Enthusiasts have been dreaming of a new BMW supercar since the early 1990s during the days of the Nazca C2 before the M1 Hommage arrived in 2008. Pictured here is the plug-in hybrid 2019 Vision M Next, which also never saw the light of production day. Why? Accountants in Munich crunched the numbers and determined the development costs would've been too high compared to the projected sales numbers. Ultimately, the ambitious project was scrapped.
Good things might come to those who wait as BMWBLOG sat down and had a chat with the automaker's man in charge of engineering and R&D. Frank Weber talked about the Neue Klasse platform and how it's being developed to support high-performance applications. In its most potent form, a NE-based model would have no fewer than four electric motors with a combined output of one megawatt, which works out to 1,341 hp.
BMW Vision M Next Concept
Lest we forget BMW showed a modified i4 Coupe last month with quad motors performing a tank turn. Each motor powered a wheel, and while no further details were shared, the video served as an announcement about the Bavarians commencing work on a fully fledged M car with an electric drivetrain.
"The most demanding vehicle that we have is a real high-performance M product. Really high performance M product. What you can expect from this Neue Klasse architecture is not only flexibility within your high voltage battery. You can also have a super efficient single motor architecture, a dual motor architecture, and this can even deliver a four-motor architecture up to one megawatt."
While an electric supercar will be technically possible on the NE platform, Frank Weber told BMWBLOG a decision has not been taken. He also didn't have anything to say about those juicy rumors indicating another BMW-McLaren collaboration after the iconic F1 from the 1990s – still the fastest naturally aspirated car ever made.
Neue Klasse will debut in 2025 with a sedan and an SUV in the 3 Series segment since that represents the biggest sales volume. Gradually, combustion-engined models will get electric counterparts and there are rumors of entry-level i1 and i2 models coming around 2028. By the end of the decade, BMW believes half of its annual sales will be represented by cars without ICEs. In 2030, Rolls-Royce will become exclusively electric while MINI will follow early in the next decade.
