Here is the company's website: https://www.olinia.auto/
It makes a lot more sense seeing the image where they place it between a car and rickshaw/tuktuk
Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
31–40 of 217 posts
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#3231 MPH and needs to be re-charged after only 77 miles.
This thing is not a car. It's usefulness in USA would be like shuttling around a mall parking lot or between airport terminals.
Even the $8,500 pricetag seems crazy for something with very little actual utility.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#33The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…
This seems to fill a useful niche, but may be too downscale. Remember the Tata Nano.[1] Tata built a basic car with a price below 1 lahk, but it didn't sell.
In the US, there's Slate, which claims to be making a small electric pickup truck. "Preorders will start on June 24, 2026. First deliveries are slated for late 2026." [2] Price in the US$20K range, they claim. Claimed range is 150m with the base model battery. A larger battery is available. It's America's answer to the kei car. If it ships and keeps shipping.
Detroit got way too much into the "more car per car" thing. Chevrolet once had the slogan "basic transportation". They lost sight of that market. The giant pickups are just silly.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The car is designed for urban settings and has a top speed of 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour." I don't think range will be an issue at that speed tbh. Cool little transport but not really a "car" in the way we think of them.
> The car is designed for urban settings Huh, the speed limit is odd because in my urban/city driving in the western US (San Diego, LA, SF, Portland and Seattle) all major cities still basically necessitate non-zero highway driving. Even mopeds (and bicycles) can pretty easily exceed 31 mph. I've spent about 2 months total in Mexico City and there are still in-city areas where it'd be common to exceed 31 mph. The mai…
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Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#35I think people are misunderstanding. This is a car for Mexico, nothing to do with the US.
On the website it says it's a car "designed in Mexico for Mexico" https://www.olinia.auto/
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#3631 MPH and needs to be re-charged after only 77 miles. This thing is not a car. It's usefulness in USA would be like shuttling around a mall parking lot or between airport terminals. Even the $8,500 pricetag seems crazy for something with very little actual utility.
These are usually called LSVs; the number of these is low but growing because in dense urban areas or planned developments (golf courses, parks, senior communities) they're far more cost effective.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#37> It remains to be seen whether the Olinia One will face similar pushback from the U.S. once it goes on sale. > can travel up to 125 kilometers (77 miles) on a single charge The US market generally rejects small-range EVs, except in very niche markets. In order to succeed in the US, it will need roughly 3-4x the range. In order for this to succeed in Mexico, their market will need different driving habits than the ty…
Even a used Nissan Leaf with degraded batteries is a viable vehicle in many U.S. cities. I would not call these markets "niche", there are many mid-large metropolitan population centers where they are practical. To use "niche", is either a political denial or ignorance of the population distribution of the United States. They are popular where I live, I drove one as a primary vehicle for 8.5 years, and I have purchased another used Leaf for my teenager. The empty pickup truck is also a "niche" vehicle with this usage -- it clearly isn't an appropriate choice for every driving need and locale.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#3831 MPH and needs to be re-charged after only 77 miles. This thing is not a car. It's usefulness in USA would be like shuttling around a mall parking lot or between airport terminals. Even the $8,500 pricetag seems crazy for something with very little actual utility.
counterpoint: I have an EV that I never drive more than 77 miles a day and I paid over $70k for it. Top speed would definitely be a limiting factor, but I do think there's a huge gap in the mobility market between e-bike and a traditional (and expensive!) car.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#39The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…
Like many things, it seems like a combination of all of those would work better than any single one, depending on the actual goal. If the goal is to help drive EV adoption, tariffs that raise foreign prices to the desired price point, rather than simply being more expensive, would provide competition to the America companies, perhaps driving improvements. Subsidies would help with labor and ensure the company keeps driving the right direction. Improvements to products can help sell "American made" as a good thing.
Re: Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
#40The Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this g…
This seems to fill a useful niche, but may be too downscale. Remember the Tata Nano.[1] Tata built a basic car with a price below 1 lahk, but it didn't sell. In the US, there's Slate, which claims to be making a small electric pickup truck. "Preorders will start on June 24, 2026. First deliveries are slated for late 2026." [2] Price in the US$20K range, they claim. Claimed range is 150m with the base model battery. A…
> Claimed range is 150m with the base model battery.
Surely 150km