It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the next-generation of M3 will be electrified. That doesn’t make it any less exciting news, though. When the BMW M3 goes electric, it’s going to cause quite the stir among the fanbase. Thankfully, that stir should mostly be positive, according to what BMW M CEO Frank van Meel told Autocar.
Neue Klasse EV-First Platform
During a recent interview with Autocar, van Meel said that BMW’s been gauging customer interest about electric M cars and the feedback has been encouraging. According to van Meel, “90-95 percent [of customers] don’t care what direction we take on powertrain.” It seems that BMW fans only want an M car and aren’t overly concerned what powers it, so long as it drives and feels like an M car.
Any EV doubters should believe that, too. Since the BMW M3 debuted back in the late ’80s, it’s undergone three different powertrain changes: four-cylinder to six-cylinder, six-cylinder to V8, V8 to turbocharged six-cylinder. And with each new model, M3 sales have actually increased. So it’s not as if the type of powerplant actually matters, so long as it delivers the goods.
When the all-electric BMW M3 does debut, it will be based on the upcoming NK1 3 Series, an all-electric version of the 3 Series built on the Neue Klasse platform. That alone should be exciting news, as the Neue Klasse platform is going to be lighter, stiffer, and better packaged than any current BMW platform, so it should make for a better building block for a high-performance M3.
It may not have the wailing motorsport-inspired engines that power current M cars but it will deliver everywhere else while also being faster and more capable. And as much as some enthusiasts might bemoan a switch to electrification, the majority of fans have proven that they won’t.
[Source: Autocar]
