It’s unclear to me what kind of person would buy this over some different kind of a vehicle. As a novelty item yes but I mean for actual work use. The cargo carrying capacity seems to be somewhere between a hatchback and a station wagon yet it only seats 2, has lower range, the cargo space is uncovered and the footprint of it still remains compareable. Even if the tradeoff seems worth it I still don’t understand why they wouldn’t get a small van instead. Seems far superior vehicle in every aspect. Maybe there is an actual niche that this fits into that I’m just not seeing but to me it just seems what someone would design who actually haven’t ever used a truck for work.
There are a lot of different types of work.
Most people who have to haul stuff don’t drive around for 200km. They need to carry a load 20km - and since that car can be charged from a normal socket you can basically charge anywhere. Imagine a local delivery for a supermarket. Or a regular postal service driver. Also - charging this should be damn cheap compared to refueling for like 6$/gallon (which another commenter said is the current price in Mexico)
Most people who have to haul stuff don’t drive around for 200km.
Really? All of that depends an where you live and what you need to haul. In a large city you might be able to get by with that 200km range. (That’s about 120 miles for those in California). But even that might be very, very tight for a contractor going to a job site. Or if you live where I do, the nearest UPS terminal is almost 260km one way.
So this isn’t a solution for everyone or even possibly most. Does it have a place? Probably yes. But it will be fairly niche I think.
You’re thinking about it from an American perspective, but these are aimed at Mexicans. It’s more about competing with motocarros (motortricycles with cargo beds commonly used in rural Mexico) than trucks.
So, the driving distance would probably be even farther in a rural area?
It would probably be useful in Mexico City itself. Not so much in rural Mexico where there might actually be distances between pick-up and drop-off.
motocarros (motortricycles with cargo beds
Funny thing, upon seeing the post I immediately thought of Italian Piaggio Ape, which is a light cargo truck based on the Vespa scooter, and was made starting in the post-WW2 years when the economy needed cheap commercial cars. It’s still in production to this day, in Italy and India.
It might not be for your area, but maybe your usecase is the more niche one? Imagine something like this in NYC, Detroit for e.g. delivering parcels. And if the battery is empty? Well the cargo space also will be empty so you can have it loaded up at the fulfillment center and also recharged - while the driver hops into the next already loaded vehicle. That’s easily doable because hey it’s just 10k.
Are you sure it always will work that way? Logistics can be a real bitch. Returning back to the fulfillment center has costs you need to consider. What’s the range reduction when fully loaded? When you need to run the heater and air conditioner?
Light trucks like Piaggio Ape did a lot to help people with small commerce. Most of the world doesn’t drive around for hundreds of kilometers a day without getting anywhere. When I was living on almost the opposite side of the city from my work, I still only drove about fifteen km one way. Scooters are also a massive thing in some countries, currently including electric scooters for delivery and such.
I didn’t see how fast it can go. 74.5 miles(120km) and almost 1500lbs(650kg), this would handle most of my personal driving around if can do at least near 60mph(96.5km/h)
The other version of this had a top speed of 50kph (~30mph).
That’s disappointing.
Yeep. They’re cute little townrunners, but you couldn’t really use them in the US for more than that - and I think most places they’d even be required to have an SMV placard .
Campus cart
STATE SPONSORED PICKUP. Scary.
But at what cost?!
$10K Did you even read the headline?
Yes? It was a jab at western media.
Here’s an explanation.
Come on! 120km range… FFS I really want an electric utility vehicle, but I drive further on a slow day. I’m sick and tired if these handyman run about town EV trucks. I can’t carry a lot in the EV I’m daily driving, and I can’t afford several cars simultaneously.
But it does sound like a sweet price point.
Fun Fact: You can drive 120km on both a slow day, and a fast day.
Fun Fact: You can drive 120km on both a slow day, and a fast day.
Fun fact twoofer: people use the term “slow day” to denote days where very little happens and you know that
Fun fact: neither of you knows the meaning of the word fun
It looks like, basically, a north american KEI truck?
Yeah basically. That’s why it’s kinda funny they act like they designed it. I mean I’m sure they lowered the safety requirements and made some changes l changes but I’d a kei truck.
They are cool though, I’d love to have one for a second or third car for utility stuff.
It’s Chinese and we still don’t have a supplier. This is government propaganda on the part of Sheinbaum.
The only part that is produced here is the taillight
Whomp womp
Interesting - you have a source for that? EV’s are famously easy to produce so if Mexico can’t make their own it’s pretty bad look.
Mexico knows how to do autos for most of their citizens, not just the upper-middle class like the rest of N. America.
Tgey want own their cars and not lease a 98k dollar truck they can’t afford so people think they can afford a 98k dollar truck
But if they purchase direct, how will the poor leasing company make any money?!
Imagine living in a country where workers own their means of production, instead of renting in perpetuity from a bunch of industry landlords.
