Ever since BMW announced its new i division a few weeks ago, there has been a lot of speculation about exactly what the cars would look like, After all, aside from highly conceptualized drawings, only the featureless models above are what BMW has officially shown us of its new cars. Then there's the question of whether an all-electric urban city car like the i3 can hold up BMW's tradition of building fun cars. We're starting to get a glimpse of both answers thanks to some intrepid spy photographers.
The compact, i3 was recently "caught" on spy video going through cold weather testing in Sweden. I say "caught" because this is some pretty darn clear spy video; either the engineers were in on it, or BMW was also testing some newfangled system for blind drivers. Anyhow, the rear-wheel drive, rear-engine, all-electric i3 is busy going through its paces on a very icy track, and the driver is undoubtedly having a good time hanging the tail out and doing a little ice drifting. With 150-hp, it certainly looks fun to drive, at least if the road is covered in ice and you're on a closed course.
As far as looks are concerned, well, let's just say this isn't exactly classic BMW styling, unless you're counting Isettas. Frankly, it looks a little like the box a BMW might be shipped in. Still, at the very least it looks pretty space efficient, and since urban transportation is the i3's mission, that's probably a better call than the i8's swoopy styling.