The rise of electrification has taken the horsepower wars into a whole new dimension. Even a relatively small car such as the CLA now has nearly 700 horsepower in its new AMG version. Its bigger brother, the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, makes more than 1,100 horsepower. Electric supercars and hypercars push even deeper into four-figure territory, with a few surpassing the 2,000-horsepower mark.
BMW explains it could also extract ludicrous amounts of power from the electric M3’s motors, but that’s not going to happen. In an interview with Bimmer Today, M boss Frank van Meel said it is technically possible to unlock over 1,341 horsepower from the four motors. However, there are drawbacks to putting this much power into a production EV.
View Price on Amazon'If I put over a megawatt of power into a car, then I can accelerate a few times, but the temperature will start to rise and become an issue. That means that everything collapses after that and you can’t install that much cooling. We have to consider the overall concept and realize it’s not just about reaching certain figures; it is not sustainable. You definitely don’t need 1,000 horsepower or more.'
While BMW M’s head honcho didn’t go into detail about how much power the electric M3 will make, he did say it’ll outpunch the combustion-engine model. The most potent sports sedan the company has ever built on a 3 Series platform is the M3 CS with 543 horsepower. The fact that he ruled out 1,000 horsepower means the electric M3 is unlikely to get anywhere close to that figure, so we’d wager it will have less than 900 horsepower.
BMW has already announced that all of its electric M cars will have four motors providing all-wheel drive, with the ability to completely decouple the front axle for a pure rear-wheel-drive setup. Deactivating the front motors should also improve efficiency when you don’t need the full power. In the M3, the quad motors will draw their juice from a bespoke lithium-ion battery pack with a usable energy content of more than 100 kWh.
Motor1's Take: While headline-grabbing output figures might boost sales, BMW wants to make power more manageable and sustainable. The electric M3 won’t be a one-trick pony that prioritizes power above all else because that would compromise day-to-day usability. Instead, it’ll be an all-rounder like the gas-powered cars before it, but with a whole new recipe made possible by the quad-motor setup.
Source: motor1.com
