I feel like every time I get excited about some extraordinarily affordable car, electric or otherwise, there’s always someone around to tell me why such a thing is impossible in America. And, sure, they usually have some pretty valid reasons, not meeting safety requirements or not having the profit margins that companies demand, or being just too crude or basic to be appealing to the mass market, or something like that. Fine. Whatever. I could do without the weird glee some people seem to have in shooting down my dirt-cheap car dreams, but more importantly, I can’t ignore the fact that these cheap cars do exist in other places. China, for example. And now, it seems, Mexico.
Yes, Mexico! Mexico has a pretty long history with affordable cars, being the final holdout of original Volkswagen Beetle (Vocho, as they say) manufacturing. Now the country – and I mean that at least partially literally, since the Mexican government is backing this new EV startup, Olinia – has put their support into a clever-looking and useful-seeming little electric van that is planned to sell for about 150,000 pesos, which translates to about $8,600. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum even drove a prototype around at an event yesterday.
Here, see for yourself:
That’s gloriously cheap. Even better, it seems understandably cheap, not some wild startup wishful thinking kind of crap. The vehicle, the Olina Uno, is realistically modest, but enough to do its intended job just fine. It’s designed for its intended purpose – a flexible, multi-use electric city car – and that’s it. The speed is limited to 50 kph/31 mph, so it’s definitely just a city car, but for a huge amount of driving, this actually is plenty. I learned this lesson when I was driving my Changli every day.
It’s a six-seater van – there’s also a cargo pickup truck variant –that moves around with a 17 horsepower electric motor, sucking electrons from a 14.7kWh LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery pack, with a range of over 62 miles or so. This is a very basic vehicle, but a clever, useful design. Honestly, it doesn’t seem all that different than similar Chinese small, lower-speed electric vehicles, but that makes sense: this isn’t necessarily the place to re-invent the wheel.
The Olinia Uno will recharge from normal wall outlets, eight hours at 110 volts, four at 220 volts, which, like so many specs relating to this car, isn’t impressive when compared to modern, full-price EVs, but for the use cases that this is targeted? Definitely good enough.
Smaller than even most compacts, the box-on-wheels design allows for more interior volume than most small cars, and provides better weather protection and comfort than three-wheeled tuk-tuks/auto-rickshaws that are in use for similar intra-city travel. The Olinia site offers an operating cost comparison between a regular automobile taxi, a three-wheel moto-taxi/tuk tuk, and the Olinia Uno. Unsurprisingly, the Uno comes out the cheapest, at $900, compared to $2,194 for the moto taxi, and $4,320 for the conventional cab.
This isn’t a sub-$10,000 that’s going to be absolutely everything to everyone. But it is a sub-$10,000 transportation machine that is far more useful and capable than its simple specs would suggest. People could definitely use this thing, in the right locations, of course, as their day-to-day transportation for about 75% of their driving needs. This category of vehicle is viable and, I can tell you from experience, appealing. Small, lower-speed EVs work for so many things, and I think the way they’re handling this in Mexico makes a ton of sense.
I’m excited to see how this all plays out.
Top photo: Olinia
It’s a golf cart with a closed body and a biggish battery.
With a 31mph top speed, this is a slightly derestricted Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV), which are limited to 25mph in the US
We do have them, though
I live near the University of Florida campus. Its 2 square miles and the speed limit is 20. This would be an okay ride sharing system for students too stuck up to use the bus system.
I could make this work if it would get up to 45mph.
Just need to add a turbo, like Porsche did
Might need a “turbo s” to hit 45 though.
I say this with sincerity and good will Torch, this is not fast enough for daily use. If I venture further than four blocks in any direction the highways I’d be required to traverse would get me killed. Even going to the grocery store would be a nail biter. The speed limits on those roads are 45, so everyone is battling to go 60. At least in a real car I have a chance at survival when an Escalade blows the red light, in this I’d be a stain on the asphalt.
Even as a local delivery vehicle, they wouldn’t make it. Shipping/product distribution warehouses are outside of the urban centers, so the trucks have to get on at least a highway to make it to their delivery routes, more typically actual freeways.
Back when I was in community college I used to ride along with an RPS driver on Fridays, as the gopher. We had a 35 minute freeway drive from the loading terminal before we could deliver a single package. Had to do the same route back on the freeway at the end of the day too.
wait til you find out about this thing called “motorcycle”, that has.. wait for it.. only 2 wheels!! and no roof at all!! and they’ve been seen on highways!!
