MotoE Series Announces First Electric BMW M Car As New Safety Car

When you’re the premiere electric motorcycle racing series in the world, you need a safety car that fits your series. That’s why the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup just announced that the first-ever fully-electric BMW M car will be the new safety car for the series.  

MotoE’s new safety car is based on the BMW i4 M50, which is set to launch in November 2021. Both the front and rear axles of the i4 M50 have electric motors, which produce a claimed total power output of 400kW, or 544 horsepower.  

The grand unveiling of MotoE’s new electric BMW safety car is scheduled to take place on August 15, 2021, at the Motorcycle Grand Prix of Austria in Spielberg, at the Red Bull Ring circuit. This new i4 M50-based safety car will replace the outgoing BMW i8 safety car.  

“With the BMW i4 M50, we are entering a new era and presenting our first M with a fully-electric drive train,” BMW M GmbH CEO Markus Flasch said in a statement. 

“With the first M BEV, we are setting course for a future, in which the combination of extremely sporty, performance vehicles and electrification is an exciting theme. We are showing that everything people have come to value about M – the typical emotional M driving experience with sportiness, power and dynamics – is also possible in a fully-electric vehicle,” Flasch continued. 

“While the production version of the four-door Gran Coupé will hit the market in the autumn, our fans can enjoy its world premiere at the racetrack this summer. There could not be a more appropriate safety car for MotoE than the BMW i4 M50 – pure performance, fully-electric. We are looking forward to the premiere in Spielberg,” he concluded. 

The one-make series exclusively runs Energica Ego Corsa motorcycles, and Energica is currently under contract with the series through 2022. MotoE started in 2019, and is still finding its wings as a new support series within the MotoGP ecosystem. When 2022 rolls around, will it remain a one-make series, or can we expect to see manufacturer competition within its ranks, as well? It’s fairly soon, and so far, no OEMs besides Energica are making the type of electric motorcycles that Energica makes. Still, we’ll have to wait and see. 

MotoE Series Announces First Electric BMW M Car As New Safety Car
Source: Philippines Election