Which is funny because buying outright is expensive for most people, but leasing at a ~3-4% APR (before Euribor shot up anyway) is pretty affordable so you can get a vehicle with lower mileage or even new. It’s just Americans who seem to make it super unaffordable by introducing high interest rates, super long terms and buying 98k trucks brand new. I had around a 300€ monthly payment on my Mercedes. Might’ve been 280 before Putin decided to be a cunt.
Car centric society is just bad period.
I see you’ve never lived in a rural area
Having a public transport/cycling/pedestrian centric society doesn’t mean you get rid of private vehicle ownership in totality. It just means private vehicles are more for people who actually need them (like folks in rural areas) than pointless status symbols and the like. Also I’ve lived rural and known people who’ve had vehicle cooperatives (vehicles are shared) that worked out better for everyone.
80% of the world’s population live in urban areas. So the focus should be on how to build urban areas that are less car-dependent, or preferably car-free. Nobody cares about cars in rural areas.
Most people dont.
I think this sort of project is a thing that all governments should adopt. These products set a baseline for affordability and performance, against which commercial competitors would have to compete against. This essentially creates a more ideal capitalism, without requiring direct pricing controls.
Also, the government providing baseline products is good for the important part of the economy: getting realworld stuff done. Cargo can’t move itself, and we want people to minimize the amount of energy and time spent doing everything. By freeing up time and money, people can use these resources for raising family, forming bonds, and engaging in hobbies.
Nations should work towards ensuring that all their citizens can live their best lives.
This has generally been my position forever. Have the state (goverments are just the rulers in place. The state is everybody) provide the baseline of all necesities at cost, but allow anybody to compete with these companies by having better prices or services.
I can haz?
This is the way. Nicely priced and small and usefull. Viva Mexico!
They should export, or licence to fabricate, to other continents.
Imagine how great if Mexico became an auto export giant by just making one reasonable normal EV
I can imagine a future in which these become more common in the US than ridiculous US trucks.
Tyey are too insecure to drive small cars
I can’t, especially not with the chicken tax and the right wing’s apparent need to burn diesel fuel to prove how patriotic they are.
Honestly a lot of cars are already made in Mexico, just badged with an American logo
Or VW. They’ve be making licensed Jettas and Golf for decades, not to mention all the classic Beetles for so long.
I know Brazil also makes a ton of VWs, or at least they used to. My old mk4 Golf was built there
Brazil made all cars for its domestic market and put massive tariffs on anything else. So they ran local factories for Ford, GM and VW all with domestic variants. I don’t think they really ever sold outside South America though, or maybe even outside Brazil. There are some weird, neat variants from there that I’d love to get a chance to own at some point, mostly VW car-trucks.
They also build FIAT cars. They carried and uodated a few 90’s models well into the 2000’s and design a few models that made their way to the EU market, with minimal changes.
the car parts that are made in Mexico are almost always higher quality than at the american plants, too
Just gonna leave this here.
slate.auto
Just gonna leave this here.
Spirit.airlines
But yeah if you like getting nickel and dimed for standard features Slate looks great.
Why would I pay 2.5x for a worse product?
For Americans the difference is we won’t be allowed to.import and register Mexican vehicles, even though many “American” autos are already made in Mexico.
Why do you say that? I’m not familiar with any import restrictions on LSVs from Mexico
If they start making vehicles that are competitive with the US auto industry they’ll crack down on them. Especially trucks. The US has fucked with truck imports forever.
Can we import this into the US? 👉👈
I think chicken tax is for overseas only? So maybe?
BTW, to anyone who thinks this is some sort of random joke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Tax
I doubt it. Mexico doesn’t adhere to NHTSA FMVSS standards, unlike Canada and the US. This is why Mexico has foreign brands like Renault, Peugeot, MG, etc that the rest of North America* doesn’t get. Mexico also continued to sell the 1990 version of the Tsuru (Sentra/Sunny) in base, no airbags until 2017, which wouldn’t have been legal in the US past 1998.
*excluding St Pierre and Miquelon
Can’t you just ask Trump to rename some diesel pickup to EV? Would be easier.
Trump branded ev… $100 says it would run on coal.
Bold of you to assume a Trump branded vehicle would run at all!
Or even be manufactured.
It would be a replica Stanley steamer, build in china
Only $10,000 to reserve one!
A raffle ticket to have the chance to see one? I’m sold!
Oh, not even that. For that, you get an email promising delivery within months and then nothing after that ever. :)
it would be this exact truck, rebranded and spray painted gold and sold for 5x the price.
An only be available in gold
Can the US stop being absolute pieces of shit to the whole world?
Sorry, that would endanger patriotic US workers’ job safety. So no reasonable EVs for you.
Before you ask for this in America, the answer is No. Now go outside and play.
Now go outside and play.
Did you mean, Now go inside and Work. Work harder.
It’s almost like an electric wheelbarrow with a cab. I like it.
Hell yeah, an electric Mexican Kei truck.
