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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)

#41

Post by bri3d »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #38
bri3d wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just not true - the author of this article doesn't understand FMVSS or the process. How this works is basically: 1) There are safety guidelines (FMVSS) governing classes of motor vehicles. For LSVs, the regulations are _extremely_ simple. There's no such thing as a "DOT reverse camera factory." https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.500 2) The manufacturer must self-attest that the vehicle complies, and aff…

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 LSV are pretty much "has lights, a DOT windshield, and seat belts, isn't overweight, and doesn't go more than 25."

I would think that if a US importer could partner with one of these Chinese OEMs, they could make decent money selling one of these cheap LSVs.

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

#42

Post by throwaway0a5e »

powerhour wrote: post #21
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.

It's much more like the process for standardizing tech specs than the "lItErAlLy WrItTeN iN bLoOd" that people like to claim.

A lot the specific requirements were proactively created because it's easier for everyone if we all just agree that a particular widget will have certain specs because then the engineers and manufactures can behave accordingly without thinking about it and managing it or there were a couple competing "not quite standard" ways of doing something and they just kinda picked the better looking one.

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

#43

Post by enragedcacti »

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…

It really isn't too bad if you have the right use case. You could get a Kei truck which makes a lot more power and you can register, but you'll be paying a good bit more ($9k for a 1990 with a dump bed near me) and you'll have the fun of maintaining a 30 year old JDM vehicle.

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

#44

Post by throwaway0a5e »

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…

$7k gets you a really nice compact pickup, not anything the average HNer would buy, but nice enough for farm duty and new enough to not need anything for years. And you can drive it down the street. And when you snap something doing farmer stuff (which you will, because farmer) you can go buy a replacement part easily.

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

#46

Post by [deleted] »

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?

[deleted]

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

#47

Post by hotpotamus »

beebeepka wrote: post #10
hotpotamus wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://insideevs.com/news/502536/wuling-hongguang-mini-ev-c... That's the actual car I think I want most in the world. It's so cheap and fun, and possibly even practical for me, but I don't think there's any way I could drive it in my city sadly.

I would actually get a driving license for a car like this. Why wouldn't you be able to drive it in your city. Doesn't look smaller than a smart.

In the US you'd have to buy a bunch and put them through destructive crash tests to certify them, and I doubt these would pass - those smart cars actually have expensive high end steel structures built in that make them surprisingly resilient, and I doubt they do that in China.

If they had 3 wheels you could skip a lot of that and count it as a motorcycle. Also, anything older than 25 years basically just bypasses the rules which means a lot of 90's Kei cars from Japan are starting to make their way in, but obviously those are combustion powered (still cool though).

There is the concept of Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, but I don't believe they are allowed in my state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle

Who knows, maybe there's a business opportunity to import these things and certify them - I'd be a buyer.

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

#48

Post by WebbWeaver »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #35
WebbWeaver wrote: post #16

It does not look like it would outperform UTVs at similar or lower price points.

What air conditioned UTV is available for $7000?

That's a fine point. You can buy one separately for ~1-5k.

I kinda wish there could be a solar panel mount so nobody would accidentally run over it with a truck.

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

#49

Post by cmeacham98 »

beebeepka wrote: post #10
hotpotamus wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://insideevs.com/news/502536/wuling-hongguang-mini-ev-c... That's the actual car I think I want most in the world. It's so cheap and fun, and possibly even practical for me, but I don't think there's any way I could drive it in my city sadly.

I would actually get a driving license for a car like this. Why wouldn't you be able to drive it in your city. Doesn't look smaller than a smart.

Assuming they live in the US there is a 0% chance that passed DOT crash tests and thus won't be street legal in the US.
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