Electric Three Series has been dancing in ice and snow in lead up to mid-March reveal.

LESS that a fortnight from today, BMW will introduce a car vital to its future.

Munich is already ramping up the PR machine for the new i3 sedan, the electric version of the next-generation 3-Series, historically a core car for Munich.

Release of a carefully sorted preview image, confirming the car will feature an illuminated 'kidney' motif on its front end that mimics the trademark BMW grille, comes with more images of the complete car, wrapped in heavy camouflage, undergoing extreme cold weather testing in the Arctic Circle.

Full unveiling of the car in showroom-ready guise will occur on March 18.

The second second member of its Neue Klasse family of EVs reprises a badge last used for the seminal electric hatchback of the 2010s, but is a very different prospect to that city-focused predecessor. And also very much seperate to the fastback electric i4 that fills in as a medium electric sedan at the moment.

What’s coming soon is closely related under the skin to the BMW iX3 sports utility, which with a mid-2026 landing schedule could well precede by up to a year a sedan being called Munich's answer to the Tesla Model 3.

It’s clear the i3 will depart dramatically from today's G20-generation 3 Series with a sharp, heavily angled design treatment that, overseas pundits say, nods to historic BMW models while embracing a more minimalist, futuristic ethos.

The Neue Klasse platform comprises BMW’s sixth-generation eDrive 800-volt electrical architecture, allowing DC fast-charging speeds of up to 400kW.

the i3 is expected to launch in i3 50 xDrive form, mirroring the iX3. Outputs for the dual-motor powertrain are picked at 345kW of power and 645Nm of torque.

BMW claims a WLTP driving range of at least 800 kilometres’, a step up from the iX3 directly as result of the sedan having a more aerodynamic body.

The cabin is going toward a button-free cabin layout, with potential for a 17.9-inch infotainment touchscreen.

The i3 is expected to spawn a healthy count of variants, including the brand’s first fully electric M3 sports sedan, which will be sold alongside a new inline turbo-petrol six-powered M3.

The new electric sedan will be one of 40 new or updated BMW models planned for release by the end of 2027.