We recently learned that the top-end BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe will be an M Performance model that could have its power enhanced by an electric motor, making it a hybrid. Now, some spy photos have recently surfaced (which we don’t own but you can see here) that show a 2 Series Gran Coupe covered in camouflage and wearing an “Experimental Vehicle” tag. Could this be that hybrid 2er?

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This 2 Series Gran Coupe was caught while on a car carrier, fully covered in camo. The spy in question was able to get a lot of up close photos of this 2er test mule, including some of its undercarriage and the tag on the rear-view mirror. That tag reads “Attention Experimental Vehicle: Drive with moderate speed only (<5 mph).”

That’s interesting. The “Experimental Vehicle” bit could just mean that it’s a test mule but it’s the ‘drive slowly’ bit that’s odd about that. We see test mules drive crazy fast all the time. So maybe this has some sort of hybrid powertrain that BMW is just beginning to test. It’s definitely not a fully-electric version, as there’s an exhaust pipe clearly visible in the photos but it could be a hybrid. From those same photos, it’s also very visibly front-wheel drive, as there are no driveshafts at the rear axle. But we already knew that.

There also doesn’t seem to be an electric motor at the rear axle, either. So if this is indeed a hybrid, it would be one with some sort of e-boost to help power the front wheels, not an all-wheel drive hybrid setup like in the BMW i8.

Another interesting interesting point of this 2 Series Gran Coupe test mule is that its wheels look very sporty. They’re large, aggressive and painted black. So we’re wondering if this is some sort of M Performance variant of the 2er GC. If that’s true, it would bolster our case for this being a hybrid, as that’s the model we heard might be electrified.

It will be very interesting to see how the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe model variants pan out. We know there’s going to be an M Performance model but might it be a hybrid? Might there be two versions, one hybrid and one not? We’ll see soon enough.

[Source: Motor1]