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I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

electrek.co

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Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#131

Post by chemmail »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #2

Honestly, I think $7,000 delivered for this is a pretty good price. It would make a nice farm vehicle, especially with that dump bed. It's in the same price range as a lower end UTV and looks like it would be far more comfortable doing, e.g., snow clearing duty. Swap in a set of BFG Mud Terrain tires and you're all set. Some feedback on reliability, the rust issues, etc. would be nice but I'd seriously think about ge…

I'm not sure if thats really a good deal. You can find some Leafs with new bats for like $3000-4000 all over. And thats road legal anywhere. Maybe chop the top and you got a pickup.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#132

Post by happymellon »

robin_reala wrote: post #123
happymellon wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the Honda-e available over there? That's a pretty nice mini electric vehicle.

It’s really not that small in real life.

I'm in the UK and seen them about. They aren't very large, about the size of a Fiat 500 which is considered quite a compact car.

[Edit] I've just looked it up and it is considered a mid-sized super-compact.

Within 1/2" of the Fiesta for the wheelbase. Its quite dinky.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#133

Post by aembleton »

JohnBooty wrote: post #92

This seems pretty cool for all the reasons the author said, but what about long-term? Getting replacement parts seems like a nightmare, if not impossible. What happens when the shocks wear out? When you bend a wheel rim on a rock? etc. Maybe I'm just not informed, and it's easy to get parts. Or maybe these things are so mechanically simple that it's no big deal.

> Getting replacement parts seems like a nightmare, if not impossible.

Why? Can't he just go on Aliexpress and order them or contact the manufacturer?

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#134

Post by aembleton »

megablast wrote: post #125

It’s insane people buy stuff like this just for moving a few things around the farm. What a waste.

How else do you move things around a farm? Diesel trucks are also a waste and don't come with a hydraulic dump bed unless you spend a lot more than the $7k he paid.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#135

Post by tantalor »

bri3d wrote: post #41
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Millions of things are stamped "not for highway use" not because they don't comply with the relevant FMVSS but because the manufacturer doesn't know, doesn't care and doesn't want to think about it or risk being wrong.

Absolutely, and for the "full" FMVSS this makes sense - the stakes are high and the rules are a byzantine mess in a lot of areas (for example, making sure specific warning lights aren't obscured at each possible angle of a telescoping and tilting steering column). But, for LSV the requirements are so simple that this is much easier, though. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/tp-500-02.pdf The rules for an LS…

Installing an aftermarket windshield stateside might also make shipping bit easier.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#136

Post by tantalor »

ghaff wrote: post #100
paxys wrote: post #67

I have always thought that we need to make a better distinction between neighborhood vs city vs highway vehicles. A cheap compact <30 mph car that I can use for grocery runs and other quick errands around town would be fantastic, but there's zero market for something like it (Smart sadly fizzled out), mainly because of the onerous manufacturing and certification requirements mentioned in the article.

>there's zero market for something like it (Smart sadly fizzled out), mainly because of the onerous manufacturing and certification requirements mentioned in the article. Well, and most people don't want a specialized vehicle they can only use on certain roads for certain purposes but which take a spot on their property, need to be maintained at some level, etc. Maybe have some costs for registration, licensing, etc.…

> specialized vehicle they can only use on certain roads for certain purposes

You just described a bicycle, which are pretty popular last I checked

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#137

Post by dotancohen »

hotpotamus wrote: post #102
davidbanham wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A motorcycle has obvious dangers. An unsafe car has non-obvious dangers. A lot of government regulation is about preventing non-obvious dangers or trying to make them obvious.

This leads me down a funny thought process of how would I make a cheap Chinese imported electric kart seem less safe so I could drive it down the street.

  > electric kart seem less safe
Balance it on three wheels. I think that there is some electric three wheeled minicar even made in the US. The passenger sits behind the driver.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#138

Post by shever73 »

thrashh wrote: post #119
asdff wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP uses it to move wood and dirt around the parents ranch. It's basically replacing a wheelbarrow, not the farm truck.

A $7,000 wheelbarrow

In the video, he makes the point that the other thing he considered getting for his parents was a golf buggy. This came in cheaper and more useful.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#139

Post by dotancohen »

cjrp wrote: post #124
davidbanham wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A motorcycle has obvious dangers. An unsafe car has non-obvious dangers. A lot of government regulation is about preventing non-obvious dangers or trying to make them obvious.

I wonder if there's a solution similar to experimental aeroplanes, e.g. a massive sticker which essentially says "THIS IS NOT A CERTIFIED PLANE, IT COULD BE DANGEROUS"

Those planes are allowed to be flown for specific testing purposes only. You cannot fly passengers nor even cargo with them. And each flight crew member must have a very specific, essential role. You can't fly e.g. a tourist and call him "mission specialist" to get around the rules.

Re: I bought a cheap electric pickup truck from Alibaba (2021)

#140

Post by lproven »

chrisseaton wrote: post #45

> it was about 2:3 scale Lol it's normal size for the rest of the world.

Exactly!

This whole article is so pervasively American that it was just about unreadable to me. It's a fairly rare and quite novel experience: it's in my native language, but so completely based on US assumptions and presumption of shared knowledge that I do not have, that it just... doesn't parse.

* His parents apparently live on some plot of land the size of a largish city. Presumably alone?

* The vehicle is a perfectly normal full-size truck of some kind, but he keeps talking about it as if it were a toy. He constantly compares it to a "golf cart" as if those were everyday things. I played golf for a decade and have never seen one except on TV. I presume it's a thing for morbidly-obese Americans?

* It is a real car but it doesn't comply with fnargle-wurgle edict 27B § 42 from the Glarg of Bargwargle, but obviously everyone knows the Bargwargle so no need to explain that.

* I bought it from China for only $LOTS but really it was a cost of $LOTS because $LOTS doesn't count and $LOTS is always there anyway so it's OK to pay $LOTS for a toy. Hello fellow humans! I am a perfectly normal human!

* It is a toy but I can use it on my parent's private city where 100,000 of you peasants from the barbarian lands could live, but we are not barbarians and anyway we shoot barbarians here.

Such a very strange article. Such a very strange country.

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