At its ‘NEXTGen’ event in Munich today, BMW announced the acceleration of its electrification plans and unveiled a series of EV concepts including the ‘BMW Vision M NEXT’.
The vehicle looks like a next-gen BMW i8 sports car.
Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design, said about the new concept:
“The BMW Vision M NEXT provides a glimpse into the future of sporty driving. Where the BMW Vision iNEXT illustrated how autonomous driving is set to transform life on board our vehicles, the BMW Vision M NEXT demonstrates how state-of-the-art technology can also make the experience of driving yourself purer and more emotionally engaging. In both models, the focus is firmly on the people inside. Design and technology make the ‘EASE’ and ‘BOOST’ experiences more natural and more intense.”
The concept appears to be heavily inspired by the design of the BMW i8 and could be indicative of the look of the next generation of the plug-in hybrid:
Like the BMW i8, the ‘BMW Vision M NEXT’ is also a plug-in hybrid – though it features a much longer all-electric range of 100 km (62 miles) on a single charge.
BMW describes the vehicle’s powertrain:
“The Power PHEV drive system in offers the choice between electric all-wheel drive and pure rear-wheel drive, with either all-electric propulsion or the power of a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. System output of 441 kW (600 hp) produces a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) and enables the BMW Vision M NEXT to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just three seconds. There is also a BOOST+ mode that puts extra power on tap at the push of a button. The maximum range when driving in all-electric mode is 100 km (62 miles) – more than enough to complete the majority of journeys purely on electric power. This means the BMW Vision M NEXT is a sports car that would also be suitable for use in city centres where zero-emissions zones may come into force in the future.”
The interior is extremely futuristic-looking and shows that the ‘Vision M NEXT’ is very much a concept vehicle:
BMW announced no plans to bring the vehicle to production. Instead, it serves as a look into vision their vision of the future of sporty driving.
For more BMW EV concepts unveiled today, visit our main post about the BWM NEXTGen event.
Electrek’s Take
Come on BMW! The future of sporty driving is not hybrid, it’s all-electric.
This concept looks super cool and I’d love for the next-gen BMW i8 to look like that, but it needs to be all-electric.
A doubling in electric range is nice, but I don’t think it would be able to compete with all the new all-electric supercars that are going to hit the market in the next few years.
BMW needs to think bigger when it comes to all-electric vehicles and that includes all-electric sports car.
As I stated in my BMW i8 Roadster review, it would be the perfect car to make all-electric.
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