BMW has been working on electric vehicles for quite a while now, there are a few that already populate their line-up, and have been said to be working on the iX3 and electric 3 Series.
Recently, at the company's #NEXTGen19 event, a fully electric prototype version of the 5 Series called the Power BEV was shown off — and this thing means business.
If you aren't a fan of the technical name of the car, project manager Matthias Stangl spoke to Roadshow about its nickname, "We call it Lucy. When you say 'Lucy' everybody's thinking about 'Lucifer', and you see this amazing black car. But if you think of the Latin origin of 'Lucifer', it's the one that brings the light." So say hello to Lucy, BMW's new electric monster."
When it comes to the power figures of this car, the name Lucifer makes perfect sense, considering it packs a lot more than the monstrous, range-topping M5.
With three fifth-generation electric drive units working together, this sleek sedan produces 530kW, and 1149Nm of torque. That's enough power to blast it from 0-100 km/h in under three seconds.
While these are some impressive figures, the concept was built with cornering performance in mind alongside straight line speed.
Lucy gets this cornering performance from the fact that the two electric motors on the rear axle are controlled separately. Ultising a system that is said to be more effective than a traditional limited-slip differential, forward propulsion can be achieved even in the most extreme driving maneuvers. Combine this e-torque vectoring with the single motor on the front axle, and you get an all-wheel drive system that will be hard to beat.
BMW chose the 5 Series as a donor can for the Power BEV because of the ease of testing ability, and the extra space that the long chassis offered. By using a 5 Series over a 3 Series, passenger space in the cabin wasn't compromised by the advanced tri-motor system.
When this technology goes to market in future years, BMW wants customers to be able to choose between setups, and get the one that's right for them. Whether it's a single motor system like the upcoming IX3, or ludicrous three-motor setup like Lucy, personalising your car to your tastes seems to be the goal.