Prepare For A 1000bhp Electric BMW M5 This Decade

BMW is said to be planning two versions of the next M5 - a PHEV with over 700bhp and a fully electric 1000bhp range-topper

Ben Custard

10 Aug 2020

Prepare For A 1000bhp Electric BMW M5 This Decade

The BMW M5 supersaloon was only recently facelifted - with an even sharper face - but it’s thought BMW is working on its successor. It’s thought the next M5 will have a radically different powertrain than the current car, with both electric and plug-in hybrid options thought to be in the pipeline.

BMW has previously shown a 5 Series mule called the ‘Power BEV’, and this will pave the way for the underpinnings of the next-generation M5. The development car had three electric motors - two on the rear axle and one on the front - and a total output of 710bhp, the same as the McLaren 720S. But, according to a report from Car magazine’s Georg Kacher, the next M5 will get huge 250kW motors, which’ll give the equivalent of 1000bhp.

The target is 0-62mph in under three seconds, and a range of over 400 miles - although clearly not at the same time. As with the Porsche Taycan, 800-volt charging infrastructure will feature, allowing a rapid battery recharge when hooked up to a charger potent enough. At a 350kW charge point, an 80% top-up in 20 minutes seems likely.

Alongside the electric M5, BMW will offer a plug-in hybrid model - so there won’t be an M5 without electrification of some sort. Expected to share a powertrain with the upcoming BMW X8 M, it’s likely to get a V8 petrol engine hooked up to two motors and a fairly small battery. A 40-mile electric range should be the target, but together the two power sources will produce over 700bhp and similar numbers in torque.

It’ll use the same underpinnings as the next BMW 7 Series, and BMW has already confirmed the next 7 Series will offer a fully electric version. If a four-figure power output seems like overkill, it’s needed to compete with the upcoming Tesla ‘Plaid’ mode - the configuration of a Tesla Model S that lapped the Nurburgring (seemingly for no reason).

You’ve got a little while to wait for the next M5. A facelift earlier this year means it’ll be 2024 by the time the next one is launched. Prices are likely to creep closer to £120,000.

Would you welcome a fully electric M5? Leave a comment below.

Comments

Anybody have a time-machine?
Or a gun?

Why, because the cars are becoming faster and more environmentally friendly at the same time?

I find myself asking the same question, because as the M5 is becoming more and more feature-laden, it seems like it could enter an “identity crisis”.

Let’s see, this car has 700 horsepower, rear biased AWD, and a twin turbo V8 engine. It has all the real world practicality you could ever reasonably need, with the performance to shame all but the pinnacle of supercars, and potentially the efficiency to better any diesel engined vehicle in class. All that at a reasonable price that anyone with an average job can save up for.

It has all that going for it and you somehow don’t like it?

This car is what progress looks like. Better get used to it.

Are BMW trying to rewrite the laws of physics….if so they are gonna have to deal with the Montgomery Scott problem of “I canny change the laws of physics captain” oh wait…they are BMW and Physics bends to their rules!