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BMW’s legendary high-performance M division will finally release an electric car late in 2021. A company release states that “During the year 2021, the BMW M GmbH will present an electrically powered performance automobile for the first time.”
While that’s all we formally know, rumors strongly suggest the car will be an M-tuned version of the i4 sedan. An electric vehicle (EV) built on the same chassis as the 4-Series Gran Coupé, the i4 is set to go on sale in late 2021, as a 2022 model. Test drivers haven’t been in it yet, but it promises impressive performance even before the M division tunes it. It puts out 530 horsepower, good for a zero-to-sixty time of 4.0 seconds.
To make an even sportier version of the i4, the M division’s focus will be on less weight and a firmer suspension.
We expect i4 prices in the $50,000 range. Typically, M vehicles command 150 percent or more of the price of the base vehicle. The name of the high-performance EV is also up in the air. If BMW follows the pattern of other M division cars, it would be the Mi4, thus sharing a name with a legendary British army intelligence unit. It wouldn’t surprise us to see an i4 M badge instead.
