There's an obvious push for electrification on a global scale. In fact, Green Car reports that global EV sales are up by 26 percent in 2021 versus the previous year, or over 6.4 million units sold worldwide. And while several automakers, such as Lotus and Renault, have already pledged to go full electric in the next decade or so, BMW isn't just done yet with internal combustion engines.
Weber stated that the new engines are "nothing is really like it was before." There will be something that's completely new in the cylinder head in the name of efficiency. He believes that the overall reduction of CO2 emissions is "crucial in the fight against climate change," regardless of whether it's electric or an internal combustion engine.
Weber concludes that what the customer demands is just as important as the goal to reduce emissions.
BMW Development Director Frank Weber went on record to confirm this, courtesy of an interview with Auto Motor und Sport. According to Weber, the German company is "working on a new generation of engines: petrol, diesel, six-cylinder, eight-cylinder."
To effectively reduce BMW's CO2 emissions globally, Weber said that BMW will need a "state-of-the-art combustion engine" for a few more years. This will be the purpose of the upcoming newly developed power plants, which are said to be also technologically prepared for future emission standards.
"With the six-cylinder engine alone, we are reducing CO2 emissions more massively than has ever been the case with a generation change," Weber added. He also cited that legislation in terms of emissions is becoming standardized around the world, which would definitely help BMW's case.
"In order to reconcile emission requirements on the one hand and performance requirements on the other, we looked at the entire charge cycle and found a promising approach there," said Weber.