CAR BUYING

The LAPD's Costly BMW i3 Fleet Is Being Sold For Basically Nothing, Which Means There Are Deals

Justin T. Westbrook
Yesterday 9:00PM • Filed to: BMW I3

If you’ve been worried the potential lack of legacy of modern electric vehicle batteries means you wouldn’t be able to get great used deals on them down the road, government acquisitions are here to save the day. The LAPD is selling its hardly-used electric BMW i3 fleet for dirt cheap.

The sale of at least some of the Los Angeles Police Department’s fleet of all-electric BMW i3 hatchbacks popped up on The Current Review, high schooler Andrew Lambrecht’s EV enthusiast blog:

New Century BMW, the dealer that handled the leases initially, is currently selling them as CPO models. Interestingly, the front plates on the i3s in the LAPD parking garage are from Century BMW, proving the conclusion. Additionally, all the Capparis White i3s with Deka World interiors and 19-inch aluminum wheels for sale on Century’s website have their Carfaxes listed as “government vehicle.” Unfortunately for the county of Los Angeles, these i3s took a severe blow in their value. All of LAPD’s i3s for sale are all under $20,000, even ones with four-digit mileages. This is a significant disparity from their original starting price of $43,395.

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The Current Review also points out that, both on the ground and on the books, the LAPD’s shiny BMW i3 program was a big ol’ flop as it effectively did nothing. The vehicles had to be registered as “administrative” instead of patrol vehicles, which is why the mileage is so low—they didn’t have a real need for them—an issue that was already be reported back in 2018.

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