Is BMW brewing an all-electric M2? That’s rather unlikely, but a hybrid version might make sense
by Tudor Rus, on LISTEN 02:04Recent pictures sent in by our spy photographers show a BMW M2 test mule strolling around in the Swedish winter landscape. The car has some interesting features - or lacks some, whichever you want to put it, which got attention.
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The next generation BMW M2 is well under development. We know this from the previous spyshots showing M2 test mules allegedly powered by the same six-cylinder engine found inside the M3 and M4. While we don’t know if that’s the powerplant of choice for the new M2, it will surely be offered in a detuned state should BMW decide to shoehorn it inside the M2.
Coming back to the mysterious prototype caught recently at BMW’s testing facility in Sweden, you’ll notice that it doesn’t have exhaust pipes and not even the "electric test vehicle" stickers. What’s more, the hood has extra vents and the trunk area around the integrated spoiler looks different, but otherwise, this is just your standard BMW M2.
Of course, at this point, the lack of any sort of exhaust pipes might suggest that an all-electric powertrain is hiding under that compact body, although there’s simply not enough information to say for sure.
However, several reports from 2019 talked about the possibility of an electrified BMW M2. At that time, BMW Blog suggested that an out-and-out PHEV was out of the question, and that a 48V mild-hybrid setup would make more sense for the M2. That’s something we can all agree with at this point.
Sure, the idea of a fully-electric M2 doesn’t sound bad in theory. We’ve seen what electricity did to the Mini Cooper in terms of performance and nimbleness, therefore, having an M2 powered solely by electrons would only soup-up the sports car’s driving dynamics.
With the BMW i4 already out of the bag, the notion of a would-be i2 makes a lot of sense, although BMW will have the final say after it evaluates the financial implications of such a car.
