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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

#201

Post by cr0sh »

kbenson wrote: post #194
UncleEntity wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only exception I think is seatbelts since it's illegal to drive a car without wearing one in all but one state. I know in Arizona if the car didn't originally come with seatbelts then you don't have to install them. Used to have a '53 Dodge that didn't have them and it was fine -- kind of freaked out my sister though...

Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might. I live in a location in California (which doesn't require seat belts in cars prior to 1965 that didn't originally sell with them), but the local laws require them to be present and utilized while any vehicle is in operation.

> Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might.

We're talking Arizona. Here, you can get away with just about anything, and unless it's blatant, nobody really cares. Sometimes not even then.

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

#202

Post by saberience »

tabtab wrote: post #135

The US market is notoriously unforgiving of bad quality cars. Hyundai and Detroit are still trying to repair their damaged reputations from decades ago. Americans are car connoisseurs similar to how the French are food and drink connoisseurs. Tread carefully.

Car connoisseurs? Americans? Are you making a joke?

Everything here is a huge, gas guzzling SUV, or a Ford F150 truck.

Americans don't care about road feel/driving mechanics, artistic or elegant design. They want a huge and loud car to show other people how much better they are than them. Ideally, the bigger and louder and more brash, the better.

This is a country that came up with "rolling coal" for god's sake.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/business/energy-environme...

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

#203

Post by tln »

justaguyhere wrote: post #184

When a foreigner lands in the US, the first thing she'd notice are how big things are - cars, super markets, the amount of food they give in restaurants, the size of soda cups, popcorn "buckets" etc. Americans like their big cars. I've heard them make fun of small cars as "toys" many times. It would be interesting to see how these tiny cars are received in a market that is used to having pretty much everything big.

Driving a small car around the behemoths on American roads can be terrifying. Driving a tiny car is so much worse I wouldn't even consider it... It's about what (and how) other people drive as much as my own tastes

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

#204

Post by steelframe »

twblalock wrote: post #128
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.

In 2014 I leased a LEAF for 2 years. It lost about $15,000 in value over those two years, and I had to drive a LEAF during that time. Because I leased, Nissan ate most of that. In 2016 I bought a Tesla. Based on current resale numbers, it's lost about $15,000 in value over those two years. I'm eating that depreciation, but I get to drive a Tesla.

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

#205

Post by Gibbon1 »

MrRadar wrote: post #149
tptacek wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL new cars sold in the US require backup cameras. Wow.

It's because there are so many trucks and SUVs which can completely obscure people (especially children) under 5 ft (~1.5 m) from their rear windows when they are too close to the vehicle because the vehicles are so high off the ground.

My mom mentioned an old school way for a small child to die was to go out outside and play behind the car in the driveway. And then have daddy run them over backing out of the driveway.

thump

My own dad backed over my tricycle.

Ever wonder why you only have automatic power windows on the drivers side? In the early sixties I had a second cousin strangled by one.

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

#206

Post by megy »

username_taco wrote: post #142
gamegoblin wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW if the car is >= 25 years old, most of these regulations go away. I have a 1990 Subaru Sambar pickup truck [1] imported from Japan that is street legal and registered in Washington state. It’s probably only a tiny bit safer than a motorcycle because it has seatbelts. Maybe cancelled out by the fact that I don’t wear a helmet while driving it. You can get them for $3K - 5K depending on condition and they are exce…

FWIW the >25year old rule is not true in California. Things are much more complicated here.

Good.

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

#207

Post by willart4food »

ngngngng wrote: post #81
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...

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…

Because MAGA!

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

#208

Post by so33 »

azinman2 wrote: post #188
Renaud wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume that in high-density areas, having a smaller car that's easier to control and park would be an advantage over the bigger cars. Fuel cost is also a factor with smaller cars usually being more efficient, especially in urban traffic conditions. I would expect these electric cars would probably compete with these smaller models in dense urban areas.

Yet the smart car never really took off, even in said high-density areas.

Maybe the smart car was too small, but “Small” cars (by American standards, anyway) are still popular. They’re just disguised as SUVs and classified as “subcompact crossovers”. With how wide American roads tend to be, the Smart car is perhaps unnecessarily small for America.

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

#209

Post by orbital-decay »

cr0sh wrote: post #198
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…

This is the vehicle that I wish could get funded, and then be purchasable in the United States - but I doubt that will ever happen: http://oxgvt.com/ The only vehicle I'd like to own more than that one is a re-release of the M274 Mule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M274_%C2%BD-ton_4%C3%974_utili...

>The only vehicle I'd like to own more than that one is a re-release of the M274 Mule

Ah, the military golf cart. I'm sure you can get a used one? Also you might be interested in its direct Soviet counterpart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LuAZ-967 (or the civilian variants like 1302)

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

#210

Post by nostromo »

gamegoblin wrote: post #112
MrRadar wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

FWIW if the car is >= 25 years old, most of these regulations go away. I have a 1990 Subaru Sambar pickup truck [1] imported from Japan that is street legal and registered in Washington state. It’s probably only a tiny bit safer than a motorcycle because it has seatbelts. Maybe cancelled out by the fact that I don’t wear a helmet while driving it. You can get them for $3K - 5K depending on condition and they are exce…

There's an import dealer in Seattle that sales similar models. Eg:

http://sodo-moto.com/listings/1987-mitsubishi-truck-2wd/

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