BMW will build a new petrol M3 just in case you hate this 1,000bhp electric version

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the car-fan internet… BMW’s got a new shark-nosed EV concept car that’ll ironically pour petrol on the raging fires started by the Mercedes-AMG 4dr EV and the Ferrari Luce. This is the new electric BMW M3.

Okay, not officially. Strictly this is merely the BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. But we know what the game plan is here, don’t we? Strip away some of the roadkill-filleting aero pieces, add mirrors that wouldn’t chop jaywalkers clean in half and remove the strut brace that would make life rather uncomfortable for the rear passengers, and it’s M’s first EV, ready to go.

It’s based on the new BMW i3, and forms one prong of BMW’s have-cake-and-eat-it approach to the future of fast cars. If you don’t like the looks – or tech – of this mooted quad-motor 1,000bhp version, there will also be a petrol-engined next-gen M3 too. Probably a hybrid of some description. BMW will essentially build two competing M3s and let the market decide which is best. Which is brave.

This design model has been revealed so we can digest how the EV will look. There are nods to the E30 M3 in the quad-headlight motif, the solid-topped wheelarch flares and the fussy centrelock wheels. At the back you’ll see a split ducktail bootlid sort of akin to an E46 CSL, while the quad running lights front and rear are an homage to BMW’s endurance racing cars.

The enormous front splitter and diffuser channels would never be road legal. But the ‘trimaran’ design is likely ready for production – that’s the three-element bumpers front and rear. Meanwhile the lightweight composite roof and sill panels use a naturally occurring flax fibre which saves 40 per cent in CO2 emissions during production versus traditional carbon fibre.

Inside you don’t sit as low as in a classic (or modern) M3, because of the battery in the floor. This is said to be a 100kWh unit which will use bespoke chemistry not available to the boggo i3 because this battery lives for fast discharge and recharge without derating.

On the diminutive steering wheel, there are red shortcuts for M1 and M2 driver set-up settings, and shortcuts to kill the scourge of bings and bongs that make driving modern cars a cacophony of over-nannied hate. Red highlights adorn the paddles for the ‘Emulated Shift’ tech – think Hyundai N-style simulated gearshifts. Watch the video below to hear how it sounds when it’s ‘revved.’

BMW’s even made a feature of the ‘Heart of Joy’ supercomputer that runs this car’s many-way adjustable handling balance, with drift modes and torque vectoring all on hand. Spot the chunky lump on the centre console? Yep, that’s a heart, apparently.

BMW is spitballing here. Experimenting. Trying ideas. It knows an M3 EV is beyond sacrilege to some, and approaching a hate crime. But it also knows that Tesla didn’t become the world’s best-selling car by copying the old guard of German premium saloons. So this concept car, and the finished ‘Mi3’ that results, will be one of the most controversial and debated cars of the next 12 months.

And if you’ve decided already you can’t stand how it looks, or what it stands for, then just remember that for you, BMW is working on a petrol M3. It’s a hugely expensive and time-consuming strategy, but it may be the only one which keeps (almost) everyone happy.