BMW Is Working on an EV Sport Coupe — Here's What It Could Be

• BMW is working on a new EV sport coupe.
• The concept will push the limits of what EVs can do right now.
• It will be developed entirely by the brand's M division, and looks like a proper M1 successor.

BMW is working on a brand-new fully electric sport coupe. And even though all we have to go on are photos of a camouflaged prototype, this is already one of the most interesting designs the company has produced in years. The new sport coupe will reportedly be based on the brand's Neue Klasse platform, and while we've already seen what that architecture can look like as a sedan or SUV, we haven't seen anything like this coupe before.

The coupe you see here will be a stand-alone project from BMW's M division and will sit at the very top of the brand's lineup — a sort of flagship coupe, much like the M1 was in the late 1970s and early '80s. Some key design elements point to it clearly being a BMW. The kidney grille has been thinned out and stretched across the width of the front fascia, and the rear light bar also mimics what we've seen from the Neue Klasse concepts so far.

Even more interesting are the in-hub-mounted electric motors. BMW and Continental have reportedly invested 15 million euros into a Munich-based company called DeepDrive. DeepDrive develops in-wheel drive units that it claims are up to 20% more efficient than typical electric drive units found in almost every EV on sale right now. BMW has traditionally had extremely tight control of its suppliers, and it makes sense that the automaker would want to implement this new tech on a future EV.

The advantages don't stop at efficiency, though. This tech will also allow BMW to vector torque at each wheel independently, and it will be instantaneous. In most cars (even EVs), power has to be routed through a multi-plate clutch or differential of some kind, but that won't be the case with the in-wheel-mounted motors. It's an extremely interesting concept, and one that BMW has been playing with for a while.

We don't know how much power the Neue Klasse coupe will make, but since it will be a dedicated M model (and outputs from BMW's motorsports arm have skyrocketed recently), we don't expect it to have anything less than 700 horsepower. As for range, charging times and pricing, we're going to have to wait a little while longer. We imagine it won't be cheap.

Edmunds says

Stay tuned as we start to learn more about BMW's next-gen flagship coupe.