The M division of BMW is looking for ways to imitate a manual transmission in its upcoming all-electric sports car releases.
The statement comes from BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel as quoted by Motor1.com. According to him, BMW M owners tend to frequent racetracks, and going electric doesn’t mean you can just reduce driver engagement like that.
Speaking in the interview, Van Meel said drivers often don’t have the time to check the gauges when racing. All data about the performance of the car is collected purely from sensory inputs, such as gearbox shifts and engine soundtrack.
Electric cars are designed in a way that eliminates most of these essential signals, meaning that the driver needs a different source of instant feedback, even if it’s as simple as a simulated manual gearbox. The M division is still thinking about the potential implementations of it, though, planning to implement the first design on the company’s first truly sporty EV.
This is not to say BMW doesn’t already have high-performance battery vehicles. A good example is the i5 M60 sedan packing 601 electric PS (593 hp / 442 kW). You will find it in the gallery below. Rumor has it that the M division is currently working on a much more powerful sports car, though, which may end up with as many as four e-motors.