THE MAN IN charge of the performance world’s most famous single letter, M, closes his eyes and shakes his head, a pained expression passing across his face. Frank van Meel is cold, his chin tucked into the high collar of his branded jacket as we huddle around a feeble gas heater in pitlane at The Bend near Adelaide, yet he’s working himself into a lather as he explains the complexity of making BMW M’s first-ever fully electric car.
Finally, after delving into the benefits and challenges of using four individual electric motors on M’s forthcoming EV, which is already testing, that should produce in excess of 1000hp (745kW) and will debut a cutting-edge control unit known as ‘the hand of God’, van Meel sighs and says: “It’s… complicated.”
He’s right, of course, but technical complexity is just one of the challenges facing M’s first EV. The bigger question mark surrounds how it’ll be received by M’s diehard fan base…
Right now BMW M is on a roll. The M5 CS is one of the company’s best ever efforts, the new M2 is punchy, engaging and continues the magic of the original and then there are the M3 Touring and forthcoming M5 Touring, cars that threaten to usurp the mighty Audi RS4 and RS6 as the ultimate all-weather, everyday performance cars.
But there are treacherous waters ahead. The polarising XM, which is the company’s second bespoke M car following the legendary M1 of the late ’70s, is getting a lukewarm reception from the press and M’s traditional fan base. And once petrol engines, evocative soundtracks and manual gearboxes make way for electrons, how does M retain its identity? This isn’t a distant horizon, either. M says more than half of its volume will be electrified by 2027.
この記事は Wheels Australia Magazine の September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Wheels Australia Magazine の September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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