99% of new motorcycles go over 31mph. And they are known as organ donors for a reason.
A friend of a friend is an ER doctor, and referred to motorcyclists as organ donors to me.
I’m apparently the first motorcyclist she’s met outside of a hospital.
None of my biking friends have died, and the vast majority haven’t had any injuries.
Well, since not wearing a helmet increases your chances of dying in a crash by something like 90%, I feel like the solution is pretty obvious.. but maybe not for everyone, since there are still states without mandatory helmet laws even tho seatbelts in cars are somehow mandatory everywhere ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The bigger danger in our area is two wheeler being hit by a distracted motorist.
I’m in the UK and we all wear helmets, despite getting free healthcare.
I’m not taking my two kids or a weeks worth of groceries anywhere on a motorcycle, nor can I ride it 9 months out of the year in this climate. I’m also far too old an brittle for that.
I get the kids thing, but for groceries, I’ve taken my bike to costco plenty of times, the fact I can’t fit everything in my backpack just means I gotta do multiple runs, which is great if you like riding 😀
Sadly, my current lifestyle choices prioritize efficient means of travel and procurement. 🙂
I’d rather spend time with my boys than making grocery runs every day, or multiple times in the same day due to packaging constraints. I do get it though, and if that brings you joy, no shame from me.
I could see these being popular in resort areas like Cancun or Cozumel. I bet the resorts would love to stop paying for gasolina. Less intrusive for the guests without that loud small displacement engine spinning to life.
agreed. Cozumel is barely 20 miles tipped to tip, and you really can only go so far in the south.
Exactly this. A lot of resorts already use electric golf carts, but that’s not a great guest experience when it’s raining or a million degrees (which is 75% of the time in the Mayan Riviera), and these are a bit more capable\flexible than a gold cart. They probably aren’t much, if any, more expensive than a big 6-seater golfcart either.
Mexican here.
This thing is only another of the many cases of money laundering/cash grabs by our ultra corrupt current government, just as all other mega projects in the past 7 years.
Prices have changed from 50K MXN to 150K MXN in a short time frame, at least 4 different renders have been presented as a final product and a couple of months ago in the daily press conference by the president, they presented a cheap facsimile of Back to the futures’ Emmet Brown (crazy hair and all) as the CEO of the company.
This thing’s an expensive joke, and really difficult to root for it here in Mexico. It will never reach the public, nor the market.
Maybe this won’t. But some inexpensive and similar Chinese car will.
Let’s be honest the Chinese probably design cars in their own market to have as many people die as possible because they can’t feed their population and given all the toxic products they unloaded everywhere I’m sure they don’t care about foreigners either. As soon as these start killing people there will be no demand
Thanks for the take from inside the country, I was wondering about that angle. I’m rooting for it to work in any case.
The answer to why we don’t all have this is because automakers will never be releasing ultra-cheap, actually practical low-power cars in markets where they can get away with aith offering only oversized, overpowered and overpriced cars. And they have the automotive safety research to back this up: now that all cars are oversized, overpowered and overpriced microcomputer clusters on wheels, it’s super dangerous to drive around in smaller, lighter, underpowered cars, which are known deathtraps that can’t get out of the way. How many of these can a BMW X5 xDrive45e iPerformance plow through at the speeds they’re normally driven at on the highway before coming to a full stop? Automakers just want to stop the bloodshed caused by people still driving smaller cars.
Oh, and as the BMW X5 xDrive45e iPerformance reminds us, small cars just don’t cut it anymore, as they simply don’t have the real estate to acommodate modern naming trends. If names become longer, cars simply have to grow larger to be able to hold all the badges. It’s basic math.
BMW Individual M760i xDrive Model V12 Excellence THE NEXT 100 YEARS
And people used to think Buick Opel by Isuzu was a silly car name.
BM Individual M760i xDrive Model V12 Excremence THE NEXT 2 SHITS
Thank goodness here at the Autopian we don’t desire or but high power cars or speedy EVs and we all walk everywhere. The companies can’t sell us anything we don’t want to buy. Quit blaming them for our choices.
