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Cheap Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe

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

#161

Post by UncleEntity »

idoubtit wrote: post #123
Digit-Al wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 The figures are from 2013, so very out of date, but for the UK (where I live) it is 5.1 road fatalaties per 100,000 motor vehicles.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 po…

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

Been there, done that and it still hurts.

Though...it does turn out that learning how to do a proper parachute landing fall in the army is directly applicable to civilian life and distracted drivers.

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

#162

Post by dragandj »

emptyfile wrote: post #153
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…

Well I'm googling it, but no I'm pretty sure you can't buy a new Lada 4x4 for less than 7000 $. On the other hand in Europe you can buy a new Dacia Sandero for under 7000 euros. It comes with power steering, front electronic windows, heating, airbags and 4/5 safety rating.

I doubt that Dacia Sandero can compare to Lada Niva when it comes to off-road performance, though.

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

#163

Post by dragandj »

VectorLock wrote: post #85
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…

Whats the crash testing like on that Lada 4x4?

Lada Niva is quite robust. I guess that it will crash whatever it hits. The same will happens to the humans inside. The car itself does not break easily :)

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

#164

Post by taneq »

manmal wrote: post #126
Poiesis wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Maybe because the US seems to prefer giant SUVs with more interior space than your lounge room?

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

#165

Post by vram22 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #146
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…

Lada 4x4 is an extremely outdated car. They are started to manufacture in 1977 and did not change much since then. Only engine was upgraded to conform to modern ecology standards. Crash test is terrible, it's probably worst car in the world in that aspect. Also it's extremely unreliable car. That car makes sense in some areas of Russia (or similar countries). While it's unreliable, usually it's easy to repair and spa…

>It might be called Niva.

Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada_Niva

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

#166

Post by twblalock »

Brakenshire wrote: post #156
twblalock wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It will be interesting at what point we’ll hit “good enough”. Somewhere around 200 miles of reliable range and 100kW charging speed I think is where it ceases to matter for most people. If you have off street parking you’ll only need to use a fast charger for road trips, and then you can drive for 3 hour periods with half an hour rest in between. We’re not quite there but not far off.

I think it's really more about the relative increase in range vs the absolute number. If a new car has 100 more miles of range than a used car, that will hurt the resale value of the used car.

This is especially true today because the used cars didn't have that much range to begin with, but I suspect that will still be true when the current 300-mile cars are replaced with 400-mile or 500-mile cars. People want a lot more range than they actually need.

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

#167

Post by dvlat »

emptyfile wrote: post #153
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…

Well I'm googling it, but no I'm pretty sure you can't buy a new Lada 4x4 for less than 7000 $. On the other hand in Europe you can buy a new Dacia Sandero for under 7000 euros. It comes with power steering, front electronic windows, heating, airbags and 4/5 safety rating.

Well, depends on location. In Russia you can buy it for ~6550 (quickly checked the prices of one of the dealers).

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

#168

Post by [deleted] »

dv_dt wrote: post #55

These seem like utility (landscaping) grade golf carts that are already a market in the US. Available in mostly gas, but some electric forms. https://www.deere.com/en/gator-utility-vehicles/ https://www.toro.com/en/sports-fields-municipalities/utility... https://www.catresourcecenter.com/machine/landscaping/utilit...

[deleted]

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

#169

Post by walshemj »

freehunter wrote: post #64
matthewaveryusa wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These I'm not sure, but overall yes they can be street legal: The Renault Twizy -- I've seen them in France and in Cambridge, MA ( https://www.bonzer.rocks/ ) They're in use and cost ~10k. Last time I checked you can get a 25mpg and a 50mpg version. While the 25mpg versions are street legal and available now in the US market, I believe the 50mpg version is still only available in europe. https://www.renault.fr/vehicu…

For a website servicing the US market (Bonzer in Cambridge MA), the website sure doesn't seem like it was written by someone who understands English, and the pictures are written in French and have km/h. I undersand Renault is a French company, but Bonzer's American-facing website doesn't give me much confidence in their commitment or quality in this market.

A lot of European companies are like this and don't get really good translators and often don't really grok the internet - most of the content in PDF form is common.

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

#170

Post by howard941 »

rmcpherson wrote: post #106
seren wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick with Renault Twizy is that it is not registered as a proper car, but rather as some kind of motorcycle with a roof, so it does not have really stringent safety requirements.

Because it is not a motor vehicle by insurance and Legal standards in the USA it does not require a license or insurance to operate. If you are hit by one of these, you’ll find there’s no insurance to cover you other than your health insurance. Underinsured coverage on your auto policy will not apply either, as it would if you were hit by a motor vehicle. Source: this just happened to me.

That's awful, I hope you're recovering and can be made whole quickly. Regarding your under/uninsured coverage, were you outside of your vehicle when you were hit?
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