M models will eventually be get electrified powertrains.
Speaking to Car and Driver, BMW M boss Frank van Meel revealed, “For sure, all M vehicles will be electrified by the end of the next decade, and that’s going to happen step by step.” While BMW has put set a goal to electrify all of its M models, it looks like it’s going to take it slowly.
“The very important question is timing—what’s the right time for that? If you’re too late then you’re too late, but if you’re too early then you don’t have the straight-to-the-point technology. Look at today’s electrification components: They are quite heavy, and, for us as a motorsports company, overall vehicle weight and power-to-weight ratio is key.”
If you’re worried that adding an electric motor will ruin its future M models, BMW is going work hard to make sure that all the models still perform like an M model. “Without going too deep into details, if we do an M car in an electrified way, it should still drive like an M,” van Meel stated. “If you look at M3, we have had four-cylinder, six-cylinder, and a naturally aspirated, high-revving V-8. Now we have a turbocharged six, and there is always the question, Is this the right concept or the right technology [for the future], or is there another one?”
Source: Car and Driver