BMW M Is Testing a Quad-Motor Setup in the i4 M50

• BMW is using an i4 M50 as a testbed for a quad-motor setup, expected to be offered in the next generation of electric M cars.

• The prototype four-door features high-performance front and rear axles, created just for this application.

• The four motors also act as generators, recuperating energy and sending it back to the battery.

BMW may have given EV fans a more powerful i4 in the form of the M50, but it's not really designed to be the M car of the range, despite being positioned above the i4 eDrive35 at the moment. Instead, Munich has something else in the works that should live up to the M badge.

Say guten morgen to the quad-motor M prototype currently undergoing testing that, among other things, gives a new meaning to the term "four-wheel drive." Based on the i4 M50 four-door, the prototype features a wider stance with flared wheel arches, but most of the innovation is under the skin.

BMW has paired the four electric motors with an integrated driving dynamics control system, while the wider wheel arches allow for high-performance front and rear axles, manufactured specifically for this prototype. BMW has added an adapted body strut concept borrowed from the M3 and M4 models, to give the prototype particularly high torsional rigidity.

The centerpiece of the effort, of course, is the quad-motor setup, which is promised to allow for a fast distribution of drive torque that is also infinitely variable according to the automaker, reacting within milliseconds.