BMW BMW seems to want a smooth transition from the traditional gas-powered M3 to the new electric one. So rather than make a sudden change from one generation to the next, it's simply making both. For the next-gen M3, you'll have the choice of either a turbocharged straight-six or a fully electric quad-motor powertrain. Both cars will be built on separate platforms, too, so it's not like BMW is just shoehorning one of the powertrains in to appease customers. These are two fully developed, individual cars that will just bear the same name and look pretty similar. However, BMW doesn't see the electric M3 as just a way to ease customers into it replacing the old one. BMW thinks the electric one will be so good, you'll forget all about the gas one. "Now we are fighting against [ourselves], because with the all-electric M3 we are attacking our best-selling product — the leader in its segment," BMW M Boss Frank van Meel told Autocar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. "We are also working on a future generation of [petrol] M3, but now we have an internal fight. We are just pushing ourselves with the two different powertrains, and it's a great contest." The gas-powered M3 will sound better but BMW says the electric M3 drives better BMW It does seem like the electric M3 is going to be tough for the gas one to beat. It isn't just its 1,000 horsepower, it's the fact that it uses four electric motors to vary torque exactly where it's needed. "It's like a kickboxer," van Meel said. "You never kick with two legs. You can have strong arms and strong legs, but you don't use them all at the same time. And it's the same with four electric motors." Additionally, it can use regenerative braking on specific wheels, creating real-time, four-wheel torque vectoring. "It's insane what you can do with that technology," he continued. "You can bring more agility or stability to the car. You can brake the inner wheels, accelerate the outer ones and can get out of turns in a completely different way. It's a new era of vehicle dynamics." The improved aero helps, too. Without pesky engines, transmissions, differentials, exhaust systems, and radiators in the way, BMW can get wild with the electric car's aero in ways that it simply can't in the gas car. One example van Meel mentions is the double-decker rear diffuser and floating aerofoil design. He says the extra downforce allows you to do things in a car that "your intuition says you can't." Most purists will admit the obvious performance advantages of EVs, but still prefer the feel, noise, and excitement of internal combustion. And van Meel admits that there will be customers who prefer the more visceral experience of a piston engine. But for those who want performance and driving dynamics above all else, he gets about as close to saying the electric M3 is going to be the better car, without making the gas one seem obsolete. "There might be customers who say they want to have a combustion engine because they like the sound or the looks or cannot charge at home. That's fully okay. But if you're into racing or driving dynamics, you might say the electric one is the best M3." It isn't unusual to hear a car company say that it's new product is better than the old one. That's every press release ever. But it is unusual to hear a car company build two versions of an icon, and then say that the new one is clearly better than the one customers have known and loved for decades.