The electric BMW M3 for Pikes Peak

With the arrival of new electric technologies, it was only a matter of time before specialists in this kind of motor and electric conversion sprang up like mushrooms. One of them, EV West, has taken the next step and become a competition team too, which will make its debut at the Pikes Peak hill climb.

To do so, they will use one of their recently converted vehicles, a 1995 BMW M3 that has left behind its original 240-horsepower straight-six engine in favour of an electric powertrain that provides almost twice the power: 420 horsepower, nearly as much as the M3 with its V8 engine.

Details about this new electric machine that will dare to reach the clouds are not abundant, but through further changes to its electric motor in preparation for the event, EV West says it wants to push the final output to more than 500 horsepower to become a serious rival in its category against the official entries of the Mitsubishi i and the electric vehicle that Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima will present.

Among other additional details about these electric competition cars, it seems the next step for this BMW M3 will be a change in the engine’s location, moving to a mid-mounted motor that delivers no less than 1000 horsepower; an aspiration that will depend on the success of this electric M3 at Pikes Peak.