The underpinnings of the new electric BMW iX3 SUV could form the basis of a future sports car, but it is far from locked in.
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A maiden electric sports car from BMW has not been ruled out to spread the $18 billion investment into the German brand's Neue Klasse line-up overhaul across one more model.
It would fill the gap soon to be left by the four- and six-cylinder Z4 roadster, production of which is due to end in the first half of next year alongside its Toyota GR Supra twin under the skin.
The Neue Klasse is a range of future BMW models debuting a new generation of styling, features and technology for the brand, named after a series of vehicles that saved the German giant from bankruptcy in the 1960s.
While all future BMWs will adopt Neue Klasse technology, it is a slew of electric models across the small and mid-size classes – starting with the new iX3 – that will sit on an all-new platform built from the ground up for battery power.
Asked if the fresh underpinnings can support a sports car, Joachim Post, BMW board member for development, simply told Australian media: "Feasible."
The executive held his cards close when pressed on whether sharing the new electric platform across many models would allow BMW to develop its own sports car without an outside partner.
"The philosophy of BMW also has been in the past to... we say baukasten, and that means that we have communal parts for different types of cars and different segments," said Post.
"Electronic control units, for example, a battery cell, all the things are the same, but integrated into a different package. So for us at BMW, it's always core to think in that way, how we can develop a component and we can scale it in every one of our cars.
"That's why we can be so fast to [spread] this new technology [across the line-up] in two years, in 40 derivatives – that gives you the possibility to make scaling combinations to make that feasible to run, from a business case [perspective].
"We will see what's coming up for future."
The illustrations at the top of this story, posted by Italian designer Luca Serafini on Instagram, show what a new Z4 with Neue Klasse styling could look like.
In July 2024, spy photographers captured images of a small, sleek two-door coupe (above) wearing BMW Neue Klasse design cues, wrapped in the same camouflage as other BMW prototype vehicles.
It was never seen testing again – on the road nor in a private facility, where the photos were captured – and BMW has not commented on the images.
In December 2024, BMW Blog reported that plans for an electric BMW supercar came "tantalizingly close to approval", but were shelved due to fears of slow sales, as well as "challenges surrounding profitability and technological feasibility".
It follows another scrapped BMW supercar project, the i16 of 2020, which was slated to drape new bodywork over the chassis of the defunct, three-cylinder 2015 i8 supercar.
BMW historian Steve Saxty told YouTuber Joe Achilles last year the i16 was "95 per cent finished", and was slated to use a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid drivetrain producing more than 450kW.
"All of the [exterior] surfaces are mature, as opposed to cartoon-like," he said, "and [BMW had] done much more than that beneath the surface; they’ve done body engineering as well."
The Vision M Next concept of 2019 (above) was said to be close to the final production car.
"The i16 had all the style of a future classic, but there were still novel touches that moved the design forward from the M1," BMW design boss Domagoj Dukec said on Instagram when illustrations of the cancelled i16 were shown in 2024.
"Within less than 12 months the car was ready – inside and out. The key was to use the composite structure of the BMW i8 … While we pushed, the world changed in 2020. And so, work on the project unfortunately had to be stopped."
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
