2028 BMW M3 EV Caught Looking as Generic as Possible in New Spy Shots
The latest car news, reviews, and features.
BMW intends to keep its gasoline-powered M3 sport sedan around for at least one more generation, but that doesn't mean the company is putting off development of an all-electric version in the meantime. Earlier this month, an M3 EV (iM3?) was spotted in public wearing production sheet metal, and while it's still pretty heavily disguised, the basic shape and those wide hips are clearly visible.
The body may suggest a traditional 3 Series, but the Neue Klassse wheels betray its underlying electrical architecture. BMW is no stranger to building sporty electric four-doors, mind you, but expectations will be significantly higher for the M3 than they have been for the i4 M50. The latter has been successful and is indeed a fun car to drive, but it is not (nor was it intended to be) a world-class performance sedan.
To that end, BMW is expected to bring to market a quad-motor powertrain to underpin its all-electric M lineup. BMW showed off a prototype based on the i4 years ago, likely before it had firmly committed to a Neue Klasse M3. The new platform will be designed from the ground up to take advantage of its next-generation electric architecture. BMWBlog says we can expect a configuration putting out 700 horsepower.
That's a healthy increase over the gasoline-powered M3's current 500-ish horsepower output (depending on which variant you choose, of course), but based on what our spies are telling us about this prototype, the electric M3 may well weigh more than 6,000 pounds. At least, that's what the numbers on that placard suggest.
Let's hope those are gross weights, because otherwise, well, they're some pretty gross weights. The Tesla Model S Plaid, which is nearly eight inches longer and four inches wider than the current M3, checks in at about 4,800 pounds. Its three-motor setup produces more than 1,000 horsepower.
We're also getting out first glimpse at the electric M3's interior, albeit still heavily disguised. We can see the outline of some aggressively sculpted seats, as well as the chunky sort of steering wheel we expect to see on an M car. The rest is pretty well covered up. Swipe or click to the end of the gallery for those detail shots, if you're curious.
Know where some prototypes are being tested in the wild? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com.
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