It’s like he says in Landman if Exxon thought windmills were the answer they would be putting them up all over the planet. Because an oil company can continue to make money on oil and spend their profits on building Windmills and solar panels but will not if they don’t see a profit long term
Pretty neat for a local delivery service or the like. The range is decent but the top speed will be a problem, though. Anything other than residential streets or inside commercial/industrial park roads in my area are going to be 45+mph thoroughfares so this will thing will be a rolling chicane. It would probably have to be registered as a low-speed vehicle so it would be barred from a lot of roads.
It’s perfect for towns like Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and thereabouts where you can’t drive anywhere quickly anyway.
and every Carribean island!
you absolutely can. This Olinia could replace the slow speed Pulmonias in Mazatlan but for those who rent a vehicle to move around 50 km/h top speed still falls short on Main streets and the city outskirts. They should’ve matched the top speed of a 125cc scooter to make it more usable for the city. The range and packaging seems adequate, though
Sure, but the article is “why don’t we all”. My only driving outside the US was in Costa Rica and this would probably do well there, too, with the slower speeds and insane traffic. It would also be nice to have one less out-of-tune vehicle spewing noxious fumes.
I go to PV almost every year for up to a month going on 30 years now. These would absolutely get you killed anywhere outside of Centro or Romantic Zone, and possibly still so in El Centro. You’d need a top speed closer to 50mph to be able to go anywhere to resupply. That said, when I was there last month I saw a lot of Chinese EVs. I never saw a public charger and most people don’t have garages, so I have no idea where they are charging them.
Extension cords.
Yo quiero Olinia Uno.
Speaking of which, last week I saw a new Suzuki Jimny bearing Mexico plates here in Las Vegas. Someone needs to explain to me how it is safe and legal to drive it on US roads, but it’s not safe and legal to buy in the US and drive on US roads.
Shhhh… You’ll give them terrible ideas.
I always love spotting a modern Suzuki Swift.
exactly the same as driving a Mexican-plated Chinese built cars on any southern state. They fall under the non-resident temporary import rule (90 days w/o formal entry or bond if the CBP officer is satisfied as to the importer’s identify and good faith)
Because the rules are different for visitors vs. residents. Always have been.
If it is a person visiting a vehicle can be on a foreign country plate. Just like an American can drive their American vehicles in Mexico without transferring registration to Mexico for the afternoon.
ill bet these will cut tons of pollution from those 2 stroke tuk tuks as cabs in mexico city
Not likely any time soon because like any smart financial person you don’t buy anything new until it is a better value than what you already own. For example my 2001 Isuzu gets 18 mpg, according to my math that poor mileage with no car payment is still far cheaper by thousands just using $10,000 as yearly car payment vs $2,400 in yearly gasoline purchases. So I save $7,600 a year driving a paid for fuel guzzler
When I went to Peru in 2014, they had recently banned those three wheeled cabs. Not for pollution, but because of the death toll. They’re just so incredibly unsafe.
¿Necesitas tú un chainsaw para cambiar las baterías?
No.
Chainsaw = Motosierra
Thx, I didn’t know that one 😉
“una motosierra”
You pair that same drive system, frame, and battery with an aerodynamic sedan or coupe body with a CdA of under 0.25 m^2 and a modified gear ratio, and you’ve now got a 70 mph capable EV that gets like a 120-150 mile range on the highway, for not much more cost. It will be very slow to get up to speed with only 17 horsepower, but it will get there. Consider that the Loremo AG was claimed to do 0-60 mph in 20 seconds with 19 horsepower, and was able to reach 100 mph top speed on that.
I absolutely adore minimalist car designs like this. I just wish I could get it in something more useful than a “city car”.
Yes but it will rollover like a payday loan in a stiff breeze
A low-slung sedan or coupe body would be much more stable in crosswinds than the boxy design subject of this article that actually exists. And I suspect an aerodynamic sedan or coupe would be very stable. My much lighter Milan SL velomobile has never been at risk of rolling over due to crosswinds, and I’ve ridden that in thunderstorms at over 40 mph.
This looks like a minivan and a golf cart had a child together.
This would be a perfect vehicle for the urban core of many cities. Get outside that area and the speed/range may become an issue.
I think it looks like the child of a Fiat Topolino EV and a Minivan
If it had a litter of 8 cars.
If every other class of vehicle was banned from the urban core, sure. Motorcycles shouldn’t be a huge safety problem, so they could stay allowed.
