Photo: BMW
When BMW came up with the F90, everyone was chuffed at the surprise the 600 PS (591 horsepower) from a mid-size sedan with seating for five people. The M5 Competition leveled up to 625 PS (616 horsepower), but BMW has hit a wall with internal combustion.
You see, the M8 and M8 Competition feature the same engine (S63 twin-turbo V8) and outputs. Adding insult to injury, the 4.4-liter plant dates back to 2010, a nine-year-old design that’s never been reliable either. Even though BMW won’t put these limitations into words, the chief executive officer of M wants to usher in the “era of electrification.”
Markus Flasch made it clear the twin-turbo V12 isn’t going to be succeeded. The future of diesel is up in the air, which means that electrification is the solution for next-generation performance. When pressed on the matter, Flasch replied that M is evaluating all technologies, “i.e. mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but also fully electric cars.”
The head honcho told Autoblog.com “we won't be the first high-performance brand to go electric. But the best.” What a bold claim from an automaker that hasn’t rolled out the iX3 while Mercedes-Benz has the EQC 400 4Matic and Audi the e-tron 55 quattro, don’t you think?
Adding insult to injury, the i3 is showing its age while the i8 can’t shake off the wannabe supercar image. But there’s something we haven’t taken into consideration, and that is the budget of M and how much M matters in the long run for the automaker’s sporting ambitions. Straight to the point, BMW can’t postpone this transition any longer as Mercedes-AMG electrifies the GT 4-Door Coupe and Audi develops a hotter e-tron.
Autoblog.com further asked about non-electrified M models, and Flasch answered as obviously as you'd imagine. “We will continue to offer cars just with the internal combustion engine, parallel to our electrified models.”
In related news, BMW pulled out of the WEC today at the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in order to focus on Formula E, the DTM, and… wait for it… sim racing. Simulators are nice and everything, but we’d rather BMW focused more on real-world racing and those racing cars’ production counterparts.
Markus Flasch made it clear the twin-turbo V12 isn’t going to be succeeded. The future of diesel is up in the air, which means that electrification is the solution for next-generation performance. When pressed on the matter, Flasch replied that M is evaluating all technologies, “i.e. mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but also fully electric cars.”
The head honcho told Autoblog.com “we won't be the first high-performance brand to go electric. But the best.” What a bold claim from an automaker that hasn’t rolled out the iX3 while Mercedes-Benz has the EQC 400 4Matic and Audi the e-tron 55 quattro, don’t you think?
Adding insult to injury, the i3 is showing its age while the i8 can’t shake off the wannabe supercar image. But there’s something we haven’t taken into consideration, and that is the budget of M and how much M matters in the long run for the automaker’s sporting ambitions. Straight to the point, BMW can’t postpone this transition any longer as Mercedes-AMG electrifies the GT 4-Door Coupe and Audi develops a hotter e-tron.
Autoblog.com further asked about non-electrified M models, and Flasch answered as obviously as you'd imagine. “We will continue to offer cars just with the internal combustion engine, parallel to our electrified models.”
In related news, BMW pulled out of the WEC today at the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in order to focus on Formula E, the DTM, and… wait for it… sim racing. Simulators are nice and everything, but we’d rather BMW focused more on real-world racing and those racing cars’ production counterparts.
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