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Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

qz.com

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Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#121

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

pcurve wrote: post #110
ngngngng wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't get it. a John Deere Gator with two seats and 4 wheels, and not much else costs over $7000 new. No windows, No airbags, pathetic top speed, not road legal. A Lada 4x4 costs less than that brand new in Russia. Road legal, standard car top speed. Known as a very reliable car. Why can't I buy a really cheap car in the United States? edit: also the lada 4x4 is possibly the coolest car i've ever seen, in it's…

https://www.deere.com/en/gator-utility-vehicles/ You're right about John Deere Gator being overpriced. If mass produced, there's no reason why Chinese (or others) can't build something of comparable quality for $3k.

The Gator isn't really overpriced: it's a low-volume vehicle and the price reflects that. The low-end Chinese-branded UTVs don't cost much less (I'm pretty sure the Gator, despite the JD badge, is made in China).

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#122

Post by [deleted] »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #103
ngngngng wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't get it. a John Deere Gator with two seats and 4 wheels, and not much else costs over $7000 new. No windows, No airbags, pathetic top speed, not road legal. A Lada 4x4 costs less than that brand new in Russia. Road legal, standard car top speed. Known as a very reliable car. Why can't I buy a really cheap car in the United States? edit: also the lada 4x4 is possibly the coolest car i've ever seen, in it's…

>> A Lada 4x4 costs less than that brand new in Russia. Road legal, standard car top speed. Known as a very reliable car. Why can't I buy a really cheap car in the United States? Average Russian's buying power vs US one. Plus, USA demands a lot more, and it can afford it. If your family dies in the car crash anyone from the tire to the glass maker will be sued.

[deleted]

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#123

Post by idoubtit »

Digit-Al wrote: post #115
akshatrathi wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't for certain. In my trip to China, I couldn't meet makers of LSEVs. What I do know is that there are no subsidies in that market, which means carmakers won't survive if they don't make a profit. But it's a good question whether they are making that profit at the cost of human lives (no crash protection) or the environment (lead-acid batteries).

I have just had a look on Wikipedi for the list of road deaths by country [1]. The figures are from 2013, so very out of date, but for the UK (where I live) it is 5.1 road fatalaties per 100,000 motor vehicles. For the US it is 12.9, and for China 104.5. I think that shows pretty starkly that the reason we are paying so much more for our cars is for a massively higher chance of surviving an accident. [1] https://en.w…

China has twice the rate of fatalities per vehicle of Argentina, which has twice that of the USA, which is four times worth than Switzerland. It means the cars sold in Switzerland are much better than in America and everywhere else?

Modern American and European cars may have a positive impact on the fatality rate, but the numbers above don't prove it in any way. I suspect the local culture of driving and the legal policy explain most of the differences between these rates.

BTW, when walking or riding a bicycle, I'd rather get hit by a 20 year old average car than a modern SUV.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#124

Post by manmal »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #113
Poiesis wrote: post #33

At that price point I'd enthusiastically recommend a three year old Nissan Leaf; that's about what I paid and it's served me well.

Used BMW i3s are going for sub-$15k.

Some also come with a range extender, very useful for long distances.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#125

Post by manmal »

zellyn wrote: post #61

I work about six to eight miles from home (depending on the route) in Atlanta. I bike in as often as I can, but I would be all over a cheap electric alternative that was rain-proof. I don't see this as a car replacement so much as a bicycle alternative.

Is the Renault Twizy sold in the US? It doesn’t have window panes, but a roof.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#126

Post by manmal »

Poiesis wrote: post #109
zellyn wrote: post #61

I work about six to eight miles from home (depending on the route) in Atlanta. I bike in as often as I can, but I would be all over a cheap electric alternative that was rain-proof. I don't see this as a car replacement so much as a bicycle alternative.

I commented earlier about buying a used Leaf instead of the car in the article. I just wanted to mention that it's a great bicycle alternative for me too. Used to bike to work before I had four kids going different places.

I wonder why those are so cheap in the US. A 4 yo Leaf costs €16k where I live, and that’s considered a bargain actually.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#127

Post by bluGill »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #111
thisisweirdok wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could get by with 28 MPH in some cities. Boston for example has a 25 MPH speed limit city-wide, unless posted otherwise. It wouldn't work in some places, but I wouldn't mind using a fancy golf cart there to run errands. That Pickman truck in the article is right up my alley.

NEVs have been available for 20+ years. If you want one you can have one now.

I just priced one, they are almost double the price of this, so if quality is there this could still be a good deal.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#128

Post by twblalock »

Poiesis wrote: post #33

At that price point I'd enthusiastically recommend a three year old Nissan Leaf; that's about what I paid and it's served me well.

The resale value is so bad (except for Teslas) that it probably makes more sense to lease electric cars than to buy new.

Every generation of electric cars is such a big improvement over the previous one, especially in terms of range and fast charging, that the resale value of the old ones is unusually low.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#129

Post by moftz »

MrRadar wrote: post #101
ngngngng wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't get it. a John Deere Gator with two seats and 4 wheels, and not much else costs over $7000 new. No windows, No airbags, pathetic top speed, not road legal. A Lada 4x4 costs less than that brand new in Russia. Road legal, standard car top speed. Known as a very reliable car. Why can't I buy a really cheap car in the United States? edit: also the lada 4x4 is possibly the coolest car i've ever seen, in it's…

"Road legal" has a different standard in the US. To sell a car in the US it must have airbags, ABS, electronic stability control, a backup camera (also implying a decently-large full-color display on the dashboard), and it must meet USDOT, NHTSA, and EPA standards (each of which are slightly incompatible with standards from other regions, and intentionally so as a soft trade barrier). I'm guessing that the Lada 4x4 w…

Manufacturers can put the backup camera display in the rearview mirror so they can get by with using the same cheap dashboard for fleet and commercial vehicles. I've seen this in newer Uhaul vans but not anywhere else.

Re: Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

#130

Post by sydli »

akshatrathi wrote: post #13

I wrote this article and a field guide on China's electric-car boom https://qz.com/guide/electric-cars/ . Happy to answer any questions.

I saw that you also wrote about how these cars phone home real-time analytics data to the manufacturers and Chinese government:

https://qz.com/1490376/chinas-electric-cars-are-government-s...

Has there been any word whether the international versions also provide "analytics" for its drivers?

Thank you for these articles!

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