The problem of not banning other cars is due to the extremely slow acceleration these have, and the complete lack of safety features if they get hit by anything larger/heavier. Tin can on wheels is very apt here.
This is impressive! No, it won’t work for everyone, but it’s not meant to work for everyone.
That said, they could have put a little more effort into demonstrating the cargo space. Cardboard boxes!?! Where’s the birdcage?? Where are the violin cases and picnic baskets?? There’s not even a fishing rod! How I am supposed to judge the scale of the cargo cavernocity?? 🙂
This is Mexico.
How many live Chickens will it hold?
Will a Cow fit back there? How about a really big Pig?
How many pieces of tourista luggage will fit behind the rearmost seats?
How many bricks/cinderblocks will it carry?
Where’s the bags of cement?
Where’s the Goat Butter?
*slaps hood*
This baby can haul up to 500 kilos of goat butter, hombre.
Yes and how about using cardboard boxes that actually have something in them? I once was hired for a newspaper that printed a shopper. We had to deliver it 80 miles away. The owners sons bought a box truck that would fit the 9 USPS carts we used to load and deliver. However they bought the 6 cylinder 1500 version. Well I came in check out the vehicle capacity and yeah it could fit the 9 carts but with them empty it was at maximum capacity. Filling them with dense paper products put them about 2.5 tons overloaded. Since it was the newspaper they were never stopped and checked. However my inspection showed the springs instead of being convex they were concave. I was able to get the owners sons to pay for flipping the spring and adding 2 more, still overloaded but it was the best I could do.
My point just because a load will fit it doesn’t mean it can safely handle it.
Even the Autopian, my go to source for all things automotive, locomotive, aeronautical, marine and just plain weird never actually states what these vehicles are actually capable of. When Ford came out with that little van everyone said how great it was. But I did the math and it was capable of 4 passengers or a driver and 600 pounds. I guess that works for pizza but not real delivery. Hell I delivered Mission Tortillas and had 6 pallets of product, about 18,000 pounds none of these vans could handle it but every one wants to eliminate the F450SD 20 foot box truck. Nothing can replace it. UPS knows this that is why they design their own truck.
I am torn. Part of me wants to say, Nice water resistant golf cart. and the other part of me wants to say, very cool and useful, why let angry people who live hours away from everything and feel the need to go 80mph with 8 people for 600 miles towing a camper wreck EVs for the rest of us.
That also need to fully recharge their 500kW pack in no more than 15 minutes
A necessity if you’re running an emergency, coast to coast, 24 hour trombone repair business.
Trombonists are an impatient bunch.
If I’m not mistaken, they’re called *tromboners*
Look man, sometimes a rusty trombone just can’t wait.
Reality: that 80mph EV purchased being able to tow a camper, but never towing in its first-owner life, hauling all sorts of heavy things, but the most awkward thing is that new BBQ they ordered from Home Depot.
Oddly enough I hear of EV owners towing locally more just because it’s so much cheaper than having a truck as a daily. A utility trailer doesn’t take up a lot of space.
Why fire up a truck when 12cents of electricity can get you down to Home Depot and back with a utility trailer?
That HD better be close, my nearest one is about at full range and I don’t feel like paying for a hotel room for the night and hopefully get home with a loaded trailer. Then wait until the next day and return the trailer and book a room to charge and get home. Do you people realize these are inflated ranges, with no load, and slightly down hill grades?
Did you just “you people” this comment?
*towing a boat. Half of potential EV owners own boats that they keep 600 miles from the nearest lake.
I believe they’re angry because they live far away from everything and everybody.
YES! And they will not move because they are filled with fear.
No we just don’t like you very much. We prefer real animals to people that behave like animals, and 3 story houses on 10 acres for less money than a 1 bedroom apartment with inconsiderate neighbors
Moving is expensive too.
So with this need 10 8 hour recharge sessions. A week and a half, 10 nights at a hotel $600. And let’s be honest with those numbers it is not hauling ass or anything.
Of course they have nice things, look at their president.
80% of the population of the USA live in urban areas. About 30% are in dense urban areas. Moving that 30% and their goods and services seems like a reasonably large enough market.
I’d settle for just their president to tell the truth.
