The upcoming, battery-electric BMW M3 will be joined by a petrol-powered version, and the high-performance duo will be priced “in the same ballpark” when both models go on sale, Autocar has reported.
“Obviously we will not convince 100% out 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. The good news is that from a pricing perspective, that are in the same ballpark,” said BMW M VP of sales, customer and brand, Sylvia Neubauer.
Between the battery-electric and petrol-powered versions of the next M3, there will be “functional differences that lead to a different design in some areas of the car,” but the two models will appear to be “twins”, Neubauer said.
The performance brand would not specifically target different buyers for the petrol-powered and battery-electric versions of the next M3, Neubauer said. “Mainly, it’s a high-performance target group. But within that high-performance target groups, you have those with more progressive all-electric mindsets and the ones that are diehard petrolheads who will stay in an ICE vehicle forever,” she said.
The battery-electric M models from BMW are set to debut “from 2027”, the manufacturer has stated previously. all BEV models from BMW M will have one electric drive unit for each wheel, for a total of four drive motors. These motors are arranged in parallel, each one delivering output to one gearbox per wheel.
As with current ICE-powered M cars, the front axle can be “completely decoupled” to effectively give a rear-wheel drive configuration, according to BMW M. Prior to the debut of the 2026 BMW i3, the manufacturer had revealed that the M version will output one megawatt, or 1,360 PS.
GALLERY: BMW M3 EV prototype
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