WHAT TO BUY: BMW i3

BMW's funky-looking electric i3 never really caught on in the U.S.

- K.C. Colwell 

2014-21

Its best sales year was 2015, when slightly more than 11,000 of the EVs (including the REx model, the one with the optional range extender) found homes. And yet, its odd looks and practical shape would fit right in with today's electric cars.

The i3 may have wheels that look like pizza cutters, but there's nothing cut-rate about it. A carbonfiber passenger's cell rides on an aluminum skateboard that carries the suspension, a single motor driving the rear wheels, the battery, and, in the REx version, a small engine borrowed from a BMW scooter. Equally odd is the 2+2-door configuration, and instead of typical materials, interior panels are hemp-reinforced plastics showing off a random fiber pattern.