BMW M hybrid in the offing? Will Munich implement hybrid in spite of weight handicap?

Source: qJake via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

With the increasingly stringent emission standard and raising the environmentalists flag, the name of the game has now switched to creating greener cars: hybridity and electrification becoming increasingly inevitable.

Thanks to the likes of McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder, performance sectors are giving hybrid their graceful touch. Formula E , Porsche Mission E concept and Mercedes AMG SLS Electric Drive give performance cars some nice zap of electric shock. Hybrid and electric powertrain are not only constrained in your run-of-the-mill family cruiser, but also in muscle-bound brute that spells P.E.R.F.O.R.M.A.N.C.E.

With more and more performance marque shifting their future plan to hybridity and electrification, one marque putting their attention to it is BMW M division.

In an interview conducted by Auto Express, Dirk Hacker, vice president in the M division, admitted that hybridisation and electrification may be the future of M cars.

"We will look at electrification-I think it could be inevitable-but it depends on the possibility of increasing performance," Hacker said. He immediately noted that hybrid M will not be implemented right off the bat due to weight concern and will only consider hybrid if it offers performance improvement.

When asked on the possibility of electric M cars, Hacker dismissed the latter due to customer demand.

"We've found that our customers are not interested in driving without the combustion engine," Hacker said. "They want to know if these changes will help with performance." Seems like electric M is out of the question. Phew. This writer cannot imagine standing next to an eeriely quiet M car.

If that is the case, looks like our friend at BMW M is looking to hybridise their performance segment not in the name of efficiency but performance. The VP's concern on the weight of hybrid powertrain reminds this writer on Koenigsegg's chief concern during the development of their hallow Regera hybrid: weight.

Not surprisingly, weight is a performance killer. Shedding weight is a goal of every performance cars. Take for instance the likes of Ariel Atom 3.5R and Ferrari 458. The latter is more powerful than the former. However, the Atom sprints from 0-62 mph in just 2.6 seconds to the 458's 2.9 seconds. Wait a minute, how can the Atom with 350 hp 2 litre supercharged Honda 4 cylinders outgunned the 458 with its more powerful 562 hp 4.5 litre V8? The Atom only weighs 550 kg to the 458's 1485 kg. This emphasises in the performance realm, taking into account only power output is not enough. Power-to-weight ratio is the holy grail in making a car a speed demon. The VP's concern on hybrid drivetrain's weight may allude to boosting power-to-weight ratio.

This writer wonders if hybrid M do come into production, will the engineers at M division ponder on imitating Koenigsegg's trick in overcoming the weight handicap of their Regera hybrid: dispensing the transmission altogether. Will this be the recipe for crazy power-to-weight ratio?