Someone Turned a BMW i3 Into a Pickup for Under $10,000

The i3 Before the Rebirth

If you said BMW i3 a few years ago, people would either tell you about the odd little hatchback that was the brand’s first baby step into mass electrification. You might also get folks saying the electric version of the outgoing 3 Series in China. Of course, there may be blank stares, followed by “what’s an i3?”

The i3 is back (although it never left China) as the car that should help Munich take its electrification efforts to greater heights. It’s almost as if memories of the electric/range extended EV are being wiped away, with not a whole lot of people remembering it.

Meanwhile, in America

The i3 hatchback wasn’t a big hit in America, or pretty much everywhere else. The initial electric version didn’t have much in the way of range, and the later range-extended model was too little too late. Still, there’s a small but dedicated group of people who swear by it and keep its memory alive.

Then, there are folks who want to do something different with it. That was the case for YouTuber Michael Pick. You might think an i3 build would mean dropping the suspension, adding nice wheels, and maybe a non-factory paint job. But Pick totally transformed the little car into something completely different.

The i3…Pickup?

Pick had a bit of a dilemma, as he wanted a small electric pickup to combat the high fuel prices. An old V6 Ranger at current gas prices doesn’t help either, which only makes him more inclined to go electric. One might say, get a Slate pickup and get on with it, but it’s not widely available yet.

But instead of just waiting for the Slate truck, Pick decided to build a small EV pickup himself, with an i3 hatchback being the unwitting donor to this little project. More specifically, it’s the range-extended version, so it can actually go far on a charge. Armed with a circular saw, hacksaws, and $10,000, Pick got to work on turning the i3 into a small truck.

It was a bit of a challenge, especially given that the i3’s body is carbon fiber. That said, the car’s platform is a body-on-frame of sorts, so it still has some stiffness. It’s been caged (sort of), so that might help. Questions about rigidity aside, it’s a unique and interesting build that’s all for under $10,000, car included. As one comment pointed out, it’s an amazing use of free will.

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