Seconded. 😀
For nine grand (and presumably lower registration and insurance due to low speed) I’d totally rock this to Trader Joe’s, Rompage Hardware, and other local haunts which make up like 95% of all my driving. I’m even fine with it in white, working on the assumption that it doesn’t have A/C.
That’s about what I spent on my Milan SL velomobile, and that’s exactly how I use it 99% of the time. And this, without using a motor of any kind because it didn’t have one. Cruising speed was about 30 mph on flat ground using nothing but my legs, but I could approach 50 mph in a sprint. A very economical grocery getter.
After converting it into an EV, I started getting more adventurous and taking it on 100+ mile trips using the slow lane on state highways to do 45-50 mph. I’ve even slept in it in parking lots at night. 2 kW is enough to keep up with car traffic and do over 70 mph when I want to(my brakes/tires aren’t up to the task, so I generally don’t).
One day, I’d love to build a micro-sports car with that form factor and aerodynamics, except with beefier components, and like 150+ horsepower and AWD to motivate it. I’d love a dangerous 9-second microcar on crack!
I had to look it up to see what that was: a completely faired-in recumbent bicycle by the looks of it, now converted to EV? It looks cool, but I’d be too afraid to take it on the highway as you do… I’m surprised it’s legal to do so. If it goes over 22 MPH or whatever the limit is (let alone 70 as you say is your max speed) it’d have to be registered/plated and insured here (in CA).
I used to ride a lot, and still have a couple bikes hanging up in my garage, but my back isn’t up to it anymore. Plus, I live up a big hill. 😉
I bet insurance is higher due to the fact it will be totalled if you hit a curb
Why are you hitting curbs?
Are your sidewalls rubbed off to the cords, too?
Even if it makes sense for consumers, it wouldn’t for manufactures who seem happy cranking out 60K SUVs all day long.
Also, because we are all irrational, in some world where this does come to market I could see it being a market failure, despite being the best vehicle for a ton of people.
As a delivery or service vehicle I get your point. However, I live in a dense urban area and have no use for this. Part of living in a dense urban area is that it’s just easier to walk or use transit, or even cycle. What I do have a use for is a vehicle to get me out to the burbs or to other towns, say in a 200KM radius and back on a charge. But I still need it to be small enough to park in a dense urban parking spot. It’s become kind of a missing middle problem; a small car that isn’t a city focused penalty box on the highway but also isn’t a giant dickswinger truck.
That missing middle is forbidden in the USA. China has such a car for $11,400 called the BYD Seagull, but you can’t buy it here.
If you had access to that missing middle, it will prevent the legacy automakers from maximizing monetary extraction from your bank account, and if you’re like most people, you can’t afford any new car without a massive loan where interest gets extracted. GM makes more money financing cars, than selling cars. The incentive is to keep everyone in debt on massive, overpriced, high-margin vehicles that aren’t designed to last past the warrantee, only to force the operator to repeat the cycle when something breaks to where the cost to repair exceeds the vehicle’s value.
You must have missed it Biden is no longer the president we now have Trump.
I’m worried about the lack of a front footwell that causes front seat passengers to sit like they just got off a horse.
I was wondering about that too. There appears to be one for the driver, why would there not be a passenger footwell? Could be that the photo was not all that well thought out?
Manspread is a thing in Mexico too, Hombre.
Automotive designers call that the balls out seating position. Adrian can probably explain that, with owning a Ferrari…
I could definitely make this work around town as I live on an island with a 25 mph speed limit. Unfortunately, the closest real grocery store is 3 miles away reached by a 45 mph causeway that leads to the rest of the world. I suppose I could use the bike lane (kidding, maybe).
A majority of my driving is a 30mph speed limit which means I do 35. I think the minimum for the US should be 55 to be viable. We’re all about planning for edge cases when it comes to our cars in the US.
It can also fit a wheelchair in the back without further modifications, which is very cool.
Beat me to that. Very cool indeed, and that expands its useability quite a bit.
People in Mexico are hating this, since it was created by the government, or at least pushed by the government and its half baked for Mexico needs. The Renault Kwid (Dacia in other markets) is selling for 11,400 usd and you can travel with it.
Are they really? I know about the narco violence and general corruption and all, but surely Mexican citizens can’t hate this cute little boxy runabout just because the government is supporting/promoting the company that made it, right? Only Americans could manage to be that stupid! 😉 USA! We’re #1! USA!
