BMW confirms its first all-electric M car

It’s a bold new era for the BMW M Division with the go-fast brand’s first all-electric model to appear next year in the form of the 2022 BMW i4 M Performance.Speaking to Australian media, M boss Markus Flasch confirmed the hot i4 will make its debut in 2021 while also providing more detail around how the brand will incorporate electrification into its future.

“No mistakes in our EV strategy” says BMW “It’s not a big secret that next year we will launch the first battery electric M car in the performance segment based on an i4,” said Flasch, “And then we’re working on hybrid, electric [and] electrified performance and high performance cars [but] it’s too early to disclose which models are going to be.”

BMW reveals its first all-electric SUV the iX3 BMW M has yet to dip its toe into the hybridisation waters with even a 48-volt system, Flasch explaining that such a system was considered for the new M3 and M4 but the desire to retain a manual transmission was one of the reasons that prevented it.“At BMW M we will pick the appropriate technology for a segment of the market,” he said. “The question for us is: when can we combine the power of the electric systems that we develop in the company and bring it into an M package? Steering wise, lateral dynamics wise? It’s not just about power output and longitudinal performance. And sounds, of course, is another one.

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“The technology we’re looking at on the high performance side will take some more years to come. You can imagine that weight will play a significant role. Driving dynamically, there are opportunities within electrified powertrains in the control systems and this is something that needs further development.