How this dinky car became the most popular EV in China
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Liuzhou, a city of around four million people, is better-known in China for its misty mountains and pungent river-snail noodles than for its advanced technology. But its locally made mini-EVs are proving a breakout success, and authorities have responded by installing charging stations, and providing discounted parking spots and preferential policies for buyers. The Wuling Hongguang Mini has even overtaken the likes of cars by Tesla and home-grown giant BYD to be the most popular model in the country.
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Пікірлер: 431
This was the idea of the Smart car many decades ago, an electric version and special “small” parking places for these cars in cities would make sense.
@bjonkofficial
2 ай бұрын
Ironically, Geely (the Chinese company that has now bought Smart) makes only SUVs with the Smart brand 😂
@theotheleo6830
2 ай бұрын
An electric version of the Smart Car was introduced in 2016. It has since been discontinued.
@stickynorth
2 ай бұрын
@@theotheleo6830 And yet it like the Smart Fortwo I own remain cultishly popular much the same way Fiat 500's and old Mini Cooper's are loved for decades beyond their build date...
@stickynorth
2 ай бұрын
Bingo! I bought one as my first car and it didn't disappoint.. At least in many ways... It's a quirky car that people other love or hate. I personally love it for all its weird French/Swiss quirks including its hopelessly underpowered heater, janky automated manual transmission and really slow 0-60 times... Like 16 seconds for the diesel version I own.. Ironically again is that it was originally designed as an electric car but because the lead-acid tech in the mid 80's was still primitive VW then Mercedes would only sign on if ICE versions were produced.. And here we are... Billions in losses later and a French factory that now turns out HUGE SUV's with only these cars still popular in China and Continental Europe... Total shame!
@Meh-qe4rw
2 ай бұрын
I'm driving a 451, road tax is $20 A year.
This car meets 99% of my daily essential tasks. I don’t need big SUV for groceries or out for a bite.
@ipsojure2137
2 ай бұрын
yep, and for the other 1% i can just rent a bigger car
@stickynorth
2 ай бұрын
Ditto! That's why this Canadian has owned a Smart car for 11 years... I only needed a large vehicle ONCE and then it was just cheaper/easier to have the IKEA furniture delivered to my house than for me to rent a car, drag it home, etc... And yes you can fit a 40" flat panel TV in it as long as you fold down the passenger seat...
@xabiermorales7781
2 ай бұрын
Totally agree
@XkMeng
Ай бұрын
@stickynorth In China, even for 100-inch TVs, delivery and installation are free. If you can't do this, it's impossible to survive in the Chinese market.
@erwinsaputra3645
Ай бұрын
unless you're a married man with small kids
This is what electric cars should be like, small cars focused for city driving, where the most charging infastructure is.
@Kojin400
2 ай бұрын
How far can it drive,
@JoeARedHawk275
2 ай бұрын
@@Kojin400How short is your attention span. It literally says it in the video
@Kojin400
2 ай бұрын
@@JoeARedHawk275 That’s not the question I need to know, What i want to know how long the Hours it can drive without battery. 2nd, what is the weight limit from for carrying stuff.
@thedude3005
2 ай бұрын
@@Kojin400it runs for 0 hours without the battery
@Kojin400
2 ай бұрын
@@thedude3005 So there battery is infinite,
I see this a lot in indonesia. This car is the best choice for second car
@eddyr1041
2 ай бұрын
But much more expensive bcos of demand too high😅
@RitaTheMom
2 ай бұрын
Wuling Air EV I suppose?
@taknaknak4957
2 ай бұрын
How much idr this one in our country?
@Scarmion6
2 ай бұрын
@@taknaknak4957lite 170 mil. ev air normal like 300 ish
@ilhamrj2599
2 ай бұрын
No, of course not… Wuling AirEV is still a lot more expensive than this small EVs shown in this video.
wait what??? Two hour free parking policy for EV??? If that was a thing, it wouldve been my motivation to switch to EV.
@user-px2qp9no2i
Ай бұрын
中国大多数地方都有30-120分钟的免费停车。事实上,许多社区和街道都有停车场,您可以免费停车一天以上。
Kudos to China EV cars 🚗🚗🚗🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🥇🥇🥇
On daily basis, that's what you need really for a city commute. Especially so in densely populated cities like Paris, London and many ASEAN cities where parking is hard to find. China's cities now have many electric bikes and cars now which undoubtedly helped reduce their noise and air pollution. Don't believe go see for yourself...