With that said, I never heard about the Kwid before and at that price (which it would never be if sold here) I think it’s kind of adorable. Plus, it probably has A/C! 🙂
The cautionary tale of the Tata Nano: had a lot going for it, except apparently no one wants the stigma of driving around in the country’s cheapest car.
Market it as a practical urban delivery vehicle, and offer incentives for it’s use (edit: like full access to urban centres).
Make it the new Piaggio Ape.
To a business, a cheap practical vehicle is a selling feature.
That’s what I was thinking: even if individuals balk, fleets will see the value.
I was going to talk about the Kwid’s price, which right now comes with rebates, and many people over there name it Roñol (because it’s a roña with a Renault badge) but the roñol has 4 airbags, ESC, a 90mph top speed, A/C and a radio while the Olinia does not.
Of course it will have higher operating costs but the Olinia will not really work for lower income families as they use their vehicle for absolutely everything including for work, for carpool, highway usage, etc. This is more of a secondary car and some people will learn the hard way.
Honestly, this vehicle seems less like an affordable car for regular people and more like a rich person’s golf cart. Its cheap, because its an entirely useless vehicle. 31 mph may be enough in the city, but it also completely confines you to the city.
82% of the population in Mexico lives in urban areas.
Like 60-80% of the Mexican population lives in urban areas.
I’m sure they sometimes like to travel outside of these urban areas every once in a while. Owning this as an only car confines you to the city.
I live in an urban area (LA) and literally 95% of my driving is around town (maybe more). I’d happily drive a ‘city car’ for local trips provided it made sense to do so (in terms of savings vs. a full-size car).
It could also appeal to city dwellers who don’t have a car but could appreciate the utility of this. Then again, adding a ton of cars to a city doesn’t seem like a good idea.
If we got rid of the outdated 9-5 workday we could add a bunch of new cars to a city without issues.
Designing around peak congestion sucks.
At one time I lived in town, and my commute to work was six miles each way. It took about ten minutes and peak speeds might hit 45mph. In a denser city where traffic might struggle to hit even half that speed, 31mph would be plenty. My commute was like that for over ten years, so it’s not like I wouldn’t have gotten a good long use out of something like this. So long as the AC works I’m good. I have a different ride for weekends when I go farther, faster – and at this low price point, that other ride is easier to keep.
This little critter has an instant market, right now, as a cab. As an airport shuttle. As the dinky little runabout my sister could actually use, living in NYC. Stacy I love you and you know this, but 50% of your driving barely exceeds a decent 400m dash velocity and none of it will outrun a bicycle messenger. This would be the car for you and your gigantic boyfriend.
I think it has potential.
Now I want to see the gigantic boyfriend sitting in this car
I’ve seen him standing next to her. My lil sis is 5’2″ and her BF is about 6’5″. I haven’t met him but I’m pretty sure I could pick him out in a crowd. Just look for the people all trying to take pictures of Sasquatch.
Seeing the people in the video standing next to it, I think he’d be an easy fit, assuming the seats can handle him.
I’m more rural and for years had a 4 mile drive to/from work. If it hits 55 to 60 mph I’m good for all of my local errands.
“that moves around with a 17 horsepower electric motor, sucking electrons from a 14.7kWh LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery pack, with a range of over 62 miles or so.”
Which tells me that it’s cheap because it’s only useful as a local neighborhood vehicle.
I’m not interested in these short-range glorified golf carts.
What I want to see how affordable we can make a 4 door hatchback BEV that can seat 5, has at least 20 cu ft of trunk space with the seats up, has at least 200 miles of range WITH THE HVAC AND LIGHTS TURNED ON IN 0C/32F TEMPS, has a top speed of not less than 75mph and has a 0-60 time of not less than 10 seconds.
Something like that would be useful to me as an affordable daily commuter car.
“. People could definitely use this thing, in the right locations, of course, as their day-to-day transportation for about 75% of their driving needs. ”
Throw in cold temps with the heater/defrost/lights/wipers all turned on and that 62 mile range will be closer to 30-40 miles… Which is to say it won’t even meet the needs of people with shorter commutes. It would barely be adequate for my daily round trip and completely wouldn’t cut it for the weekly 70 mile trip I make to see my GF.
has a 0-60 time of not less than 10 seconds.
Did you mean “more than”?
