Four motors, a bonkers amount of power and turbofans to suck it onto the road. That’s the plan for BMW’s electric M3, it would seem, perhaps minus the fans.
Several fortunate motoring journos were passengered in this, BMW’s Vision Driving Experience show pony. It is essentially a rolling lab testing the next-generation electric car platform and software. It also shows an unhealthy resemblance to the next M3.
For it is based on the Vision Neue Klasse concept revealed in 2023. It also previews the next 3 Series due in 2026 and the M3 the following year. This lab on wheels also has body kit features you’d expect on an M3.
But it is the quad-motor powertrain that is the real giveaway. Said to be capable of generating up to 1000kW and 18,000Nm of torque – no, not a misprint – the next M3 is unlikely to be quite as mad on the output front.
The VDX uses five fans to create more than 1200kg of downforce, sucking the car into the tarmac. They’re not likely to make into the production M3, however.
The VDX is realistically a test rig for its latest EV technology, and in particular the ‘Heart of Joy’ (really?) control unit and its Dynamic Performance Control software. This serves as the overseer for every pure-electric model in the brand’s upcoming Neue Klasse generation, beginning with iX3 this year. So it manages acceleration, braking, steering, vehicle stabilisation and also charging. A single unit can process information ten times faster than separate existing systems with multiple control units.
Evidently the new box of tricks will deliver a fresh experience behind the wheel, whether parking, on the motorway or flying down country roads. Benefits include smoother braking at everyday speeds, and increased regen for improved efficiency and range. Expect rear-biased handling characteristics too and more precision and stability in cornering. The control unit can also determine whether or not the vehicle has rear-wheel steering, likely in the electric M3. It is designed to oversee the power of three or even four motors too.
BMW says four smaller motors are better than two big ones. This also permits torque vectoring for greater agility.
BMW M Motorsport works driver, Jens Klingmann, was on hand to passenger journalists at BMW’s Performance Centre in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Up front is BMW’s new Panoramic iDrive cockpit design, a pillar-to-pillar instrument display that’s clear enough for rear seat passengers to read it.
The journos from AutoExpress report that braking is supremely smooth, the VDX cornering flat. Drift mode deactivates the traction control, increases the power output and sharpens throttle response. “It’s very easy to get some wheelspin,” says Klingmann. It also manages a four-wheel burnout along the main straight. Klingmann adds that the VDX is producing around two-thirds of its potential power in the test rig.
Track mode activates the turbofans for added downforce.
“Any concerns about the all-electric version of the next BMW M3 have been largely put to rest by the thrilling, tyre-slaying Vision Driving Experience.”