I just came back from China, and taxi driver (all drive EVs) told me there are as many charging stations as gas stations… US & other countries can learn from China in EVs….
@jogana6909
2 ай бұрын
As of February 2024, the cumulative number of charging piles in China was 9.023 million.
@AliAli-et7zy
Ай бұрын
Give US a break, they're busy spending trillions to support t*rrorist organizations, building more than 800 military bases at every country's doorstep
@bluedrakken
Ай бұрын
and just as many fire exploding ev's
@00leonl
Ай бұрын
@@bluedrakken證據在那裡?無知的的人
@user-tl5uy7qb6g
Ай бұрын
@@bluedrakken这就是你变成孤儿的原因😊真可怜
Bring it to Australia
@Hkchinese888
2 ай бұрын
Bring you to chyna
@MrZgui415
2 ай бұрын
The Smart car has EV variant but its expensive by comparison since Germans
@weilee1155
2 ай бұрын
Not sellable cause Aussie like giant car
@kristoffersonaribal1573
2 ай бұрын
Mate it has limited range and the crumple zone of that car is the cabin.
@aircraft2
2 ай бұрын
Doesn't work there because of horrible range, wouldn't be able to travel outside a major city let alone places like the Outback
Best choice to bring you from point A to point B in cities.
Why can't we have something like this in the US? I'm looking for a tiny brand new car that costs under $10k but a brand new car in the US is $20k+. A cheap new car not only allow me to buy it cash so I wouldn't have to pay for interest but also there's much less if any maintenance. I would pay $10k for this car in the US even though it costs only $5800 in China. Seriously.
@bruh-ni1fy
2 ай бұрын
Labor cost will never allow anything costing close to this in the US.
@haoli5779
2 ай бұрын
They have national security issues😂😂😂😂
@vasopel
2 ай бұрын
"capable of a max speed of 100 km (62 miles) per hour" :-O
@yackawaytube
2 ай бұрын
Foreign cars need to pass US government safety standards before they can be sold here.
@RsOnTheStreetS
2 ай бұрын
This car dosnt fulfill the us or eu standards for safety. If you have a crash it will end badly
This is what the original Smart car should have been…
@buzz86us2005
2 ай бұрын
yeah i don't get it every time they release tiny cars in the US they are priced similar to a standard sized car. What even is the point to it then?
@williamlee7782
2 ай бұрын
Maybe the auto maker mafia are in on this conspiracy. 😅
here in Indonesia, we got Air EV instead, which also quite popular
@YSKWatch
2 ай бұрын
the Air is way better than the original Mini. but the price is also more expensive.
I had a 2018 Nissan Leaf EV. In the summer months the DTE gauge shows about 230 km to empty. In the winter months the distance to empty is 215km. So not much difference when compared to this mini. If it is available in Canada I would buy one. So affordable.
It makes me feel guilty to drive big V8 truck with single people in there. This small EV makes perfect sense for daily commute.
@stickynorth
2 ай бұрын
Bingo! Huge vehicles have their place... Off road and on highway trips... Cities need kei/city cars... Tiny urban runabouts that won't add PM 2.5 to the air from engines or tires... Smart Fortwo really should revive its classic OG design as an electric now... It would do great and probably cost a fraction to make now that battery tech is cheaper than gasoline...
@_Forsaker
Ай бұрын
u need the second car
Insulting affordable vehicles makes you feel superior
Small EVs for short city commute is what Manufacturers should be making. NOT Extended Range 3s EVs
Best car....ever. 🎉🎉. Its inventors and creators are outstanding.
Yeah... Wuling air ev was here in Indonesia. They now introduce the newest called bingguo.
2:22 Are these... police cars? How cute
@birdyashiro1226
2 ай бұрын
Yes…
@enceladus4900
Ай бұрын
right? 😭
Some of them are way cheaper than 48k yuan, I saw some in Nanning for 15k Yuan.
@XkMeng
Ай бұрын
That is an "electric moped" that cannot be considered a car. It is classified as a non-motor vehicle and cannot be driven on a motor vehicle lane.
