BMW has registered the intellectual property of the designation iM3 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (with another identical request at the German Office for Patents and Trademarks), which suggests that the Bavarian brand maintains an interest in creating a 100% electric version of the iconic M3, perhaps to coexist in the range with its combustion counterpart in an initial phase. Pieter Nota, BMW’s sales manager, recently stated in an interview that «just look at the success of the i4 M50 and the i7 M70, to understand that the M will continue to be at the center of the brand’s operations in the era of electrification. These M products have a reference effect on the range, which is ambitious».
Previously, the global head of the M division, Frank van Meel, reassured fans of the Bavarian brand’s sports cars by stating that the exclusively electric version of the M3 is a possibility, but only if it proves to be considerably better than the current gasoline generation. These guarantees can be confirmed by the advances registered by the Neue Klasse (NK) platform, which allows for a power output of 1360 hp/1 megawatt, generated by four electric motors, one per wheel.
According to van Meel, this Neue Klasse allows for unlocking new dynamic capabilities. «In the future, when we talk about four electric motors, for example, it is necessary for the hand of God to be even stronger. In that case, we not only need lateral and longitudinal dynamics from a chassis point of view, but also from the engine. It has to be a centralized logic because, on the track, we want to decelerate up to 1 g, or more, but at the same time, we want to recover and have the correct stability», he explained. According to the brand, an electric version of the new M3 could hit the market in 2027.
