The possible ban on combustion engines is given a lot of talks, even among manufacturers. For example, Audi, through its CEO Markus Duesmann, is in favor of change and a ban on combustion engines, yet BMW, through its CEO Oliver Zipse, is on the opposite side of the equation. balance and think that banning combustion is a bad idea. In addition, we cannot forget the clause that was incorporated during the last meeting, in which fuels are taken into account as long as they are “zero emissions”.
However, all those who are waiting for synthetic fuels to take off should know that almost all the players involved in this industry see only one possible path for the future: electricity. Even BMW M, which is currently in the process of celebrating its 50th anniversary. From the sports division of the German firm, the head of the roost, Franciscus van Meel, has assured us that the most viable technology today is electricity.
Road & Track has been able to speak with the person in charge of BMW M and they asked him about the direction that the next models of the firm would take, both the “normal” ones and those signed by the sports division and among other things, he stated that work will be done to contain the weight of all cars (which has increased a lot in recent years) and that they are looking for the best way to convert BMW M to electricity, without losing an iota of character, performance, and driving passion.
What you can see is that over the years, cars have gotten bigger. In addition, regulations and more comfort functions came to the cars, so they became heavier. Still, I think we’ve managed pretty well to keep the weight gain as low as possible and make the cars as quick as possible .” – Franciscus van Meel, BMW M boss
Regarding engine technology, as we have mentioned before, van Meel does not see more possibilities than electricity, there are no more alternatives according to the head of BMW M. However, BMW still does not give an exact date of when they will become completely to electricity, although he does ensure that metamorphosis has its advantages.
I think there is no alternative to electricity. The only question is when. And that depends on when the technology will be capable of what we need. Because if we make an M, it has to be better than its predecessor, and it has to be a real M. The M4 CSL is pretty much the benchmark. Making a faster electric car… that’s a big challenge. The good thing is that we have an internal reference point, so we know what to look for. I think we managed quite well and of course, there will be a big challenge with the electric cars as well, but the center of gravity helps and that leads to not needing as many stabilization systems. You can do more with the chassis than you could with a normal car because the center of gravity is higher . ” – Franciscus van Meel, BMW M boss