Best car for moving around tbh, I wish its more common here in the Philippines
THIS is the urban runabout Smart wished it was all along... The OG plan back in the Swatch days was a small 2-seat EV urban cabrio just like the Wuling Mini is... Now Smart is just a Geely sub-brand building compact crossover EV's which is a shame because the tech needed to make it's vision a reality is clearly alive and well in the People's Republic... Long live Wuling and it's true people's car!
These are such smart vehicles. I wish they were more common in European cities, replacing most absurdly large cars which take over so much of the limited space available in urban areas.
it's the mini car from Cyberpunk 2077
I want this car to be sell in Indonesia. Our small roads will be happy to get something new and fit the small house garage.
I hope they become popular internationally. These cars are much safer.
@Fabulousprofound168
2 ай бұрын
I am not sure about safety. I recently watched a Chinese dashcam video of one of these mini cars getting hit by a larger vehicle and it just disintegrated. But results may vary by what brand it is and how much effort went into crash safety.
@HattieMcDanielonaMoon
2 ай бұрын
@@Fabulousprofound168 You are right but if there is a push to popularize this type of vehicle then a trend of smaller cars in the market could happen.
@Netherlands031
2 ай бұрын
safer for the polar bears maybe, they do horrible in crash tests. insideevs has an article on a crash test of the wuling hong guang, it doesn't look pretty
@thedude3005
2 ай бұрын
@@Fabulousprofound168and that's why larger cars are literally death machines and should just be banned.
@RsOnTheStreetS
2 ай бұрын
@thedude3005 bigger cars are better for crashs. If you hit a pedestrian the possibility that he die is higher with this smal car as if you hit him with a bmw suv.
This video is a bit confusing. The car the lady (0:44) is talking about is NOT the Wuling Hongguang mini ev. The Wuling has seats for 4, and was launched around 2020
@lemonhaze1506
2 ай бұрын
Peak journalism, never fact check
@Snowycaaa
2 ай бұрын
that car is a Baojun E100. It isnt the same as the Wuling mini ev, but its manufactured by the same group at the same place; SAIC-GM-Wuling. They also use the same platform. So its like comparing a Toyota Yaris to a Vios. Different car, same platform
@AidenWong4128
2 ай бұрын
Actually they are the similar model, which manufactured by the same automaker.
@xiuChang
2 ай бұрын
然而这款车就是五菱的,属于五菱nano,而且拍摄地很明显就是五菱的大本营,广西柳州。
@BubuH-cq6km
2 ай бұрын
of course it's confusing it's Propaganda They don't even tell you what BYD stands for =Burning Your Dreams for all the cares that caught fire from the cheap batteries catching fire or exploding even most Chinese won't buy this junk
I would love for these zippy little EVs to be sold in Australia, but the government would never allow them to be sold here.
$5800, I would buy it to go to work in the states.
@user-wb5nz4bw1p
2 ай бұрын
It contains 27% tax already 😅
@Pitchoo973
2 ай бұрын
it depends really on where you are living, because living long route area, you won't be able to go far away. If living in a city, you would have a lovely time, specially with parking this car
@beepboopbeepp
2 ай бұрын
Knowing where i live this would not work, it’s only meant for big city driving where the roads are flat and charging points are plenty, not to mention it will probably be a reallt bumpy ride
@wallacepan3897
2 ай бұрын
states banned all Chinese car😂
@lemonhaze1506
2 ай бұрын
The states ban all China product due to "national security"
The tier3 "small city in China" in this video, Liuzhou, has the population of over 4 million, the same as Melbourne. The city is big enough, so people there don't have much demands to transport across cities with this mini EV. If they go to another city, ther prefer HSR. This mini EV satisfy most of the demands of transporting in city.
Looks great for town & city driving. Hopefully, it will come to the UK.
It's got a pretty small carbon footprint, no need for a hulking 7000+ lb EV, if your just commuting everyday by yourself.
I've seen comments on how this isn't safe but this trend of mini sized vehicles selling well has a track record of selling well with the original mini and kei cars from Japan
It won't sell well in America because they prefer to drive big vehicles that take up space even if there is only 1 passenger. 😒
If I remember correctly, this model was the most popular one or two years ago by monthly sales, but has since been overtaken other cars like the Model Y or BYDs. Also the reason for Wuling to produce this car was to get positive NEV credits so they don’t get punished by the government as they weren’t selling enough NEVs.
