For those who love BMWs, your favourite pastime might be complaining about BMWs.
Cease for a second and take into consideration that. Deep down, it is true. Even when a hardcore BMW fan is happy concerning the newest twin-turbo M3 or M5, they’ve a dozen extra BMW followers to cope with on-line who insist that the M automobiles from 20 years in the past have been higher someway—simply as the identical sort of individuals argued 20 years in the past that these M automobiles have been inferior to those that got here earlier than.
The very fact is, any BMW with the well-known three-stripe badge might be fairly nice. However I believe BMW’s first official electrical M automobiles are going to be one thing phenomenal. So can they win over the largest skeptics round?
That is what we’re discussing on this week’s Plugged-In Podcast.
This yr is a essential one for BMW. It is bought the brand new iX3 SUV popping out, and by all accounts, the primary automotive on the electrical Neue Klasse platform appears incredible: a category chief in vary, charging, software program and even dealing with. Plus, at $60,000, it is truly approach cheaper (although nonetheless not low cost) than all of us thought it might be.
Personally, I am excited for the BMW i3 sedan. That darn Tesla Mannequin 3 has been speaking an excessive amount of smack these days, and any person must take it down a peg or two. If BMW can apply the identical magic to a 3 Sequence-sized EV, that is going to be particular.
And that is all earlier than what my co-host Tim Levin bought to preview lately: the primary electrical automotive worthy of an M badge. We’re speaking a quad-motor setup—beforehand, stuff we have solely seen in large vehicles like Rivians—with simulated gear shifts and engine sounds, plus groundbreaking ranges of torque and horsepower.
The whole lot we have heard about this automotive makes a Porsche Taycan sound like a Volkswagen Passat. However on the podcast this week, we talk about whether or not it will probably win over the BMW followers who really love inner combustion and do not wish to give it up with out a battle.
We additionally recap CES from final week and chat about all of the robots I noticed in Las Vegas. There have been a variety of them. There was additionally an enormous displaying from Chinese language automaker Geely, at an auspicious time when the American market is backing off from plug-in automobiles.
Plus, we chat with Stephanie Valdez Streaty, the Analysis & Growth Director for Cox Automotive Mobility, and she or he’s going to assist us recreation out the EV market in 2026. Are we actually headed for a crash, as some predict, or will automakers maintain the road till newer, higher and cheaper choices arrive?
Take a look at the present wherever you get podcasts (discover your most well-liked platform right here). Thanks for tuning in—we’re in for an thrilling yr forward, and I can not wait to cowl it on the present.
Contact the creator: patrick.george@insideevs.com
