At the intersection of heritage and electrification, BMW's M division faces a defining question: what does driving pleasure mean when the engine falls silent? CEO Frank van Meel has revealed that engineers are weighing two distinct electric architectures — a quad-motor all-wheel-drive system built for raw speed, and a dual-motor rear-wheel-drive configuration built for feel — as the brand charts its course toward a fully electric performance car expected around 2027. The choice is not merely technical; it is philosophical, touching on what BMW M has always believed a driver's car should be.
BMW M Explores Dual-Motor RWD Electric Performance Cars Alongside Quad-Motor AWD Plans
RWD would be lighter and probably more fun to drive
Mark
So BMW is building an electric M car, but they haven't decided whether it should have two motors in the rear or four motors spread across all four wheels. Why is that still an open question this late in the process?
Mimi
Because the two approaches solve different problems. Four motors give you maximum acceleration and grip—every wheel has its own power source. But that's heavy, and it changes how the car feels. Two motors in the rear are lighter and probably more fun, but they're not as quick.
Luke
Do we know how much weight difference we're actually talking about? The source says RWD would be lighter, but it doesn't give a number.
Mimi
That's fair. We don't have the actual weight figures. But the principle is sound—fewer motors, fewer battery cells needed to power them, less hardware overall.
Mark
And this is all happening on a new platform called Neue Klasse that doesn't arrive until 2025?
Mimi
Right. The first Neue Klasse models—a sedan and an SUV in the 3 Series class—come in 2025. The actual M car, whether it's an M3 or an X3 M, won't land until around 2027.
Luke
So we're looking at a four-year gap between the platform launch and the M version. That's a long time to keep a decision unmade.
Mimi
It gives them time to test both approaches and see which one works better. The quad-motor prototype they're testing now is on the old platform anyway—it's just a testbed for the hardware and cooling systems they'll eventually use.
Mark
What's the cooling problem exactly?
Mimi
Electric motors and batteries generate heat under hard driving. If they overheat, performance drops. BMW has to design systems that keep everything cool while the car is being pushed hard, lap after lap.
Luke
And that's a solved problem in other EVs, right? Porsche, Mercedes, others have quad-motor cars.
Mimi
They do, but BMW M wants to do it their way, with their own engineering. That takes time.
Mark
When will we actually know which direction they chose?
Mimi
Probably not until much closer to 2027, when the car is nearly ready to show the world.
Der Puls
- BMW M's first true electric performance car remains years away, creating pressure to resolve fundamental engineering and identity questions before the 2027 target.
- A quad-motor AWD prototype is already being tested in secret, but its weight and complexity threaten the tactile driving character that defines the M brand.
- A dual-motor RWD alternative is being seriously explored as a way to preserve handling purity — lighter, more responsive, but slower in a straight line than its AWD rival.
- Thermal management and motor miniaturization loom as the division's hardest unsolved problems, since sustained performance driving demands cooling solutions that don't yet exist at production scale.
- The Neue Klasse platform, launching in 2025, will serve as the foundation for the eventual electric M car, with the current prototype acting only as a development mule for future systems.
At the intersection of heritage and electrification, BMW's M division faces a defining question: what does driving pleasure mean when the engine falls silent? CEO Frank van Meel has revealed that engineers are weighing two distinct electric architectures — a quad-motor all-wheel-drive system built for raw speed, and a dual-motor rear-wheel-drive configuration built for feel — as the brand charts its course toward a fully electric performance car expected around 2027. The choice is not merely technical; it is philosophical, touching on what BMW M has always believed a driver's car should be.
BMW's M division is navigating a fork in the road as it develops its first fully electric performance car. Frank van Meel, who leads the high-performance brand, has confirmed that engineers are seriously considering two competing architectures: a quad-motor all-wheel-drive setup and a dual-motor rear-wheel-drive alternative. A prototype based on the existing i4 M50 has already been spotted testing, but it represents a development exercise rather than a production preview.
The tension between the two approaches reflects a deeper question about what an M car should be. The quad-motor AWD configuration would deliver blistering acceleration, but its added weight risks dulling the responsive, tactile handling that has long defined the brand. The dual-motor RWD layout would sacrifice outright speed in exchange for a lighter, more engaging driving experience — the kind van Meel himself acknowledged would likely be more enjoyable, even if slower.
Beyond the drivetrain debate, BMW's engineers face formidable technical hurdles. Electric motors for high-performance use must be simultaneously compact, powerful, and thermally resilient — capable of sustaining peak output during hard driving without overheating the battery or the motors themselves. Van Meel identified this cooling challenge as central to the division's entire electric strategy.
BMW already sells M Performance-badged electric vehicles, but a genuine, combustion-free M car is not expected until around 2027, built on the forthcoming Neue Klasse platform debuting in 2025. Whether it arrives as an M3 sedan or an X3 crossover remains unconfirmed. The drivetrain decision still ahead will do more than determine a performance figure — it will set the tone for what BMW M means in the electric era.
BMW's M division is weighing two distinct paths for its first fully electric performance cars, according to Frank van Meel, who leads the brand's high-performance operations. While the company has long been developing a quad-motor, all-wheel-drive electric vehicle—complete with spy photos of an i4 M50-based prototype caught during testing—van Meel told Ars Technica that engineers are also seriously considering a rear-wheel-drive configuration with dual motors as an alternative approach.
The strategic choice hinges on competing priorities. A quad-motor AWD setup would deliver raw speed and acceleration, leveraging electric motors at each wheel for maximum grip and power delivery. But that configuration comes with weight penalties and complexity. A dual-motor RWD layout, by contrast, would trim pounds from the vehicle and likely restore some of the driving feel that performance enthusiasts associate with BMW—the kind of tactile, responsive handling that heavier all-wheel-drive systems can obscure. Van Meel acknowledged the trade-off plainly: AWD would be faster, but RWD would probably be more enjoyable to drive.
The engineering challenges are substantial regardless of which path BMW chooses. Electric motors small enough and powerful enough for high-performance applications represent a different beast than the bulky, reliable units that have powered trains for more than a century. These new motors must deliver punch while staying compact. Equally critical is thermal management. The motors themselves need sophisticated cooling systems to maintain performance during sustained hard driving, and the battery pack cannot be allowed to overheat while those motors are working at full capacity. Van Meel emphasized that solving these problems simultaneously—keeping components small, powerful, cool, and reliable—is central to BMW's M division strategy.
BMW already sells electric vehicles wearing the M Performance badge: the i4 M50, i5 M60, iX M60, and i7 M70 all carry that designation. But a true M car with zero internal combustion—a full-blooded M3 or X3 M running purely on electricity—remains years away. The company's development timeline is anchored to the Neue Klasse platform, a new architecture that will debut in 2025 with sedan and SUV models in the 3 Series segment. A genuine electric M vehicle built on this platform is expected around 2027, though BMW has not yet confirmed whether it will be an M3 sedan or an X3 crossover.
The quad-motor prototype currently undergoing testing is built on BMW's existing CLAR platform and serves as a development mule for new hardware and systems that will eventually migrate to the Neue Klasse cars. It is not a preview of the production electric M car itself. That vehicle will adopt a fresh design language, previewed by the Vision Neue Klasse concept, and will represent a significant departure from the models BMW M customers know today. The choice between dual-motor RWD and quad-motor AWD will shape not just how these cars perform, but how they feel—and that decision will likely define the character of BMW's electric M era.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
An actual M EV will still take a couple of years after the initial release of Neue Klasse models— BMW M division
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei Motor1 ↗
Business