The Chinese are unquestionably the leaders in the fledgling electric vehicle market, but even the best dogs may have a bad day. When this monster rolled off the line, I'm guessing the factory manager wasn't on the floor. It may have a face that only a mother could love, but it's also the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week!
This is something I'm not sure what to call it.
The model number is K5M-2500, and the brand name is “electricKar,” according to the Alibaba page.
Neither of them seem to do the situation credit.
Despite the fact that he appears to be strange at first glance, there is something appealing about this small fellow.
First and foremost, it's a two-seater. Although it appears to be a personal vehicle for one, there is a jump seat behind the driver's seat. I'm not sure if that counts as a coupe, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Next, take a look at the hood ornament, which is a horse logo. You'd nearly mistake this thing for a pint-sized Ferrari that didn't get enough nourishment in the womb if you took a fast look at the candy apple red variant. Almost.
The top speed of an electric little car is a brisk 25 mph (40 km/h), but that's presumably a safety feature. It's so narrow that the driver appears to be able to stick an elbow out of each window. In a car this narrow, I'm not sure I'd want to take a turn at anything quicker than 25 mph. On the bright side, the next time you're caught in traffic, you can merely cut across the middle of the road between lanes.
Because of its small size and light weight (only 255 kg or 560 lb! ), the factory did not feel the need to equip it with a powerful motor. This grown-up kid's toy is powered by a meagre 800W of copper and magnets.
That's not much, considering that half of the electric bicycles I ride have greater power. It wouldn't even win the world's most anti-climatic drag race if it were pitted against a couple other bizarre little Alibaba electric cars. With an electric automobile this strangely cool-looking, you wouldn't want to travel too fast in the first place. You want to give people plenty of opportunities to look at you as you drive past, and this little motor assures plenty of opportunities.
You'll be able to return their stares by peering through one of the car's three windshields, which are oddly provided. In fact, I guess it feels a little like looking out of a submarine rather than a regular car, because you're surrounded by portholes.
There are eight windows in this automobile, and I'm quite sure you could reach out and touch them all with your head from the driver's seat. Because the car isn't equipped with seatbelts, you might as well do it!
The 72V, 38Ah Li-ion battery is larger than I anticipated, with a capacity of 2.7 kWh. That's just over half of my electric scooter's capacity. But, like my nephew's kindergarten graduation, I didn't have great expectations and was therefore pleasantly pleased.
The battery is good for 52-66 km (32-41 mi) of range, according to the manufacturer. That's an oddly specific number, which means it's either the product of legitimate testing or they were clever enough to fool me into thinking it was.
While the range of just over 30 miles may not appear to be much, who really expects to drive that far in one of these? This type of vehicle is only used to embarrass your child when dropping him or her off at school.
I almost want to take a chance and acquire one of these for $2,100 just to see whether it's as awesomely strange on the inside as it is on the outside.
But, after two months and thousands of dollars, I'm still waiting for the last Alibaba electric vehicle I ordered to arrive, so I'm going to pass on this one.
I'm also not advising anyone else to take advantage of this chance.
But if someone decides to give it a shot, please contact me! We'll go on a cruise, and I'll gladly ride shotgun... Is that a tail turret?
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