@kingstracy8437
2 ай бұрын
No, the reason for the decline in sales is still too expensive. What I mean is that the launch of new cars in China is too fast. If you don't make progress or change, your sales will be slapped hard. This is the current situation of electric vehicles in China. Every month, more advanced and cheaper new cars appear, and only by maintaining vitality can you dominate the market
we have wuling ev in indonesia, but it cost a lot more due to tax
I'm from Indonesia 🇮🇩🤝🇯🇵 🇮🇩🤝🇨🇳
@00leonl
Ай бұрын
love from china 🇨🇳
Where my boy “The Very Last Chang” at, gotta see how he links effective and ultravisionary transportation system to a fake social credit system that don’t exist
How much time will take to charge full ?
Look at the clean streets, India's street will never achieve this level of cleanliness.
@BubuH-cq6km
2 ай бұрын
🤣 😅 you are such a TOK they are only showing you the "clean streets" for a Propaganda video go watch videos of what's really going on in China the garbage is piling up on the streets everywhere 80+% of businesses and manufacturing have closed 5 major banks closed and not counting smaller banks limits on no more than $70 withdrawals a day and many banks don't even allow that amount no money transfers out of the Country allowed the entire economy and Country is on verge of Collapse
@blokin5039
2 ай бұрын
You need a civilized, educated and responsible society to have clean streets like in China which are qualities Indians don't possess.
@flyingnan2520
Ай бұрын
Well we Chinese felt the same in 2004. We complained that China would hardly become as clean as in Japan. Now in 2024 China achieves this cleanliness. It's also possible for India.
@blokin5039
Ай бұрын
@@flyingnan2520 My reaction has been removed stating the mere fact that Indians have a very different culture than the Chinese. Possible? Maybe but it will take generations of bettering themselves.
drove one last summer, really fun and comfortable
Within the city, where there is no physical space to speed or park, this is perfect. I can also see boys and men being too prideful to ride it and spend more to buy a propper sedan. Lol.
@JackFrost-ib3xr
2 ай бұрын
Sorry 😂 as a men, i might be an outlier. I would drive a broccoli if it mean more savings. Let alone a cute looking car.
😊🙏 Treat valued customers as smart & gives them high quality in designs , assemblies & materials while keeping the purchasing , running & maintenance cost lower is always a winner in any markets! 🙏🌷🌿🌏✌💜🕊
In the Philippines, they have electric tuktuk and ebikes
These are ideal city cars for short distance driving but would not be suitable in other countries where drivers drive dangerously in their oversized suv,s and trucks because they feel invincible in their big lump of metal. And in most cases the drivers of these big trucks are all alone with no passengers so all that is wasted space.
Small and practical for city driving. You’ll need something bigger for long distance and of course range but smart city cars are really practical.
Meanwhile in USA: *Grandma goes to Walmart in a pickup truck*
In India, the most popular vehicle is Bullock Cart!
@KRISH57676
2 ай бұрын
Chinese have their own, extremely advanced Tofu Carts. XD
我有一辆雪佛兰燃油车,但平时出门还是骑电动摩托车,因为停车很方便,续航50公里,完全可以满足城市需要😂
This gives me the memory of tata nano
Imagine one of these with a Hayabusa swap. Would be the best car to have fun in.
perfect 2nd family car, useful for grocery shopping and picking up kids, going t the mall...most people drive less than 200 km per day.
proce is x2 or 3 when sold in the philippines 😢
@carkawalakhatulistiwa
2 ай бұрын
Because tax
@Jittrippin2050
2 ай бұрын
@@carkawalakhatulistiwaand import cost
China is smart, the US all is doing is making EVs expensive and luxurious, while China works for its people, the US works for corporations, that's the difference.
Ya all those bicycles were polluting too much this is a leap forward.
Hongguang also sell this EV in Vietnam as well. it looks really cute irl. I would love to buy this one if we dont already own 2 cars in own household.
The price must be 5K
The small car looks so cute
It's a great deal for SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp) and GM, both part-owners in this venture. I don't think they paid very much for this auto manufacturer. Especially GM seems to struggle with EVs otherwise, so this may be a nice, little money-maker for them.
The ending motif was longer than usual. I guess they tried to convey a message at the end of the video. Did anyone catch it?
@pjacobsen1000
2 ай бұрын
I don't notice anything special. Tell us how you interpret the ending.
