We’re likely still a generation away, but when battery technology is up to speed, some BMW M cars will be too, thanks to plug-in hybrid kick.

How big, you ask? Try a whole engine’s worth of instantaneous oomph.

Former chief engineer, and now member of the BMW board, Klaus Frohlich, stressed the importance of any M car’s exalted positioning in the BMW line-up, as well as the continued importance of the internal combustion engine.

“In Australia, I assume you will have petrol engines for a very, very long time … [and] we’ll have M cars [for a] very, very long [time], and they will be quite exciting, I can tell you.”

“But, for example, what we’re working on would perfectly fit for an M car – to have boost and recuperation. To have [an] e-motor which gives this instantaneous boost – 100kW extra, or 150kW extra – but we have to be very careful to achieve it with as less weight as possible. That the car still performs on the Nurburgring like we’re used to.”

Even though Frohlich claims that BMW performance cars will retain some form of petrol diet “for a very long time”, he’s adamant that plug-in hybrid makes a lot of sense for the M brand, with a caveat.

“In an M car, we have very stringent requirements. It has to survive several laps on the Nurburgring without reducing performance, without reducing brake performance, and so on and so forth.”

However, it won’t be until electrical systems – “more than 48-volt … if you want to have that 150kW boost” – and the cell chemistry of very lightweight, very compact batteries begin to marry with BMW’s M ethos that we’ll see a plug-in-hybrid on the showroom floor. “I need a very advanced battery for the M cars”, says Frohlich. “[And] it will take until ’21 until we have the e-motor which is very compact because it has to fit into the package.”

“We made the [new] M5 [weigh] less than its predecessor and included AWD, [so] then it’s fine. I hate cars that are becoming heavy. The M3/M4 is an icon. It has to be very pure … but I will not exclude [AWD] yet. I think [ultimately] the customer will decide. We are flexible you know because the base cars always have that [AWD capability built-in].”