BMW is gearing up to launch its all-electric Neue Klasse platform in 2025, which it claims will be able to support a top-of-the-range quad-motor powertrain with up to 1000kW of power.
In an interview with BMW Blog, BMW head of engineering and R&D Frank Weber said the Neue Klasse platform would be flexible enough to underpin a spectrum of vehicles, including ridiculously fast ones.
“What you can expect from this Neue Klasse architecture is not only flexibility within your high voltage battery,” said Mr Weber.
M Vision Next concept
“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.”
One megawatt works out to 1000kW for those playing at home, or about 1340 horsepower.
It’s worth noting that BMW M recently showed off an all-electric test vehicle with four electric motors that was based on the i4 M50 liftback.
It’s still unclear if BMW is preparing this quad-motor drivetrain for a future variant of an existing model on its CLAR architecture, such as a full-fat M variant of the i4, or for a future Neue Klasse-based vehicle. Or even both.
Mr Weber did not mention any current plans for a 1000kW M car, but just said it would be possible.
The last time the M division publicly toyed with the idea of a spiritual successor to the M1 supercar was in 2019 with the Vision M Next hybrid supercar.
Rumours from the time indicated the car was close to getting the green light, but was eventually cancelled due to low projected sales, and high development costs.
In the end BMW M decided to make the XM V8 plug-in hybrid SUV, its second-ever standalone model, which is set to be revealed on September 27. The M1 was the first.
As noted above, BMW’s new series of EVs based on the Neue Klasse architecture is set to debut in 2025 on a 3 Series-sized vehicle.
It’s still unknown what this first Neue Klasse vehicle will be known as. It could wear the i3 badge, which is currently used on a 3 Series EV for China and was previously used on the quirky hatchback.
Unlike some other automakers, BMW has yet to make any announcements about when it will end development and production of internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
The carmaker’s latest plan calls for it to produce a total of two million all-electric cars by 2025. By 2030, the company expects half of its annual global sales to be EVs.
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