Fully electric battery powered vehicles, cars, vans, trucks

[Inti]

I see lots of electric battery-powered vehicles from China on YouTube, including commercial vans and even trucks. Unfortunately, more reviews in Russian than in English, because now Russia and several other former Soviet republics are rapidly switching from western car brands to China-made cars. There are many Russian-speaking reviewers who sell Chinese electric vehicles to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan etc. The prices in China are astounding, although they are more expensive abroad, of course. For example, this electric van is USD $23,000 in China:



More detailed video:



This one is between $26,000-37,000:



Lots of electric commercial van models are already in full production in China.

True, their electric range is not great so far, definitely not for long-distance rapid travel, but lots of electric power for camping, especially for air conditioners(which are already built-in into vehicles).

Found one review from Finland in English:

 

[Gr8ful]

IMHO I'd treat any chinese vehicle as a throw away as you may luck out & get a gem or a dud. QC is hit & miss. I bought & sold used U.S. made metal working machines but many people bought chinese & expected to modify/fix them before use. There are several forums with this info. I do try new things & the finest tractor I ever owned, a 75hp 4wd w/cab, hyd seat, stereo 7' bucket & new 7' double cut box blade with long shanks to tear up new ground. I paid $6k w/700 hrs on it. I research things to death & found russia had several different tractor factories & some were great & some were junk. I suspect china is the same. Good luck & keep us up to date on your purchase decision & results.

 

[Inti]

I'm not going to buy a car directly from China, let them start selling in America/Canada first and provide a warranty. However, this is a glimpse into our near future, sooner or later they will export at least some of their electric models. Imagine city life in such a commercial van, no charging problems, and free parking too Enough power to run a stove, microwave, air conditioner and even an electric heater (although I think an extra diesel heater might still come in handy in cold climates).

Aside from practical reasons, it's fun to see what these crazy Chinese are doing, just look at this electric toy

 

[rruff]

IMHO I'd treat any chinese vehicle as a throw away as you may luck out & get a gem or a dud.

Chinese stuff gets better all the time. Just do your homework.

Regarding vehicles though, our illustrious government is highly restrictive regarding what can be sold here. The auto industry business and profits are very much protected... like a lot of things.

 

[Gr8ful]

You're right about the Gov protecting us car buyers, I remember the YUGO! I could have a dealers demo for $500. I feel so much better, Thanks!

 

[eDJ_]

This cold weather is taking it's toll on EV's in the north. I was listening to the NBC evening news while ago and they got into the technology of how cold weather effects the chemistry of the lithium battery and how operating in the cold, nearly discharged weather can do damage to the batteries.

I did find this youtube 2 minute video showing some of what NBC aired.

Thought it would be worth while to post this as the last discussion was in August 23.

Electric vehicle owners face huge challenges in Chicago winter

 

[Carla618]

This cold weather is taking it's toll on EV's in the north. I was listening to the NBC evening news while ago and they got into the technology of how cold weather effects the chemistry of the lithium battery and how operating in the cold, nearly discharged weather can do damage to the batteries.

I did find this youtube 2 minute video showing some of what NBC aired.

Thought it would be worth while to post this as the last discussion was in August 23.

Electric vehicle owners face huge challenges in Chicago winter

I had trouble with the link. Here is a similar report from CBS this week:

The issue crystallized this week when some Tesla owners in Chicago discovered their EVs' batteries had died in sub-zero temperatures. Drivers also said some of Tesla charging stations weren't working, or if they did work that the stations were taking longer than usual to charge up their vehicles.

"I've been here for over five hours at this point, and I still have not gotten to charge my car," Tesla driver Brandon Welbourne told CBS Chicago. "A charge that should take 45 minutes is taking two hours."

"...below-freezing temperatures reduced driving range up to 30% on 18 popular EV models."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teslas-electric-vehicles-cold-weather/