Wheels Australia – August 2019

@wheelsaustralia 19

of 441kW. That’s enough, BMW says,
to dispatch 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds.
Top speed is a claimed 300km/h and,
thanks to its on-board (but of an as-yet
undisclosed size) battery pack, it will
have a range of 100km in pure EV mode.
Details remain a little thin on the
ground, but we understand the M Next
borrows the basis of the carbonfibre
monocoque from the i8, marrying that
performance-focused chassis with the
best of the company’s electric and
internal combustion technology.
There’s even more carbonfibre
employed in the body, including the side
skirts and the rear diffuser surrounds,
which helps keep the kerb weight down
to a claimed sub-1700kg.
A concept in name only (BMW has
heavily hinted that a production version
is coming), the Next doubles as an
effective replacement for the i8, for
which BMW has confirmed there will

benodirectsuccessor.Butit’salsoa

previewofMperformancetocome,and

opensa windowintohowthebrand’s

performancearmwillhandletheriseof

autonomoustechnologyinvehiclesthat

are,attheircore,designedarounda

human driver.

The M Next will offer both, with a

new EASE drive mode that deploys

the car’s autonomous functions, with

its giant electronic brain capable

of handling the boring stuff, like

commuting or traffic. But of course

when the opportunity presents, the

driver can engage BOOST mode and

take full control. A third mode, labelled

BOOST+,squeezesmaximumpower

fromallthreepowersources,butwill

alsosurelydrainthebatteryfasterthat

whippingtheplugoutofa bathtub.

Soit’sa worthysuccessortotheM1.

Andit evenlooksthepart,witha

three-piece rear window louvre aping

the original, and roundels taken from

that 1970s’ model stamped into each

rear taillight.

But perhaps the biggest nod to BMW’s

halo model of yore lies not in what

you can see, but in what you can’t, and

that is the performance to live up to its

supercar heritage.

ANDREW CHESTERTON

An electric motor at each axle joins

the power party; part of a three-prong

attack that produces a total of 441kW

Vision M Next follows the design

ethos of BMW’s i8, but promises a

hefty doubling of outputs when it

arrives sometime in 2022

Ourimagedoesn’tshowit,butVisionMNextconcept

debuts ‘laser wire’ headlamps, which feature glass

fibres coated with phosphorous to produce ultra-

bright light in a compact layout. Facial recognition

technology is used to unlock the car, and an

augmented reality head-up display is integrated

into the windscreen. BMW insists it’s all technology

that’s being prepped for production.

Did you know?

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