BMW M tests new all-electric concept
Testing for the next chapter of BMW M's transformation to electric mobility is well underway.
BMW M has started test drive programmes for a next generation of electric cars. M engineers have begun putting innovative drive and chassis control systems to the test, the hardware and software solutions are designed for future fully electric high-performance M cars. The testing focuses on a four-wheel drive system featuring four electric motors and an integrated driving dynamics control system, together these are said to provide an unprecedented level of performance and experience. With this completely new drive concept, BMW M is aiming to transfer the essence of its current crop of M cars into the world of emission-free mobility.
This anniversary year, marking 50 years of M, has already seen the market launch of the all-electric i4 M50 (pictured) performance car and the iX M60. The i7 M70, the first BMW M based on an all-electric sedan platform, will follow next year.
«On our anniversary, we are not only looking back, but above all also looking forward,” said Franciscus van Meel, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW M GmbH. “Before the end of the year, production of the XM, our first high-performance car featuring a V8 M hybrid drive, will commence. Together with our fans all over the world, we are also looking forward to our entry into the LMDh category of the North American IMSA endurance racing series, in which we will also be competing with an eight-cylinder hybrid turbo engine in Daytona and at other events in 2023, as well as in the WEC racing series at Le Mans a year later.”
BMW M technicians have developed a test vehicle based on the i4 M50, it carries the appropriate kit to test the new drive and suspension technology. The mule features a modified body, with wide wheel arches, allowing for the integration of different front and rear axle designs. The front end features an adapted body strut taken from the M3 / M4, designed for particularly high torsional rigidity. The test mule also replicates the arrangement of the M car's radiator units.
The revolutionary high-performance drive system is described as an electric M xDrive four-wheel drive setup. The four wheels are each driven by an electric motor opening up new possibilities for infinitely variable, precise, and very fast, distribution of torque. Within milliseconds the power and torque of the electric motors can be sent precisely where required on a level that would be impossible using a convention system. This is said to give the driver an entirely new set of performance characteristics – M characteristics.
“Electrification opens up completely new degrees of freedom for us to create M-typical dynamics,” says Dirk Häcker, Head of Development at BMW M GmbH. “And we can already see that we can exploit this potential to the maximum, so that our high- performance sports cars will continue to offer the M-typical and incomparable combination of dynamics, agility and precision in the locally emission-free future.”
When it comes to the integrated control unit, the same levels of precision and speed are found. The electric M xDrive four-wheel drive system uses the four motors connected to a central, highly integrated, control unit that permanently monitors the driving condition and the driver's inputs. Accelerator pedal position, steering angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, wheel speeds and other parameters are monitored to ensure the correct level of power is transferred to the road. Signals are transmitted just as quickly and directly via a multi-plate clutch and differentials to the four motors.
Developed via intensive test phases, initially on virtual models and then on test benches, the concept is now being trialled on the road. Inside the four-door mule, extensive measuring technology can be found designed to analyse every driving situation. This allows for the theoretical results from the test laboratory to be compared with the realities of the real world.