BMW patents new electric turbochargers

BMW has recently patented an electric turbocharger, after months of speculation that something like this was in the works.

Basically the system uses an electric motor and a series of clutches to help eliminate turbo lag. When the driver of the vehicle hits the accelerator pedal, the electric motor spools the turbo up to its optimal performance.

Once the electric motor is no longer needed, it acts like an alternator and charges the battery. When this happens, the motor also prevents the turbo from spinning too quickly, which eliminates the need for a wastegate, as you would need if you used a traditional turbo setup.

At this stage we are not sure when BMW will put this into production but it has been suggested that these electric turbos were under consideration for the next M3, so maybe we will see them then.