How this dinky car became the most popular EV in China
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- čas přidán 27. 03. 2024
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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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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.
Ironically, Geely (the Chinese company that has now bought Smart) makes only SUVs with the Smart brand 😂
An electric version of the Smart Car was introduced in 2016. It has since been discontinued.
@@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...
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!
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.
yep, and for the other 1% i can just rent a bigger car
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...
Totally agree
@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.
unless you're a married man with small kids
wait what??? Two hour free parking policy for EV??? If that was a thing, it wouldve been my motivation to switch to EV.
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。
I see this a lot in indonesia. This car is the best choice for second car
But much more expensive bcos of demand too high😅
Wuling Air EV I suppose?
How much idr this one in our country?
@@taknaknak4957lite 170 mil. ev air normal like 300 ish
No, of course not… Wuling AirEV is still a lot more expensive than this small EVs shown in this video.
This is what electric cars should be like, small cars focused for city driving, where the most charging infastructure is.
How far can it drive,
@@Kojin400How short is your attention span. It literally says it in the video
@@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.
@@Kojin400it runs for 0 hours without the battery
@@thedude3005 So there battery is infinite,
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….
As of February 2024, the cumulative number of charging piles in China was 9.023 million.
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
and just as many fire exploding ev's
@@bluedrakken證據在那裡？無知的的人
@@bluedrakken这就是你变成孤儿的原因😊真可怜
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Best choice to bring you from point A to point B in cities.
This is what the original Smart car should have been…
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?
Maybe the auto maker mafia are in on this conspiracy. 😅
Bring it to Australia
Bring you to chyna
The Smart car has EV variant but its expensive by comparison
since Germans
Not sellable cause Aussie like giant car
Mate it has limited range and the crumple zone of that car is the cabin.
Doesn't work there because of horrible range, wouldn't be able to travel outside a major city let alone places like the Outback
here in Indonesia, we got Air EV instead, which also quite popular
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.
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.
Labor cost will never allow anything costing close to this in the US.
They have national security issues😂😂😂😂
"capable of a max speed of 100 km (62 miles) per hour" :-O
Foreign cars need to pass US government safety standards before they can be sold here.
This car dosnt fulfill the us or eu standards for safety. If you have a crash it will end badly
It makes me feel guilty to drive big V8 truck with single people in there. This small EV makes perfect sense for daily commute.
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...
u need the second car
Small EVs for short city commute is what Manufacturers should be making.
NOT Extended Range 3s EVs
Insulting affordable vehicles makes you feel superior
Yeah... Wuling air ev was here in Indonesia. They now introduce the newest called bingguo.
Some of them are way cheaper than 48k yuan, I saw some in Nanning for 15k Yuan.
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.
2:22 Are these... police cars? How cute
Yes…
right? 😭
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
Peak journalism, never fact check
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
Actually they are the similar model, which manufactured by the same automaker.
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。
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
it's the mini car from Cyberpunk 2077
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!
Best car for moving around tbh, I wish its more common here in the Philippines
Best car....ever. 🎉🎉. Its inventors and creators are outstanding.
$5800, I would buy it to go to work in the states.
It contains 27% tax already 😅
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
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
states banned all Chinese car😂
The states ban all China product due to "national security"
I hope they become popular internationally. These cars are much safer.
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.
@@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.
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
@@Fabulousprofound168and that's why larger cars are literally death machines and should just be banned.
@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.
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.
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.
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
Looks great for town & city driving. Hopefully, it will come to the UK.
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.
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
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.
It's got a pretty small carbon footprint, no need for a hulking 7000+ lb EV, if your just commuting everyday by yourself.
I would love for these zippy little EVs to be sold in Australia, but the government would never allow them to be sold here.
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. 😒
we have wuling ev in indonesia, but it cost a lot more due to tax
I'm from Indonesia
🇮🇩🤝🇯🇵
🇮🇩🤝🇨🇳
love from china 🇨🇳
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.
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! 🙏🌷🌿🌏✌💜🕊
drove one last summer, really fun and comfortable
How much time will take to charge full ?
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.
In the Philippines, they have electric tuktuk and ebikes
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
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.
Look at the clean streets, India's street will never achieve this level of cleanliness.
🤣 😅 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
You need a civilized, educated and responsible society to have clean streets like in China which are qualities Indians don't possess.
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.
@@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.
proce is x2 or 3 when sold in the philippines 😢
Because tax
@@carkawalakhatulistiwaand import cost
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 ending motif was longer than usual. I guess they tried to convey a message at the end of the video. Did anyone catch it?
I don't notice anything special. Tell us how you interpret the ending.
Fossil fuel prices in China are rising, but still cheaper than Europe and US.
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.
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😂
In India, the most popular vehicle is Bullock Cart!
Chinese have their own, extremely advanced Tofu Carts. XD
This gives me the memory of tata nano
this type of vehicles are suitable only in cities where large vehicles won't come close. due to safety reason
The small car looks so cute
Ya all those bicycles were polluting too much this is a leap forward.
Imagine one of these with a Hayabusa swap. Would be the best car to have fun in.
Reminds me of Emmets car from The Lego Movie.
The price must be 5K
It's the 'Howard' from Clear history!
"Happy GrandPa" E.V.s
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
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
Add a solar roof and its golden
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.
Meanwhile in USA: *Grandma goes to Walmart in a pickup truck*
well done 👏👏
Lovely 😍 😍
Wuling Hongguang Mini please come to India soon. 😍
Asians love to save money and value. This vehicle does the work you need for personal commute from work to shopping.
Because you can have more money to do the things you like
The reason they are choosing this , is because it works
And it's nice they don't explode or need a fortune to repair.
Beautiful street
I'd buy it just for the sake of smiling at it.
Just use golf carts, for short errands or commutes.
$5.8k in china - same car in US $15k.
Its subsidized by government in China to reduce pollution
How does their electric infrastructure handles all this? Since the cars have to charge somewhere.
Electricity in China is more plentiful than Europe.
You can also ask the car salesman to install charging facilities in your home
This year when I went back home, I saw public charging piles in the village.
When they sell this to ph. 3x the price
murican motorhead : i'd swap that motor for a 2.7 Ecoboost yeehaw!
you know you want one and will buy one
Down in south houston we got cars with pink panther on white walled swangas but in china they got mickey mouse 💀
no those are Winnie the Poo carts in China
Awww, so cute!
‘Murica laughs at this 1/4 size of our SUVs that we drive in alone most of the time … yeah buddy 😂 that’s freedom .
I thought you'll need car replacement battery after five years and the battery price is very expensive 🤔
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
The woman in the video told SCMP that she bought the car SIX years ago, and everything still works fine.
Actually it often replaces electric scooters and bikes so it is worse for the environment and less clean.
It’s the people’s republic, people first
Safety is left the chat 😄
These small cars are safer than motorcycles and bicycles.
@@privacyhelp lol 😂😂😂
Guess what. People want affordable cars.
Hm..looks like a Smart.. I WONDER
Definitely when they cramp up it going to be a mess
looks like smart fortwo to me
Creating traffic with cheap cars . I still better public transport is key
They look like something you would find in a cereal box. Also look like an iron . take your pick.
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.
What's the safety rating?
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 😂
It should be talking about the electric version of the tuk-tuk from East Asia. Electric cars require a driver’s license.
When these available in Pakistan
Great 👍
I like this car
wuling small ev way more expensive in Indonesia rather than in china
The cost of cars is low, but the tariffs and freight charges are high.