BMW has said its first electric M Performance car won't rival its established petrol and diesel vehicles for power - yet. 

The suggestion came from BMW M Performace head Markus Flasch during a speech to mark the latest 2021 iteration of the BMW M3 hatchback and M4 coupe. Flasch told Australian journalists including CarAdvice's Kez Casey that the first M Performance electric model would be based on the i4 platform, potentially called the Mi4 or i4M. 

"Next year we will launch the first battery-electric M car in the performance segment, based on the incoming i4, as something to confirm,” said Flasch. We've already seen the striking i4 emerge, promising a range of up to 370 miles (around 600km) and time to 100km/h of around four seconds.

It'll certainly look to take sales away from Tesla's Model 3 and Model S. The model is due to be released in 2021 alongside the BMW i3X (an all-electric version of the X3). 

The i4 will charge at 150kW, so a 35 minute charge should get you around 80 percent full. 

Flasch continued that BMW was also working on "hybrid electrified performance and high-performance cars, but it is too early to disclose which ones it is going to be."

Like the new M3 and M4, the new i4 is meant to be coming with a huge 'kidney' design grille - a new spin on the familiar split-grille BMW style.