BMW M will not downsize its engines, confirms CEO

BMW M boss believes that the EV tech isn’t ready yet for a track-focussed machine.

Speaking in a recent interview, Frank van Meel, CEO of BMW M, confirmed that the brand’s performance cars will continue to keep their inline-6 and V8 engines and will not downsize to three or four-cylinder units paired with electric motors, like some of its rivals.

The BMW M boss also confirmed that the cars will move directly from its current high-performance engine to electric powertrains when the time comes. Frank van Meel stated that putting smaller engines paired with big batteries on full-blown M cars “would not be the right way” for the company. He added that though the M cars will continue to have their 6 & 8-cylinder engines, electric motors will have a supporting role while making the transition to pure-electric. An example of this is the brand’s XM model, which is powered by a 4.4-litre V8, while being paired with an electric motor.

van Meel stated, “That’s not the way we see it because we want to have a strong base engine anyway. So, for us, going to smaller combustion engines in combination with bigger batteries would not be the right way. For us, then the step will be to go purely electric right away. And do that in a proper way.”

Speaking about pure-electric M cars, van Meel confirmed that they aren’t coming to the market anytime soon as the BMW M boss believes that the EV tech isn’t ready yet for a track-focussed machine. He stated, “It has to do one or two laps [of the Nurburgring Nordschleife] at full speed, actually, then with the battery, if you go, let’s say over 250 kilometres per hour, you won’t get any much further anyway. So that’s currently the restriction.”

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