Whoops… yeah what I meant was “a 0-60 time of 10 seconds or less” or “a 0-60 time of NOT MORE THAN 10 seconds” as you said.
If you can live with a bit less than half the boot space, a basic Renault 5 is $26,000.
“If you can live with a bit less than half the boot space”
Some people can, but I can’t. And in my estimation, with 20cu ft of boot space, you’ll have enough space for the day to day needs of the vast majority vehicle owners.. even when they do a Costco run.
I don’t know if I have translated it well, but 20 cu. ft. are 566L. We are talking Octavia-levels of boot space. That is not a small boot.
We are talking 2008 Honda Fit-level boot space… which was my previous car. It had 21.3 cu.ft or 603L of space with the seats up.
https://www.edmunds.com/honda/fit/2008/features-specs/
The Honda Fit was a very space-efficient design. So many vehicles (CUVs being the worst offenders) have terrible interior/boot space for their given footprint.
Automakers have gotten very VERY lazy about this.
Then sorry, I did the maths wrong. The Renault 5 is quite close in boot capacity to the Jazz / Fit.
I’m in Canada… no Renault 5 here sadly.
Not in the states either of course. 🙁 I weep when I ponder how much more interesting the automotive market could be in America if the three big French brands would return to our shores.
Typically Honda seems to excel at maximizing the usable interior space in their vehicles. The Honda Eement and the Fit have cult followings for good reasons. Cheap, reliable, relatively simple and they just dont quit
I love the Renault 5, and boots too, but comparing this One to a 5 is apples and oranges. Or something smaller and stranger, like a kiwi, to oranges.
What you really need to do is compare boots to pineapples.
slow clap. Take your upvote.
You are not wrong.
Something like the first-generation Scion xB. It doesn’t have to be quick or fast – your 10-second sprint is achievable but by no means a deal breaker as far as I’m concerned. But that form factor, big on the inside and small on the outside – like the Olinia – is deeply attractive.
I’m willing to make an amendment: not a range of at least 200 miles, but a range capped at 200 miles. Lots of people are discovering that the massive range they have demanded is going largely unused. There are going to be edge cases but just a dab of trip planning can handle that. My son recently completed an 800 mile trip in his Ioniq and reported that his longest leg was only 180 miles. Shoot for the everything-on, heat maxxed out at -10 into a 20mph headwind range of 200 miles, and then stop. Build for that and quit. Then focus on aero improvements, weight reductions, ride improvements etc. Don’t try to shovel in the biggest battery, just make the car a damned great place to be. Save a few bucks on the battery so we can save a few bucks on the car, and make the car great.
“, but a range capped at 200 miles.”
Just as long as it’s 200 miles of range in cold weather with the heat/defrost/lights/wipers/radio on.
And this budget BEV wouldn’t have seat heaters, heated steering wheel and other unnecessary luxury features.
Actually the seat heaters are the EV-smart option. They take less wattage to run than heating all the air in the car.
They don’t warm my face or my hands. All they do is roast my nuts which are warm enough as-is.
Nor do seat heaters defrost my windows.
Heated seats are not a replacement for proper heat. They’re at best a half-assed solution.
No, no – it’s the whole ass! The heater goes all the way across.
My car has the seats and steering wheel warmer and while I have my coat on, it’s more than enough. But I freely admit that I’m not that northerly and it would probably be far too little for a lot of folks. It’s enough for me, but Sweetie turns her side of the car on all the way and still looks like she’s dying. That lady is definitely a tropical flower.
Yeah, the defroster…
“No, no – it’s the whole ass! “
My whole ass, like my nuts, is also warm enough.
“Yeah, the defroster…”
And not just the front one, the rear one too.
“That lady is definitely a tropical flower.”
My GF has a very narrow temperature range where she does not need heat or AC. I think it’s between 22.5 and 22.6 Celsius.
Have you driven a car with a wired front-window defroster?
It’s uncanny as you focus on the wires in the glass up until you don’t, but the performance of them is magnificent at clearing light frost or fog. Never had one in a proper winter, mind, but I can see that pared with some limited air-sourced heat would likely do well.
I have not. But I have seen cars such as Lincolns from the 1980s and 1990s that had the “Instaclear” windshield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVyvCHDCCwE
It looked like a windshield with a slight tint.
