Most of the fun and oddly-shaped electric vehicles we’ve found for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column have been rather slow, urban style vehicles. That’s true whether its a tiger-shaped bus or a Cinderella carriage. But this super-cheap electric car somehow got an extra serving of power before it left the factory, helping it achieve highway speeds.
And when I say super-cheap, I’m not exaggerating. If it’s to be believed, the ad puts the sticker price at just US $1,199 for a two-seater electric car.
Of course as we’ve seen before, the Alibaba ad should absolutely not be believed. My own “$2,000” electric mini-truck ended up costing me closer to $8,000 by the time I got it to the US. I’m guessing a slick-looking EV like this one is going to have just as many if not more hidden expenses.
And of course there’s the slight wrinkle of it not even being remotely close to street legal, meaning you couldn’t legally import it into the US anyway.
But that’s not going to stop us from enjoying this awesome little creation from afar!
If you ask me, there’s a lot to enjoy here. The performance is only part of the charm. A 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed is possible thanks to the little electric car’s 35 kW motor. That’s 47 horsepower, which may not sound like much compared to a typical car in the US, but it probably more than this tiny little hunk of aluminum and glass needs to get up to its max speed.
Alibaba also claims a range of 152 km (94 miles), which again, isn’t going to compare very favorably to a Tesla or other mainstream electric cars. But for someone who just needs to get around their city or suburb and occasionally do short trips on the highway to the next town, that’s probably plenty of range. Think of it as a golf cart with windows that you can also drive on the interstate.
In fact, this thing is so tiny that if you ever did run out of battery, it looks like you could just pick up one end and wheelbarrow it to the closest electrical outlet.
The car’s interior actually looks quite nice too, especially considering the rock-bottom Alibaba price.
There are a pair of buckets seats in front of what I assume is one shoebox worth of storage space. There’s a big iPad-style infotainment screen like you’d find in a Model 3, and there’s a puck style shifter knob, just like you’d find in a… super low-cost Chinese electric vehicle.
In fact, that’s the same shifter knob I have in my own Chinese electric mini-truck. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done!
As much fun as it is enjoying the fact that these kind of things exist somewhere in the world, consider this your weekly reminder not to try and order vehicles like this sight unseen from halfway around the world.
Perusing Alibaba is a fun way to blow an hour, but it’s best done with your wallet in the other room!