Porsche and Rimac have shown the way: Super sports cars will be electric in the future – with four-digit horsepower and the sprinting ability of a jet fighter. Because the segment is so small, the development is not worthwhile for one car manufacturer alone. That’s why the people of Munich are talking – once again – with McLaren about a cooperation. This time it’s not about white and blue twelve-cylinder engines, but about a fully electric M1 and its English sister model. BMW M GmbH wants to revive this brand icon, of which only 460 were produced between 1978 and 1981, possibly in the second half of the decade: as a lightweight sports car with battery drive. But the project isn’t done yet.
For BMW, the new edition of the flat, wedge-shaped M1 racing car is not mandatory, but optional. It’s not about the proceeds, but about being an emotional brand ambassador and a technology beacon in the world of electronics. For McLaren, on the other hand, the switch to electromobility can only be managed in conjunction with a competent partner. While the British would bring in their super sports car know-how and the corresponding carbon fiber lightweight construction as a dowry, the Munich-based company could supply electric motors, batteries and the appropriate software.
BMW Board Member for Development Frank Weber has just confirmed that the new class (from 2025 onwards) is not intended to be an electric platform, but rather a technology enabler in a broader sense: “Within this architecture, we can spread the arc enormously and do everything from the smallest to the smallest to the largest vehicle. We are talking about 200 kW to one megawatt of drive power, from one e-machine to four e-machines everything is possible.”
Behind the sober numbers is something like a rocket program: Two electric motors per axle, each of which can variably deliver up to 250 kW (340 hp) of power to the respective wheel: Such a hyper sports car would easily outperform any combustion engine model place. Because the electric motors are controlled individually, this enormous power can be brought onto the road in a controlled manner. This so-called torque vectoring is an old dream of chassis developers: the car can be pushed into the hairpin bend with the outside wheel. The use of force as with a shopping trolley increases driving pleasure and cornering speed.
Such an experimental super sports car also contributes to the battery development for the new class: “We will install these cells in the storage system without modules in order to keep the installation space flat,” says Weber. This pack-to-open-body architecture not only enables low racing car silhouettes, but also increases the energy density in storage. Because there are no partitions for individual battery modules, more active material can be accommodated. That helps with range. The real range booster, however, are new cell technologies with which the energy content can be almost doubled to over 500 watt hours per liter.
680 hp, of which 95 hp from the electric motor: The six-cylinder hybrid in the McLaren Artura is a first step towards electrifying the drive.
(Photo: McLaren)
The race of the super sports car manufacturers will in future become a performance show for super batteries. “All-solid-state cells are also included in the new battery package,” confirms Frank Weber. BMW has teamed up with the US company Solid Power to develop solid-state batteries. The spin-off from the University of Colorado Boulder, founded in 2012, recently sent the first prototypes to Munich, where they are tested for performance and resilience. It’s still not much more than a committed research and development project. The new high-performance cells will not be ready for the mass market before the end of the decade – even if some car manufacturers like to claim the opposite.
Motor racing has always been considered an ideal testing ground for the development of combustion engines: New technologies were tested and further developed under extreme conditions in a very short time. This philosophy, “from the race track to the street”, can be transferred to e-mobiles: The electric super sports cars may appear to many as completely crazy, but as test vehicles for the (initially) expensive solid-state cells they can drive progress in small series.
A trip with the new McLaren Artura shows just how challenging the topic of software has become. When handing over the vehicle, you have to improvise because the electrically adjustable bucket seat refuses to work. On the way to the race track, one infotainment function after the other disappears, until even the central upright monitor is only painted black. It almost doesn’t matter that the on-board computer is a little later in the pit lane via the display directly on the Driver turns: “Unfortunately, no gear can be engaged at the moment.”
Only after the factory mechatronics technician has initiated the reset with his emergency laptop does the device come to life again. In principle, the engine starts in electric mode. When the battery is fully charged – which takes a good two and a half hours – it starts up quietly, for the sake of the environment and the neighbors. After a maximum of 31 kilometers at a maximum of 130 km/h, the CO₂-neutral low noise level is of course already over. During this time, the hybrid drive pushes the standard consumption to a completely unrealistic 4.6 liters – far away from charging stations, the six-cylinder also likes to treat itself to four times as much. The electric motor contributes up to 95 hp to the nominal output of 680 hp, the maximum torque of 720 Nm is electrically supported with up to 225 Nm.
But be careful: the boost effect depends on the state of charge, which must be kept in good spirits either by cable in advance or by the combustion engine while driving. The system only has an emergency ration of electricity available around the clock for the battery-powered reverse gear. But the time-lapse sprint in three seconds from a standing start to 100 km/h is a special kind of experience for inexperienced stomachs. What is missing from the Artura? No, not the beefy V8 of its predecessor. But more electrical power and range would not go amiss, preferably paired with shorter charging times.