A New Electrified BMW Supercar? Yes Please

It seems BMW’s affinity for electrified powertrains will extend to new supercars in the future. There have been a few rumors of BMW working on a new EV supercar, but now it seems more likely. BMW R&D boss Klaus Froehlich sat down with Autocar and one of the topics he discussed is an electric supercar or at least a hybrid supercar much like the i8. 

“If you are an engineer, once in your life, you want to make a super-sports car,” Fröhlich told Autocar. “I think partial electrification will enable that.”

He pointed to the fact that BMW has the ability to build high-powered electric drive units, super light carbon fiber chassis, and high-performance gasoline engines. He said those three elements could be combined to make a supercar. 

What Will it be Like?

According to Autocar, the new model could compete directly with Ferrari and McLaren. It would have a much larger gasoline engine paired with high-powered electric motors and a carbon fiber chassis much like the i8’s. The car should have 700 hp so it can edge out the M8’s 620 hp and put the car at the top of BMW’s M-Division lineup. 

That 700 hp mark sounds like a lot until you consider that Froehlich told Autocar the electric motors BMW produces should make 197 hp and 378 lb-ft of torque. Froehlich also said that BMW’s M-Division will eventually go fully electric, but that hybridization will play an important role moving forward.

With all that Froehlich said during the interview in mind, it’s clear that BMW sees electric cars as the future for high-performance vehicles. While BMW hasn’t officially released anything that explicitly says the i8 will be replaced by a much more powerful supercar, Froehlich’s interview is a clear sign of where things are heading.