BMW Unveils Electric M3

High-end electric sports sedans notoriously do not sell well. The Tesla Model S Plaid, the Lucid Air Sapphire, and the highest-end Porsche Taycans are all extremely fast, luxurious cars, and the only thing faster than their acceleration is their depreciation. This is not a compelling segment. Yet, due to product development cycles and the European Union’s aggressive emissions regulations, every premium European brand seems to be rushing to make its own version.In the last few months, Mercedes unveiled its heinous electric AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, and Ferrari unveil its controversial crossover-sedan combo, the Luce.BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWRecently, timed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, we got an all-but-production-ready concept called the BMW M Concept Neue Klasse: a preview of the upcoming M version of BMW’s electric 3 Series, the i3, which will likely go on sale as the i3M. In other words, this is a preview of what will be the first electric M3 — and though it will be sold alongside a true M3, that next-generation M3 will be at least a mild-hybrid. The days of the manual, rear-wheel-drive, petrol-only M3 are soon to be over.The BMW M Concept Neue Klasse — and the watered-down production car that will come from this — shares the same format as every other electric sports sedan. The engineers want to make the cars drive well, but agility comes from lightness, and electric cars have an enormous lump in the middle. They can’t make the batteries much lighter, so they try to counter the ungainly tonnage by putting electric motors on each wheel or axle, dialing up torque vectoring, and sending 1,000 horsepower to the tires.BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWThe i3M will have a simulated gear-change mechanism similar to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N’s, and despite BMW’s claims that it has spent many hours recording its most classic performance cars to dial in a compelling fake exhaust noise, the concept makes the same futuristic fake whooshing sound as every other EV.Thankfully, unlike the Mercedes-AMG, it’s not ugly — but it’s not handsome either. The i3 sedan that it’s based on looks like the result of a fight between the designers, who wanted to make a sedan, and the aero engineers, who wanted a range-optimized blob. The final car has slightly awkward proportions. This concept’s bulky, boxy fenders and big wheels can’t entirely fix it.BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWBMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWFrom above, looking at the side profile, you’d think it’s a small, muscly sedan. But the front is too tall, and the whole car is too large, so the illusion breaks when you move.The light and grille designs are chic, and the surfacing is well done, but they can only do so much, and it looks a bit too much like a “Need for Speed” take on the original Chevrolet Volt, or a Pontiac facelift on the new electric Dodge Charger.It’s also somewhat annoying that this is just a concept car. The front and rear aero are pointless but cool, and if it hit dealers looking like this, it would be an interesting German muscle-car alternative to the other electric sports sedans.But these are comically noncompliant with a great many safety standards, so they will either be cut entirely or aggressively trimmed for production. Hopefully the quad “race lights” at the front — inspired by BMW’s Le Mans racers — do make it to the road car, along with the indented boot spoiler.BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWThe interior is not worth remarking on at any length, because it’s just the same unremarkable and ugly interior of the iX3, but with Alcantara everywhere, brighter mood lighting, added bucket seats, and a pared-back concept-car center console. Remove that, make it a bit more boring, and you know what the production interior will look like.BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. Courtesy of BMWOverall, it looks like it will be quite a good premium sports sedan, but just because they’ve adopted elements from the original M3 doesn’t make this a spiritual successor to it. That’s obviously not enough to make a car sell well.

BMW Unveils Electric M3

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