The next BMW M5 will reportedly be an electric flagship with over 1,000 hp.
BMW is almost ready to show us an updated version of the current F90 M5, but the first details about the next-generation M5 are already emerging.
CAR reported last week that BMW's next M5 will arrive in 2024 and offer two powertrains for the first time in nameplate history.
One will reportedly be a plug-in hybrid and the other a battery-electric, with the latter positioned as range-topping.
This is made possible by BMW Group's CLAR modular platform, which can support conventional powertrains as well as hybrid and battery-electric setups.
According to CAR, the plug-in hybrid M5 will feature a V8 and one or more electric motors for a total output of 750 hp. The same setup is said to power the forthcoming X8 M flagship SUV; BMW teased a similar setup in 2014, albeit with a four-cylinder engine as the internal combustion engine.
The battery-electric M5 will reportedly be powered by three electric motors (two in the rear and one in the front) that will reportedly deliver a total of 1,006 hp. It is also said to accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 3.0 seconds and have a range of over 400 miles. Again, BMW has already teased a similar setup; last year BMW unveiled a test mule of a 5 Series electric car equipped with a tri-motor system that is said to have over 720 hp.
Currently, the M5 has a maximum output of 617 hp, but the new M5 CS variant is likely to get a power boost later this year.
Developing a new powertrain has proven costly in a post-Coronawil world, and unfortunately, this has reportedly come at the cost of a new BMW M plug-in hybrid sports car based on last year's Vision M Next concept car reportedly.
The move makes sense, as the sports car's powertrain would likely have been difficult to transfer to other BMW models, as it would have had to fit the custom-built mid-engine platform originally developed for the i8. with a powertrain designed for the CLAR platform, BMW could potentially use it in all CLAR-based models.