Los light quadricycles They have become a mass phenomenon for those who are looking for a very cheap electric car to get around in a small radius of action. And in China they have taken it to another level, with an exhibition fair where, the strangest thing, is to find models that do not copy the premium and luxury Western manufacturers.
A few months ago, my colleague Carlos Prego explained in this article that golf cart fever had skyrocketed in the United States and China, where its sales have skyrocketed since 2015. In fact, a proper name is applied to these pseudo-cars. , which are already known as neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs).
In Europe, some manufacturers have also tinkered with similar formulas. Citroën has its AMI, with work or leisure versions. And Renault tried it for years with the Twizy, a concept that will be resurrected in the coming years.
My colleague explained well the virtues that their clients claim: they are cheap electric cars, which allow them to move within a limited radius of action and with which they feel safer than on a small motorcycle. All these arguments were given to us from Citroën in one of the presentations of its AMIs and they confirmed what we already imagined, it is a car that is in high demand by retirees or wealthy clients.
A copy fair
In China, as we said, the concept has also spread. As in Europe or the United States, they are vehicles that they are not considered as cars and, therefore, they are not subject to the same tax and approval obligations.
This has caused a fever for this type of vehicle that, in China, can be found for around 5,000 euros. And while EuroNCAP tests show they’re not much safer than a motorcycle (no airbags or anything like that), customers still respond.
With this breeding ground, in China you can already find exhibition fairs full of these quadricycles that, aesthetically, they shamelessly copy to premium and luxury European and American manufacturers. This is what the Twitter user @ Ray4Tesla, known in the community for his information about the brand in the eastern country, has shown us.
Crazy to see so many cheap knockoffs of brand names at this knockoff expo. Why is knockoff Tesla missing? A typical cheap knockoff EV sells roughly for $5k. pic.twitter.com/0hkCzNRTDa
— Ray (@ray4tesla) March 8, 2023
There are options for all tastes, from copies of Mini to Aston Martin, through Land Rover, imitations of the Mercedes G-Class, Maserati or Porsche… The video, which lasts three minutes, is an arsenal of copies where the language is applied design of these cars to electric quadricycles.
Some “off-road” versions, which are still small vans with a rear cargo space, take the opportunity to imitate the Ford and RAM pick-ups or a Ford Bronco.
In Wired they explained the chinese phenomenon of these small electric vehicles that sell for less than $5,000, have autonomy of more than a hundred kilometers and, contrary to what happens in Europe, they can travel on all types of roads and reach up to 100 km/h. His experience aboard one of them is most interesting.
The market is so large, in fact, that it is possible to buy one of these vehicles through Alibaba. An American did it and told the story on YouTube. This is what he has experienced and what he got for just $2,000. Of course, the aesthetic is a copy of a Ford Explorer.
In Xataka | China wants to break the door of the electric car in Europe (and Spain does not enter into its plans)
