BMW Developing All New Combustion Gas & Diesel Straight Sixes, V8s
Electric BMWs May be Booming, But Don’t Write Its Combustion Engines Off Just Yet
Global electric vehicle sales were up by 26 percent in 2021. More than 6.4 million new EVs found new owners globally last year. Audi, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Renault, Volvo, and others vow to only sell electric cars by 2030. General Motors will join them by 2035.
You may be freaked out by now, if like us you’re a petrolhead. Especially if you gravitate to any of the brands noted above. But relax! The combustion engine has not yet had its day. Not by any means. See, not all carmakers promise to eliminate ICEs anytime soon. Some, not least of all BMW, are in fact flat out developing meaner, cleaner, and greener gas and diesel engines as we speak. Indeed, not even the good old V8 appears to be anywhere near extinction…
The V8 is Far from Dead!
Make no mistake, all carmakers will offer electric cars. But not all of them are prepared to throw their entire hat into that battery pond. Many remain committed to keeping ICEs alive. BMW, Mercedes, and VW, among others, will keep on building combustion cars.
You may ask what’s driving this disruptive combustion trend in a battery mad industry? Well, it seems the biggest motivator just happens to be that like BMW, some carmakers simply want to keep their customers happy. Not everybody wants an EV. So, while many carmakers will force battery cars down their buyers’ necks, BMW, and others, perhaps those with a closer understanding of their customers’ wants and needs, refuse to let the combustion dream die, just yet.
BMW is leading the renewed internal combustion engine charge. “One thing is certain,” BMW Development Director Frank Weber promises. “We will still need state-of-the-art combustion engines for a good many years to come. “That is why we are working on a new generation of petrol and diesel straight-six and V8 engines that will most effectively contribute to reducing CO2 in the global passenger car sector. “We will reduce emissions, regardless of whether we do that with more advanced engines, or electric powertrains.
BMW is Developing Brand New Combustion Engines
“We looked at our power options and found a promising approach while reconciling emissions needs on the one hand and performance requirements on the other. “Our next six-cylinder engine alone, will reduce CO2 emissions much more effectively than ever. “Our new engines will be nothing like you have ever seen before. “They will have something completely new in the cylinder head to reduce emissions in the crucial fight against climate change.
“Most importantly, we will not force our customers to choose between combustion and electric vehicles,” Weber concluded. “BMW will always offer the most sustainable and innovative cars, regardless of their drive type, in line with standardized future emissions legislation around the world.”
Unlike its rivals, BMW has not rushed to bring its EV battery cell production in-house, despite its transition to EVs ramping up more rapidly than expected. BMW EV sales have doubled off full order books. “We are in no rush to scale up battery cell production,” BMW finance boss Nicolas Peter admits. “We are not yet at the point where we can say what technology will accompany us for the next 10 to 15 years. “That’s why it’s important to invest with worldwide partners in a lot of resources.”
Don’t Close that Gas Account Just Yet!
BMW is not alone in its commitment to combustion engine propulsion. Like Munich, Stuttgart is also developing gas powered alternatives to its future battery vehicles. In spite reports to the contrary, and that the next C63 AMG likely to be a 4-cylinder hybrid, Mercedes-AMG doesn’t appear ready to abandon its V8s just yet, either. “I think for the next 10 years we will see the V8 for sure,” AMG boss Philipp Schiemer admits. “Many customers still love their cars and I still think that we will see those people buying V8s for a long time to come.”
Even more interestingly however, while Volkswagen continues to focus on BEVs, its latest-generation 4-cylinder TDI diesel engines can now be fired by paraffinic diesel fuels. These newly developed fuels promise to slash CO2 emissions by up to 95 percent. Paraffinic fuels are made out anything from used vegetable cooking oils to sawdust. It is converted into hydrocarbon fuels via a reaction with hydrogen. Like BMW, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Mazda and Nissan, Volkswagen plans to be climate-neutral by 2050.
So, there you have it. Depending on your preferred car brand, you may or may not be forced to drive an electric car, come the end of the decade. That’s eight years away. But BMW and others will indeed continue to actively develop fresh future combustion engine solutions. They will be much cleverer and significantly cleaner than any engine we know now. And more than competitive with their electric rivals. Most significantly, BMW will keep combustion motoring alive for far longer than many would ever want you to imagine….
Images: BMW