In an interview with Autocar, BMW’s man in charge of the Efficient Dynamics program shared some details about what the Bavarian company refers to as Gen6 batteries. Thomas Albrecht reiterated future EVs will indeed come with a boost range of at least 30% but won’t exceed 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) on a single charge. Gen6 batteries – which will use BMW’s bespoke chemistry – will be made with Chinese partners CATL and Eve Energy and are estimated to weigh up to 20% less than today’s batteries.

With the significant increase in charging speeds, Neue Klasse models are expected to support a maximum charging power of 270 kW. The battery will have more nickel but less cobalt and is going to come in two different heights depending on the application. As far as longevity is concerned, Thomas Albrecht said Gen6 batteries will still retain more than 80% of their performance even after 10 years of use.

The first BMW electric vehicle on the Neue Klasse platform will arrive in 2025 at the Debrecen plant in Hungary. To support the massive need for battery packs, six plants will be built with an annual capacity of 20 kWh: two in Europe, two in China, and two in the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement).

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“We are fully committed to electric cars wherever the use of battery-electric drive trains makes sense, and it is possible because the conditions are right,” Zipse said during a recent earnings call.

According to Automotive News Europe, the four cars will be an all-electric 7 Series, 5 Series, X1, and MINI Countryman. The first ones to come will be the 7 Series and the X1, which are said to go fully electric as early as next year.

“By 2023 we will offer our customers at least one BEV option in nearly all our vehicle segments and over the next 10 years we aim to release a total of about 10 million fully electric vehicles onto the market,” he said.

These new vehicles will be built on BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture, harking back to the Neue Klasse chassis vehicles of the’60s and ’70s. Those iconic vehicles launched BMW into new territory, so the idea is that this new Neue Klasse can do it again. There’s a bit of confusion about the nature of the Neue Klasse and what sort of powertrains it will use but the idea is that it will be designed for EVs first but can also accommodate internal combustion, for hybrids, and even hydrogen.

“Our new vehicle architecture is uncompromisingly electric, whether with battery power or hydrogen,” said Zipse.

According to this same report, the Neue Klasse will be a highly flexible architecture that will underpin the widest range of vehicles of any BMW chassis yet. It will even underpin some Rolls-Royce models, which is interesting considering the latter brand’s relatively recent investment in its own bespoke luxury architecture.

“The Neue Klasse comes with a new IT and software architecture, as well as newly developed high-performance electric drive train and battery generation,” he said.

BMW has high hopes for its new EVs; the i4, iX, and whatever comes next. In fact, BMW hopes to sell two million EVs to customers by 2025, an ambitious goal to say the least. Let’s hope BMW’s right, though, as the more EVs on the road, the better.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

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According to WhichCar, BMW is working on an electric M2 model that will have no less than 1,000 kW of power or a MegaWatt if you will, the same amount of power as the Koenigsegg Agera RS. That would make this the most powerful car ever made by the German brand and, quite possibly, the fastest.

Apparently, the so-called ‘project Katharina’ will have four electric motors which hints at an all-wheel drive setup which would make this car a proper challenger for the fastest accelerating cars in the world right now.

Sources quoted by WhichCar say that the 1,321-hp M2 would be able to accelerate to the benchmark 100 km/h speed in around 2 seconds and that it is capable of spinning its rear wheels at speeds up to 120 km/h on bone dry tarmac. The same sources say that Katharina would also be able to go round the Nurburgring 40 seconds faster than the M8 Competition, dropping under the 7-minute mark.

All of this sound incredibly impressive but there’s a lot to take in here. Sure, such a project would be a great present from BMW to its fans on the 50th anniversary of its M division. However, seeing it enter production will be quite a stretch and if this report turns out to be accurate, it’s more likely to see this electric M2 introduced to the world as a concept only. Even so, it would be interesting to see just what kind of performance BMW is capable of offering on a purely electric car.

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