Electric BMW M1 supercar successor almost became a reality – report
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BMW’s board almost approved a 1000kW electric M1 successor this year, reports claim, with the project being paused in part due to easing sales of electric cars.
An electric hypercar from BMW M came very close to becoming a reality, according to an unconfirmed report.
Specialist website BMW Blog claims BMW board members decided to pause work on an electric hypercar project at the eleventh hour, following the assemblage of a project team and the creation of a clay model.
As a modern interpretation of the original M1, the new electric hypercar was – according to a company insider – “sporty, daring, and unmistakably futuristic”.
While few details of the hypercar have been revealed, it’s said the BMW hypercar produced approximately 1000kW from its electric motors.
Sources told BMW Blog the M hypercar came “tantalizingly close to approval”, but was ultimately halted due to challenges with profitability and technological feasibility, as well as sales concerns, the report claims.
MORE: BMW reveals secret cancelled i16 supercar
It’s believed the mysterious hypercar project may be related to the BMW i16 supercar, first reported in February 2024.
But while the i16 project is said to have been axed in 2020, the latest report claims the electric hypercar project was paused as recently as 2024 – with a downturn of electric-car sales globally contributing to the decision by the company’s board.
The i16 was meant to be a follow-up to the i8, but was originally said to have been cancelled due to the global pandemic – however, the project may have been revived in the years since.
“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 revealed on Instagram at the time.
“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.”
MORE: Extremely rare 2025 BMW XM bound for Australia
Coincidentally, BMW historian Steve Saxty told YouTuber Joe Achilles this week the BMW i16 was “95 per cent finished”, with the vehicle to be powered by a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain making more than 450kW.
Mr Saxty explained the BMW Vision M Next concept (above) was close to the final production car.
“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.”
While the pandemic was initially blamed for the project’s demise, Mr Saxty said BMW management ultimately had to decide between greenlighting the i16 or the XM, also in development at the time – with the high-performance SUV eventually winning out.
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Curiously, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a one-megawatt electric vehicle being in development from BMW’s M division.
Back in 2021, rumours suggested the German car maker was working on an iM2 – a 1000kW electric performance coupe based on the M2.
Known internally as ‘Project Katharina’, the vehicle was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of BMW M.
While that anniversary has come and gone, in recent weeks BMW M released a video showing an electric M3 prototype in camouflage – also said to have 1000kW from four electric motors.
BMW executives have expressed an interest in creating a supercar or hypercar as early as 2018, though it seems as if several projects have been abandoned in the years since – with only the BMW i8 making it to production.
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