He remains cryptic, but this
Quote:
It's natural to expect that the formula of the new car would follow that of the renowned M1 with a mid-engined, two seater setup. But the M boss is keeping his options open.
“Not necessarily,” says Flasch of the mid-engined & two-seats formula. “That’s an option. But it’s not the only option.”
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sounds suspiciously to me like they are working on a CLAR-based vehicle rather than a vehicle which tries to reuse the best parts from the i8 architecture. I certainly hope this is not the case. CLAR is great for sedans and SUVs, but we have already seen its limitations being reached with the 8 Series Coupe being a very heavy vehicle that, while great looking, is not ideally suited for the type of dynamics M should be trying to achieve with a flagship model (the M8).
Perhaps (hopefully) Flasch is being coy, and it is the word "engine" that he means to temper his statement against. In other words, if they intend to go with a pure BEV, there would be no engine, but instead a dual (or triple, or quadruple) motor EV which might still be a two seater with a cab forward design, built on an architecture loosely derived from the i8.