Even before its unveil, there was very little doubt that the new BMW M2 is the last of its kind: gasoline-powered, rear-wheel drive and manual. We’ve said it before: with a 7 year cycle, it makes little sense for BMW to invest into a similar M2 product when 2030 comes. Instead, a first electric M2 is an obvious bet.
Photo by BMW M and instagram.com/bundesstrasse3
Today, at the unveil of the G87 M2 in South Africa, BMW M leadership spoke at length about the new sports coupe and also about the electrification of the Motorsport brand. BMW M CEO Frank Van Meel stated in an interview with media that they are not interested in building high-performance plug-in hybrids for the compact and small class.
“A plug-in hybrid in a small car might be a difficult issue because plug-in hybrids need to have sufficient power, even if the electric part is not available,” said van Meel to Carbuzz. “If your base engine is not strong enough, then a plug-in hybrid makes no sense.” So it’s not difficult to draw a conclusion from this. With no four-cylinder hybrid M cars planned, the obvious choice for the next M2 in 2030 is to go fully electric.
By 2030, the BMW M will have several products on the market, including their first electric M3 and at least an electric SUV (like the iX3M). So their expertise from the developing these products will certainly transfer to the new generation BMW M2. It could also be the first M2 with an xDrive, unless we get a surprising M2 xDrive towards the end of the G87 cycle. P.S. – We believe we will.
Of course, when the future BMW M2 goes all-electric, the manual transmission will be a thing of the past. The six-speed manual was mostly kept alive by the M community in the United States and it’s still surprising that BMW continued to offer it in several products. So if you’re looking to own not only a great driving car (we already tested the M2),…
