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The Future of Electric Vehicles Is Golf Carts, Not Tesla
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    When people think of electric vehicles, they think of Tesla. But if you want to see the future of EVs it’s important to look elsewhere. Despite glowing media reports, Tesla is not disruptive, and it will have trouble scaling as it seeks to grow. However, there are disruptive EV companies out there; you just have to know where to look. Those companies are at the bottom of the market, ignored by the mainstream but thriving in applications where customers don’t need all of the features of a traditional automobile, or in specific applications where EVs perform better than traditional vehicles.

    There are two categories of disruptive EVs: low-speed electric vehicles and electric utility vehicles (EUVs). Low-speed EVs are consumer vehicles built on platforms mostly derived from golf carts and all-terrain vehicles. EUVs come in a range of sizes and formats, from small, light-duty platforms to full-size, heavy-duty trucks, but all are battery-powered and driven by electric motors. Low-speed EVs and EUVs are currently inferior to their traditional counterparts in almost every way. They can’t drive very far, go very fast or haul nearly as much. At first glance, they’re vastly deficient and don’t even meet the minimum performance criteria for most customers.

    https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-future-of-electric-vehicles-is-golf-carts-not-tesla

  • 11 Replies sorted by
  • nomadnomad

    Have a look at the Twizy by Renault. Even with some flaws, like expensive exchange of rear brake group, it is a more realistic concept than a fast sports car. In a not so far future we'll be glad to have anything like that if we need to commute to work…

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I am more for Nissan leaf as car and for Chinese cars as small ones.

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    Honestly I think it's all dependent on battery technology. Once batteries can charge quickly and give Tesla like range on something like a Nissan leaf/Mitsubishi i-miev/etc everyone will switch to electric.

    The hbr article made no sense to me... Golf carts adding more stuff like air-conditioning and power steering. How can a golf cart become disruptive when it is actually trying to become a car?! There are already cars like the i-miev that are cheap and very basic.

  • babypandababypanda

    electric cars don't solve traffic problems. we need to build cities that are multi-level, like buildings. or..... iron man suits.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • jleojleo

  • jleojleo

    Kaiyun Pickman - a mini jeep - golf carts with truck bed!

    @JaceDeloney The Kaiyun Motors Pickman is basically an all-electric take on the classic Jeep model that helped the US win WWII.

    The cheapest Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe—for as little as $9,000

    Kaiyun will start selling its “Pickman” electric pickup in the US, Germany, and Italy as soon as next month. The base Chinese model sells for 16,800 yuan ($2,500). The US version will start at $8,950, Fox News reports.

    It has a range of 120 km (75 miles) on a single charge. The battery takes up to ten hours to charge. The Pickman’s top speed is 45 km per hour (28 miles per hour), and it has a payload capacity of 450 kg.

    https://qz.com/1541380/the-cheapest-chinese-electric-cars-are-coming-to-the-us-and-europe/

  • DrDaveDrDave

    When I lived in England in the late 60s the milk was delivered every morning in a silent electric cart, presumably powered by a bank of lead acid batteries. The golf cart should immediately replace the vast majority of vehicles, it's 50 years overdue.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @DrDave

    Such replacement is impossible now from energy side of things.

  • bannedindvbannedindv

    Vintage style moped with ~75 mile range and max speed of 60mph with default battery and default configs. Better range or top speed with mods.

    Http://www.onyxmotorbikes.com

  • jleojleo

    The cheapest new electric car in the world, the $1,200 Changli Nemeca from Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba, is a truly amazing machine. This became clear as soon as my coworker Jason Torchinsky unboxed the car and saw its unexpected features, and even more so when he drove it. But it wasn’t until he and I looked at the tech under the skin that we truly realized the Changli’s unbelievable value. Here’s a look at the engineering behind the incredible 1.1 horsepower Changli.

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