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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)

#21

Post by powerhour »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #9

> glass has to come from DOT-registered glass factories, the backup camera has to come from DOT-registered backup camera factories, etc. It’s not enough to simply go 25 mph and have seat belts and blinkers... Even if the cars had all the necessary DOT parts, the factory that produces them in China also has to be registered with the NHTSA to allow the cars to be street legal in the US. Some of this makes sense. Much o…

It's hard to say for sure without the stated reasons but I'd bet that most of those requirements were written following manufacturing mistakes that resulted in injury.

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

#23

Post by haunter »

>the backup camera has to come from DOT-registered backup camera factories

Does that mean you can't have a street legal car in the US without a backup camera? Or if it does have a backup camera it has to come from a DOT-registered factory? If the latter then why not just disable it? Or that's not even enough?

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

#24

Post by colinmhayes »

haunter wrote: post #23

>the backup camera has to come from DOT-registered backup camera factories Does that mean you can't have a street legal car in the US without a backup camera? Or if it does have a backup camera it has to come from a DOT-registered factory? If the latter then why not just disable it? Or that's not even enough?

Yes, I believe new cars need to have backup cameras in the us and Europe. Old cars are grandfathered.

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

#27

Post by Arrath »

haunter wrote: post #23

>the backup camera has to come from DOT-registered backup camera factories Does that mean you can't have a street legal car in the US without a backup camera? Or if it does have a backup camera it has to come from a DOT-registered factory? If the latter then why not just disable it? Or that's not even enough?

Yes backup cameras are mandated for new vehicles now. The regulation was put into place starting MY 2020.

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

#29

Post by kgilpin »

Glyptodon wrote: post #15

I'm confused by street legal thing. How do people register cars they make themselves if there are all these requirements?

If you build it yourself then some /many of the regulations don’t apply. For example you don’t need airbags (in Massachusetts). It varies by state:

https://www.semasan.com/resources/everything-you-need-regist...

Roughly the same thing is true for airplanes - experimental (“home built”) have to be airworthy but not certificated.

They say it’s due to long tradition of DIY vehicles in America.

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

#30

Post by no-dr-onboard »

> It sure beats a gas-powered UTV since I never have to fill it up or choke on exhaust.

I don't know much about this site or the article author, but I have a hard time believing that this is anything but a dramatic exaggeration.

I own a farm. I (and no one I know) would never seriously rely on an electric vehicle for utility. In general the batteries just aren't there and the rate at which they lose capacity is just too high to justify the cost. For $7,000 you could have a used UTV/SXS or a quad with a trailer in most markets. Both would handily outdo this Alibaba amalgamation.

I won't even get into all the horror stories about uncaught grounds and battery safety for things on that site or the fact that preferring electric to ICEs is more of a virtue signal than net benefit for the planet. Cool experiment though.

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