As Elon Musk steps away, but once more, from the concept of a $25,000 Tesla, let’s take this chance to zoom out and respect what a actually reasonably priced EV may be. For this we have to ignore the Nissan Leaf—at the moment the most affordable EV within the US at $29,280—and skip over Europe, dwelling to the lovely however flawed $10,000 Citroen Ami, and head to China.
Right here you’ll discover the equally low-cost BYD Seagull, a small electrical hatchback styled by ex-Lamborghini designer Wolfgang Egger and with a 200-mile vary—4 instances that of the Ami.
However what if even that’s too costly? Then permit us to current the Zhidou Rainbow. It is a compact metropolis EV priced from 31,900 yuan earlier than subsidies—that is simply $4,400. For a brand new electrical automotive. WIRED actually recommends ebikes that value extra that this.
The Rainbow has three doorways and 4 seats, and an inside with a 5-inch digital driver show and a 9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system. There’s even a linked smartphone app, cost scheduling, and the promise of over-the-air (OTA) software program updates.
Splash out on the flagship Colour Cloud Version (which prices $5,800, or about half the value of Porsche’s fanciest bicycle) and you may have every panel of your Rainbow painted a distinct shade. A bit like Volkswagen did with the considerably mad Polo Harlequin within the mid ’90s.
Cheaper Than an Ebike
There are two fashions on provide. The primary has that headline $4,400 price ticket and is powered by a 20-kW (27-horsepower) motor with 85 Nm (63 ft-lbs) of torque and fed by a tiny 9.98-kWh battery. Spend 39,900 yuan ($5,500) and your Rainbow is fitted with a 30-kW (40-horsepower) motor with 125 Nm of torque and a 17-kWh battery pack. Vary is between 78 and 127 miles utilizing China’s beneficiant CLTC testing normal.
Be below no phantasm right here, these are tiny numbers. Even the bigger battery is identical capability of that of a plug-in hybrid Honda CR-V, which additionally employs a 2.0-liter engine to assist it get round. However the vary isn’t horrible. Even when the testing normal is beneficiant, and the bigger battery has a extra lifelike vary of 100 miles, that’s about the identical because the Honda e, which value a whopping £37,000 ($46,000) earlier than it went off sale on the finish of 2023.
