BMW M's electric M3 gets four motors — built by choice, not regulation

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The company will offer customers both electric and combustion-powered models.

BMW’s electric M3 will have four electric motors and advanced torque vectoring.

The electric model will be sold alongside the next-gen combustion-powered M3.

BMW’s all-electric M3 is just around the corner, debuting a couple of months ago as a concept and set to be sold alongside the combustion model we all know and love. While it’d be easy to assume the EV , perhaps badged the iM3, is only being built for regulatory compliance, the German brand insists that’s not the case.

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The boss of BMW’s M division, Frank van Meel, says the electric M3 isn’t being built because BMW has to do it, but instead because it wants to give customers the choice of either an EV or a car using combustion power, hence why it’s still committed to its six- and eight-cylinder engines.

Read: BMW’s New Electric M3 Proves The Concept Wasn’t Kidding

“We are not doing this because it has to be done, but because we are convinced you can build a fast and even better car this way,” van Meel told Motor1 while speaking about the electric M3. “The timing has to be right, though. It only works if we can do it 100 percent the way we want to do it.”

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A New Platform

The key enabler for the quad-motor M3 is BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, which allows the car to be developed from the ground up rather than relying on a pre-existing architecture that might have required modifications to support a large battery pack and powerful electric motors. “We said we could only make a high-performance M with four electric motors, torque vectoring, individual control, a central control unit, and our own software,” he added, noting the car has to feel “M-like.”

It’s possible some BMW M enthusiasts may feel like they’re being force-fed a high-powered EV they don’t necessarily want. However, van Meel says the company does “not decide for our customers what they have to drive,” but rather wants to “build cars that we ourselves love” and that buyers can choose whether they want an EV or a combustion-powered car.

The new model, previewed with the M Concept Neue Klasse, draws on the design of the standard i3 but includes all the upgrades you’d expect of an M car, including flared arches, new bumpers, distinctive wheels, and a custom hood. Chances are, the production model will look very similar.

In terms of power, BMW M has revealed that the concept includes four motors, and while horsepower hasn’t been confirmed, the production car is tipped to have between 700 hp and 1,000 hp. Expect to see the first-ever electric M3 presented in its final form next year.

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