BMW M Product Manager claims Batteries are too Heavy for EV M cars
We’ve talked to several BMW M execs about EV performance cars over the years and the answer always seems to be the same: they’ll make one when the tech is ready. However, rarely to they ever give specifics. Sure, we can figure out what they mean on our own, as it’s not that hard to understand the range, weight and cost limitations of EVs. It is nice to get a specific, concrete answer, through.
In this new interview with Australian publication CarsGuide, BMW M Product Manager Carsten Pries said that weight is the specific reason why the M Division has yet to jump into the electrified pool.
“Today, BEVs carry a lot of weight with them, therefore the technology would be more appropriate if the weight of the batteries came down.” said Pries.
He also cited the fact that it took a long time for BMW M to adopt all-wheel drive and turbocharging. The supposed reason for the M Division’s reluctance to adopt new tech is that the engineers in Garching wait until the tech is good enough and for BMW M to develop their own version of it.
“If you look back at turbocharging technology, the response times were not considered appropriate for an M performance car, so we held off on using it until we’d come up with our own solution.” Pries explained.
Some of BMW’s critics see this as BMW M not being ambitious enough to adopt new technology, not progressive enough. However, I think we’ll see the M Division becoming a bit braver, a bit more daring with new technology in the near future.
Current BMW M CEO Markus Flasch seems like a progressive, forward thinking man. During our talks with him, he’s expressed his appreciation for electric vehicles and feels that electrification offers more opportunity than risk. He’s also been very much on board with all-wheel drive M cars and even a bespoke M car. So Flasch likes to push the limits of the available technology, which is good.
Still, it’s interesting to hear BMW M specifically cite weight as the reason for its hesitance with electrification. We could have guessed that, honestly, but it’s nice to get a solid answer.
[Source: CarsGuide]
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