If you read the piece on the work BMW’s M performance division is doing to create a high-potency, great-handling electric car, your eyes were probably focused on the i4-based prototype that starred in the video … or you were busy reading the subtitles. If you took your eyes off either at the right time, though, you might have noticed another car testing alongside the camouflaged i4 — and, no, we’re not talking about the X7 that came to the aid of the dead EV on the test course. Instead, there was a white 2 Series quietly peeking out from behind the i4 in certain shots. It appears to be an F87 M2, and it also appears to be electric.
What Is That Thing?
The BMW M2 normally employs a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six. The base M2 from that generation used a single-turbo version of that engine, making 365 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque. There’s no telling exactly what’s powering this particular car (though we hope its original parts found a good home in some other Frankencar), or how powerful it is. We don’t know if it has four electric motors like the i4-based counterpart with which it shares a garage. From the rear, we see a lack of tailpipes, as well as a triangular sicker that looks like the high-voltage warning stickers we often see on EV prototypes. We just don’t have much other information to go on.
Why So Hush-Hush?
The electric M2 in the video doesn’t make much noise, but you do get a good earful (possibly overlaid audio) in a shot showing the car exiting a corner in a tail-happy fashion. But, also, BMW doesn’t acknowledge its presence in the video, nor does it give any details about it. BMW isn’t hiding the car, though, as it shows up repeatedly throughout the episode, often as the focal point of a shot, and sometimes as the sole vehicle in the frame. It’s not hard to believe that BMW wants viewers to notice, but do so in a way that feels like a reward for finding an Easter egg.
It also feels like BMW is teasing the audience. It almost feels like foreshadowing. Whether it’s previewing the topic of an upcoming episode (please, oh, please!), or just giving us something to think about until the brand has something more official to say about it. Even if it turns out to simply be another testbed for certain parts of the electrical system, it would be fun to hear this particular vehicle’s story.
BMW Has Plans For An Electric 2 Series (Allegedly)
BMW is reportedly planning an electric version of the 1 Series and 2 Series, as an anonymous source told Autocar earlier this year. They’d be based on BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, following the iX3 and serving as entry models appealing to a younger demographic. That report suggested the i1 would be a small sedan or hatchback, and the i2 would be a bit taller, serving as a successor to the i3. At the time of that article, they were planned for launch in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
That report made no mention of any plans for any of those wearing an M badge. We can hope that BMW does, in fact, give us something along the lines of the electric M2 we see in this video. At the very least, it can serve as inspiration for what would surely be a ridiculously fun and equally impractical EV swap.
Read the full article here
