2027 BMW i3 Prototype First Drive Review: Neue Klasse on Ice

• The i3 is BMW's second entry in the Neue Klasse EV range.
• The dual-motor i3 50 xDrive sedan makes 463 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque.
• Production begins in the second half of this year.

— Arjeplog, Sweden

Pour one out for the humble i3 hatchback. BMW's quirky first attempt at a mass-market electric car has already largely been forgotten by the fast-moving market, and now its nomenclature is being officially retconned. Meet the new i3 — a sedan this time around — and BMW's next application of its Neue Klasse platform following the iX3 SUV. After a day on the ice behind the wheel of an early prototype, the Heart of Joy is looking even more promising.

What we know so far

Time has shown that making a truly great EV requires a fresh start. That's exactly what BMW did with Neue Klasse, and as we've already seen in the iX3 SUV, the results are pretty special. 

Its successor, the i3, is currently wrapping up its prototype testing phase at BMW's cold-weather facility in Arjeplog, Sweden, and that's where I went to get some time behind the wheel on roads both smooth and rough — plus a fair bit of ice, too.

I don't have the full list of specifications for the car just yet, but I do know that the car I drove will be called i3 50 xDrive, a designation that implies multiple trims with different power and drivetrain layouts to come. 

This first one has a conventional suspension with steel springs around fixed dampers, and a dual-motor layout with 463 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque. Those figures, not coincidentally, match those of the iX3 50 xDrive exactly. BMW isn't quoting a battery capacity yet, but it seems safe to say the i3 will also use the same 108.7-kWh pack as the iX3. 

This is a wholly new battery design for BMW, featuring cylindrical cells in a unified cell-to-pack configuration that significantly reduces weight and cost. BMW says this battery will power the iX3 to somewhere around 400 miles on the EPA test cycle. If the capacity is the same here, expect the i3 to go even farther.

Cold Heart of Joy

Range and power figures are, of course, key in an EV. But when it comes to the aspects of drivability, BMW's new Heart of Joy vehicle operating system is the more notable story. In short, BMW brought all the disparate control systems found in a modern premium sedan like a 3 Series in-house and integrated everything into a series of "superbrains."

More power means faster processing, and bringing everything from the antilock brakes to stability control and recuperative braking together means a car that, at least theoretically, offers a far more seamless experience than something cobbled together with off-the-shelf components.

It takes only a moment behind the wheel of the i3 in a low-grip situation to feel all that at work. If you've ever tried to drive an everyday car aggressively in slippery conditions with traction and stability control on, you've probably found it to be a pretty frustrating experience. Most systems cut power immediately and forcefully the second there's any wheelspin, then continue punishing your exuberance by keeping power cut for much longer than is strictly necessary for safety.

In the i3, when I stomp my foot to the floor on an icy road, the car never spins its wheels or jerks its way forward. It just casually and cleanly accelerates ahead, making maximum use of the limited grip available. When I intentionally put one wheel on a slipperier part of the track, the ABS automatically kicks in on one side to keep the car from spinning, but it again just cleanly moves forward.

When I crank the wheel over far too aggressively for the conditions, the i3 simply reduces power output again and applies the brakes to the inside wheel, smoothly and easily bringing me through the turn. As I straighten the wheel again, the car immediately delivers more power to the two motors, sending it front or rear based on grip. 

None of this functionality is entirely novel. There are plenty of stability and traction control systems on the market that will get you around a slippery corner. However, I've never experienced a car that did it so smoothly and collaboratively. 

But the i3 got even better when I turned these systems off. 

Time to slide

Going from the i3's Personal mode (the default) to Sport livens things up a little bit. The steering gains substantially more feedback but, interestingly, still stays quite light. If you, like I, find the steering too heavy in Sport mode on modern performance BMWs, you'll love that. The car is also quicker to apply power and more willing to kick the tail out.

But things get really interesting when stepping into the more performance-oriented Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) mode, which is a separate toggle. Here, the car feels like a completely different machine. The rear motor gladly and quickly spins up the tires and enables easy, massive drifts.

In this mode, the stability control is still enabled, and I can hear and feel the ABS up front braking the inside tire to keep me from sliding into a snowbank when entering a cold turn too hot. But, on the way out, BMW's latest sedan is more than happy to let me go from lock-to-lock drifting in either direction.

In this mode, the i3 is so much fun that I really don't feel totally compelled to turn the stability control off. But in the interest of testing, I did turn it off, something that requires just one tap on that oddly inclined central touchscreen, the same one found in the iX3. With the safety systems fully disabled, I am in full control, calling on all my ice driving skills to keep the i3 pointed where I want it to go.

That includes left-foot braking. Plenty of modern EVs get confused when you press both the brake pedal and the accelerator at the same time. Not the i3. I can tap the brake to give a little extra weight on the nose without lifting off the throttle. Or moving the car up to maximum regen mode means I can do much the same thing just by getting on and off the accelerator.

When it's finally time to end the fun and come to a complete stop, the i3 does so with the same uncanny smoothness as in the iX3. Even on loose, rutted snow on top of glare ice, the i3 tracks perfectly straight under hard or soft braking, coming to a gentle, fuss-free stop.

More details coming soon

There are still plenty of questions that remain about the i3, including how much it will cost, and I'm still not totally in love with the shape of the sedan I'm seeing under that camouflage. But when it comes to dynamics, the new i3 is off to a great start. And remember, this is just the beginning, with BMW promising more models with even more motors in the future.

The 2027 i3's debut is scheduled for March 18, ahead of it entering production in the second half of this year.