A battered, non-running BMW i3 became one driver's answer to the high cost of both fuel and electric pickups. Content creator Michael Pick transformed the car into a homemade mini-truck with a waterproofed wooden bed, spending less than $8,000 on the entire project, including the used car.
Here's what to know
High gas prices led Pick to consider replacing his Ford Ranger with an electric pickup. However, the high cost of EV trucks placed them outside Pick's budget. Looking for a low-budget option, Pick decided to build one himself.
According to MotorBiscuit, Pick set two requirements for his vehicle: spend no more than $10,000 and achieve more than 300 miles of total range. To start, Pick bought the used BMW i3 sight unseen at an online auction.
Although the vehicle arrived dead, a replacement 12-volt battery quickly brought the i3's displays back to life. To meet his goal of a 300-mile range, Pick made sure to buy the i3's "Rex" model, which included a small, two-cylinder gasoline engine. Rather than power the car's wheels, the gas engine instead recharged the vehicle's battery, extending the range.
Tallied together, the project's costs included the donor vehicle, a fabricated waterproof cargo bed, a new windshield, and an upgraded 12-inch screen supporting Apple CarPlay.
Transforming the car into a truck
According to MotorBiscuit, the BMW i3 was relatively unique for a production vehicle because it was made of carbon fiber rather than steel. This meant that, for Pick to cut away the vehicle's rear roof and hatch for the pickup conversion, he had to use a specialized diamond blade designed for abrasive composites.
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To enclose the passenger cab, Pick made a weather-sealed wall behind the cab by cutting ABS plastic to the outline of the rear door's original glass. For the truck bed, he applied penetrating marine epoxy beneath a bed-liner coating to keep water away from sensitive electronics.
Once the vehicle was complete, Pick took a test drive to Home Depot, where he loaded several long planks of lumber into the i3's bed and secured them with adjustable aluminum L-track tie-downs.
The benefits of going electric
While not everyone can transform a car into a pickup truck, Pick's project showed the fuel savings available when making your next car an EV.
"Filling up my new electric truck cost me only $10, and if I decide not to use gas and just go fully electric, it only cost me $4 to fully charge the high-voltage battery," Pick concluded. "This is the truck BMW should have built."
Adding to the potential savings, electric vehicles also require less routine maintenance than internal-combustion vehicles, though Pick's range-extender BMW still had a gasoline engine to maintain.
To lower costs even further, charging an EV at home often costs half as much as using public chargers. However, basic Level 1 charging is often quite slow. Qmerit provides free, instant installation estimates for faster Level 2 home charger installations.
Where can I learn more?
Pick's homemade BMW pickup is one way to cut the cost of owning an electric truck. The following stories cover other examples, including a budget Toyota conversion, lower-priced electric pickups, and more.
• A Washington builder converted a 1982 Toyota pickup to electric for $7,785, mostly using secondhand parts.
• An F-150 owner spending $357 monthly on gas considered a Lightning, prompting home-charging advice.
• Slate's $24,950 electric truck asked buyers to trade range for affordability.
• Silverado EV owners tracked a week of charging, comparing costs with gasoline and solar.
• An F-150 Lightning owner's 9,000 miles of home charging cost about the same as one old monthly gas bill.
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