Michael Pick Turns a Used BMW i3 Into a Compact Electric Pickup for Under $8,000

Michael Pick wanted a small electric pickup without paying forty thousand dollars or waiting for something like the Slate to reach the market. High gas prices made his old V6 Ranger feel expensive to run, so he bought a high-mileage 2017 BMW i3 REx sight unseen from an online auction for fifty-eight hundred dollars and set out to convert it himself.

Before any cutting could begin, the i3 required a new 12V battery and a thorough cleaning. With the interior stripped and the hatch removed, Pick carefully planned where he would cut into the carbon fiber cabin, then disassembled it and hacked off the back half. Before he could begin working on the rest, he designed a custom rear cab structure to provide much-needed extra support, added a back window as a bonus, and then spent some time sealing the entire thing up so that water couldn’t get in and the remaining space remained dry and functional.

The cargo bed was next on his to-do list. It’s made of plywood that’s been coated with heavy-duty penetrating epoxy and covered with a bedliner, so it rests on top of the compartment that houses the car’s core electronics. Pick was diligent in ensuring that the junction between the cabin and the bed was tightly sealed to prevent water from seeping in. The old taillight lenses were too large for the new opening, so he had to relocate the electronics. To cap it off, he added some aluminum tie-down rails and a detachable tailgate net to complete the bed. The good news is that it can be completely removed when the engine is serviced.

Pick decided to stick with the original systems rather than fiddling with the car’s software because it was simply easier that way. He did, however, change the factory screen to a larger 12.3 inch one with Apple CarPlay and tweaked the range-extender controls to make them function more seamlessly. As a result, the final truck can travel approximately 100 miles on batteries alone and more than 340 miles when the small gasoline engine comes in.

The total cost was just under $8,000, which the donor vehicle, a new shattered windshield, and all of the modifications he made. What you end up with is a two-seater ute that looks outrageously fantastic, runs on electricity most of the time, and has a lovely useful open bed for carrying light things. It won’t compete with a full-size truck in terms of carrying capacity, but it does definitively address the one question Pick began with: an affordable electric pickup is possible if you’re ready to hack an existing car to pieces.
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