Four-Motor BMW M EV Prototype Previews the "Ultimate Electric Driving Machine"

Confirmed with 650 horsepower and 590 pound-feet (800 Nm) of torque, as well as 80 kilometers (49 miles) of electric driving range, the coupe-ish sibling of the X7 will be followed by a redesigned M5. The four-door sedan has been spied testing a plug-in powertrain, most likely shared with the odd-looking XM. There’s even talk of a wagon, but only time will tell if there’s a case to be made for a design that sells much worse than utility vehicles.

In the background, the mad professors at BMW M have already worked their magic on full-electric vehicles. The iX M60 and i4 M50 come to mind. Both of them aren’t full-fat Ms, but they’re getting there. On the other hand, the i4-based prototype in the featured video is worthy of its M badge.

Equipped with a four-motor M xDrive all-wheel-drive system, this fellow uses a highly-integrated control unit that monitors driving conditions and the driver’s input many times per second. Within milliseconds, the silicon brain makes adjustments based on the accelerator pedal’s position, steering angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, wheel speeds, and so forth.

Differentials and a multi-plate clutch also need to be mentioned, resulting in world-class dynamics. BMW has resurrected the “Ultimate Driving Machine” motto as “Ultimate Electric Driving Machine,” most likely in anticipation of what the all-electric future holds for M cars and utility vehicles.

“Electrification opens up completely new degrees of freedom for us to create M-typical dynamics,” says Dirk Hacker, the head of development at BMW M GmbH, referring to the four-motor setup. “We can already see that we can exploit this potential to the maximum, so that our high-performance sports cars will continue to offer the M-typical and incomparable combination of dynamics, agility, and precision in the locally emission-free future.”