BMW has big plans for electrifying its M performance division. The Bavarian brand recently gave us our first official look at its first all-electric M car, the “ZA0” M3 EV, which will live alongside its internal-combustion counterpart. BMW M has been showing off its exploits on YouTube with a video series documenting the development of its upcoming EVs. That includes a monster of a powertrain — a four-motor setup — being prototyped in the body of an i4. It also showed off The Beast, an electric testbed in the body of a BMW M2 — that one’s not intended for production, but rumors of an electric M1 and M2 swirl regardless.
A report from BMWBlog offers new details about an upcoming BMW M4, internally called “ZA2,” which will be an electric coupe, and a full-fledged M car.
Since the M4 EV is not yet a reality, we’ve used a reference image of the BMW M3 Electric prototype for the featured image.
No ICE Counterpart
It’s expected that the gas-powered M3 will continue to exist after the birth of the electric M3 (pictured). One would expect the M4 to follow suit, as the M4 generally accompanies the M3 sedan as its coupe counterpart. The electric M4 will reportedly break away from this formula — it will be a true coupe, with two doors, but there won’t be an
sold alongside it. In fact, BMW reportedly isn’t planning a next-generation 4 Series aside from this M4. Instead, the M4 will likely be based on the Neue Klasse platform, following the 2028 launch of the next-gen i4 — which BMWBlog suggests will use a two-door body style.
A New Identity For The Electric M4
If rumors are to be believed, the electric M4, perhaps to be called the iM4, will offer about 700 horsepower. That could come from a total of four electric motors, as BMW M’s head of BEV Integration Vehicle Characteristics, Carsten Wolf, said in one of those video episodes that we will see “four electric motors in a BMW M High Performance vehicle at some point in the future.” BMWBlog believes the BMW iM4 and iM3 will offer varied outputs at different price points in order to cast a broad net for customers. The M4 EV will also use BMW’s new “Heart of Joy” technology, which integrates various vehicle systems functions into a single, central control unit.
As for design, sources say BMW is currently penning the iM4, and that we don’t have many details yet. We can expect the design to go in a different direction than current products, especially from the gas-powered BMWs with their huge kidney grilles. It’s possible its looks could be previewed by the Neue Klasse coupe spied earlier this year (pictured above). After speaking with its sources, BMWBlog says to expect “a futuristic, minimalistic, yet bold look, marking a shift in the M4’s identity as we know it today.” Sounds exciting.
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