No charge! Quickest-ever quad-motor BMW M3 EV to be priced the same as petrol-powered version
Fresh reports suggest the inbound all-electric BMW M3 EV, due next year, will not carry a price premium over the combustion-powered version that will continue alongside it in the range.
BMW has already confirmed the high-performance battery-electric M car, based on the recently revealed i3, will feature a state-of-the-art quad-motor powertrain producing more than 746kW.
That output is expected to deliver a 0-100km/h sprint time of well under three seconds, making it the most powerful and quickest M model ever.
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Despite this, BMW M reportedly will not charge a premium over the next-generation petrol-powered M3.
That model will remain on the CLAR platform rather than adopt the latest Neue Klasse architecture and will produce around 405kW from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine.
Speaking to Autocar, BMW M vice-president for customer, brand and sales Sylvia Neubauer confirmed the electric and petrol-powered M3s would sit close together on price.
“The good news is that from a pricing perspective, they are in the same ballpark,” she said, while acknowledging the electric version would appeal to a different type of buyer.
“Obviously we will not convince 100 per cent of the petrolhead target group to buy an all-electric BMW M3. But out of 100 people that try it, we will be able to convince some. And for everybody else, we will still provide combustion engines,” Neubauer added.
Despite lacking a combustion engine, BMW says the first-ever electric M3 will “stay true to BMW M DNA”.
Neubauer also said the M3 EV would deliver a driving experience worthy of the iconic badge.
As part of the lead-up to the M3 EV’s launch, BMW’s high-performance division has already teased a synthesised six-cylinder soundtrack and previewed simulated gearshifts controlled via steering wheel-mounted paddles — technology similar to that introduced by the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N.
Thanks to its all-new Neue Klasse underpinnings, the M3 EV is also expected to usher in a new era of BMW chassis technology, including a more advanced form of torque vectoring designed to help offset the additional weight of the battery-electric powertrain and improve circuit performance over the traditional petrol-powered model.