@privacyhelp
Ай бұрын
Fossil fuel prices in China are rising, but still cheaper than Europe and US.
this type of vehicles are suitable only in cities where large vehicles won't come close. due to safety reason
Would love a small EV for me to go from and whereabouts in my city, most places I go would have a benefit of having these ngl
It's the 'Howard' from Clear history!
Add a solar roof and its golden
"Happy GrandPa" E.V.s
Asians love to save money and value. This vehicle does the work you need for personal commute from work to shopping.
@user-hp8fo9bz3x
Ай бұрын
Because you can have more money to do the things you like
Reminds me of Emmets car from The Lego Movie.
Wuling Hongguang Mini please come to India soon. 😍
Down in south houston we got cars with pink panther on white walled swangas but in china they got mickey mouse 💀
@BubuH-cq6km
2 ай бұрын
no those are Winnie the Poo carts in China
I'd buy it just for the sake of smiling at it.
well done 👏👏
And it's nice they don't explode or need a fortune to repair.
‘Murica laughs at this 1/4 size of our SUVs that we drive in alone most of the time … yeah buddy 😂 that’s freedom .
How does their electric infrastructure handles all this? Since the cars have to charge somewhere.
@privacyhelp
Ай бұрын
Electricity in China is more plentiful than Europe.
@user-hp8fo9bz3x
Ай бұрын
You can also ask the car salesman to install charging facilities in your home
@ArcRain
Ай бұрын
This year when I went back home, I saw public charging piles in the village.
Guess what. People want affordable cars.
The reason they are choosing this , is because it works
Wuling Mini EV is the Market leader but the video consistently show a variety of other small EV cars and interview 2 women who don't drive a Wuling Mini EV. Makes for a confusing video if you don't know the car that they keep mentioning. Shoddy video work and worst part the image to attract viewers ISN'T the Wuling Mini EV EITHER!!!
They look like something you would find in a cereal box. Also look like an iron . take your pick.
$5.8k in china - same car in US $15k.
@rex_schd
Ай бұрын
Its subsidized by government in China to reduce pollution
Just use golf carts, for short errands or commutes.
Beautiful street
I thought you'll need car replacement battery after five years and the battery price is very expensive 🤔
@ME-xc1st
2 ай бұрын
A cheap car will have a cheaper battery and you only need to replace batteries in five years if you are going to drive it very intensively
@cosmoobserver3416
16 күн бұрын
The woman in the video told SCMP that she bought the car SIX years ago, and everything still works fine.
When these available in Pakistan
Creating traffic with cheap cars . I still better public transport is key
Actually it often replaces electric scooters and bikes so it is worse for the environment and less clean.
Definitely when they cramp up it going to be a mess
When they sell this to ph. 3x the price
What's the safety rating?
@stc2828
Ай бұрын
lol just don’t ask. Many of them are driven by old people without driving license and police turn a blind eye most of the time 😂
@user-hp8fo9bz3x
Ай бұрын
It should be talking about the electric version of the tuk-tuk from East Asia. Electric cars require a driver’s license.
We need this in Malaysian cities. Its time for our government to stop subsidizing petrol. Use that money saved by investing in charging infrastructure. Harvest solat energy. Enjoy cleaner airs.
We have that in our country, small, cute. It has aircon, power steering. It seats two and surprisingly quite a bit of torque. But in a city like ours where small cars compete with articulated vans, buses, large suvs on the road, these small cars are accident prone. Its very cheap though, almost the price of a high end scooter
murican motorhead : i'd swap that motor for a 2.7 Ecoboost yeehaw!
@BubuH-cq6km
2 ай бұрын
you know you want one and will buy one
Hm..looks like a Smart.. I WONDER
What about the speed is it road legal?
@awdrcdrifter8421
2 ай бұрын
It is in Indonesia. My Wuling Air EV tops at 105 kmh. Speed limit is 80 to 100 kmh.
@tjinc002
2 ай бұрын
@@awdrcdrifter8421 thanks
Lovely 😍 😍
wuling small ev way more expensive in Indonesia rather than in china
@user-hp8fo9bz3x
Ай бұрын
The cost of cars is low, but the tariffs and freight charges are high.
looks like smart fortwo to me
307 comments here and 306 would love to have a car like this.... why aren't the BIG autos listening?
@user-hp8fo9bz3x
Ай бұрын
In order to safeguard the interests of the country
Wait u pay to park ur car in public places?
These cars are not safe, they have national security issues 😂