Now they call it “Quickclear”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW9wjV_STw0
But they stopped offering it in North America apparently because of high insurance claims because replacing an instaclear/quickclear windshield was/is much more expensive than a regular windshield.
Where does it get cold enough to put the seat heaters on in Mexico?
Maybe if you drive up into the mountains? Or maybe if you want to export it to colder climates? Or maybe if someone from Mexico decides to drive north for a vacation in the winter because they want to go skiing.
I would add fast charging. But other than that, spot on.
I meant to include that. Son’s long trip would’ve taken longer, but he reported that the car was charging at the rate of 860 miles per hour. So he could put 150-180 miles of range back into the battery in under 15 minutes. That’s close to par with a typical long-trip stop in a gas car, fuel up, get coffee and snacks, walk around and shake out the fatigue.
Yeah. It should have “fast enough” charging. It doesn’t need to be the fastest 800V system. But something comparable to the 400V charging commonly seen on modern lower end BEVs these days.
You’re daily commuting 200 miles in the snow with 4 other passengers and 20 cubic feet of crap? You should move.
I do sometimes in the winter. There were many times I’ve had my current vehicle (a C-max Energi with 19cu ft of space) or my previous car (a 2008 Honda fit with 21 cu ft of space) loaded up with passengers and stuff.
Not daily, but often enough.
It’s also about having some buffer in the range so if you have to run some errands after work, you can do it without having to worry about range and whether you can make it home.
And in terms of space, it’s also about having a buffer so you can fit the odd oversized thing so you don’t always have to pay for delivery just because you bought a new TV or smaller piece of furniture from Ikea.
And specifying minimum space is also about how many vehicles these days (with CUVs being the worst offenders) have a terrible lack of interior space for their exterior footprint.
if it is 200 miles in the snow with just 1 person and 20 cubic feet of crap you are commuting to work in North Dakota/Montana.
Agreed with your requirements. Living in MI it gets cold enough and everything is spread out just enough that a 200mile range is needed with decent people/cargo capacity. I look at the Chevy Bolt and in the winter with heater going its about all I could do to get to work and back. (Yes I should move but thats also not really an option with the insane housing costs we have as a country). I do 70 miles round trip daily to work and back, but normally also head to the gym and quite often go out to eat or get groceries, so its not uncommon to hit over 100 miles a day. In the dead of winter that puts a standard 200 mile range EV in the low 100’s and leaves little buffer for me, requiring a full night long charging at my home level 2.
I live on a 25 mph road but living in the suburbs here means 1/4 mile in any direction hits a road that 45 mph and an expressway thats 70mph to go anywhere. I could easily rant at how poorly the cities have been designed but its not going to change in the next few decades.
I do love that things like this will exist as we do need cars that fill every niche, its just not one I would be looking to buy.
It is the hubris of the white man that pushes him to live in such climates (this is all jokes I promise)
I did laugh at it. I realize I sound a bit whiny when I should be just celebrating this EV for Mexico. Alas, I feel for me specifically I get upset as I want to switch to an EV for a number of reasons but the cost is just too high still for my cheapness.
I bought a 26′ Equinox ev for my wife just bf the fed. incentives expired last fall, otd price was just under $30k. She daily drives it and loves it
I daily a 2017 Prius Prime that right now has 34 miles all electric range bought for its efficiency and few years ago for $19k at the time.
Her drive to work is 21 miles 1 way, mine is 17 miles one way.
Funny thing is… the Prius is almost exactly 2x as efficient as the Equinox.
On its last tank, I drove it 2150 miles and there was 13 miles est. of all fuel driving range remaining. It has a 9.5 gallon(ish) gas tank. 2150 / 9.5 = 226 miles per gallon. In the (MN) winter the Prius Prime gets about 1/2 this economy in the daily commute, which puts it about on par with the Equinox’s efficiency.
Is there a used Prius C you could find cheap and use on that commute?
While not can as good as a Prius C, I was able to get a low mileage Cruze Hatchback Manual for a steal a few years ago that does meet most of my requirements for this daily commute as it gets solid MPG, fits 4 people and can carry a decent amount of stuff. Whenever it gets too old I do plan on getting an EV but its hard to accept the prices for something that will just meet the same basic transportation that my Cruze can give me.
I could C a Prius C in my future. It would have Synergy with the route I drive. It’s a Prime example of a good cheap car.