Traffic congestion and the cost of running a car have been pushing Chinese car manufacturers to think small, especially for electric vehicles.
Electric scooter and motorcycle have long been popular and in the past several years more and more small electric cars are appearing on crowded urban roads
One popular three-wheel electric vehicle has a large retractable bubble top, making it look like a futuristic car from a low-budget 1950s Hollywood movie. It may have a top speed of only 30kph, as the <%$Linker:2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal BBC reported two years ago Visit BBC Story page false http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17780515 false false %>, but the battery is easily removed to be taken indoors and recharged from a normal electric socket.
The three-wheeler cost between US$950 and $2,350 back in 2012. Fast forward to today and the small Chinese car has got even smaller as well as less expensive, thanks to a 60-year-old inventor in Shanghai. Xu Zhiyun, built his own petrol-driven mini car that measures 60cm long, 35cm wide and 40cm high – it barely reached up to his knee.
You don’t sit in it, you sit on, as the <%$Linker:2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal China Daily newspaper recently reported Visit china daily business Page false http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-12/03/content_19019508.htm false false %>. It may look like a toy car, but it is recognisable as a road vehicle. It has an engine, an accelerator and braking and gearing systems, the newspaper said. For night driving it has front and rear lights, a horn and for the driver’s pleasure, as well as anyone standing on the pavement when it zips by, a sound system.
Xu may have taken two years to build what looks like a large vacuum cleaner with a seat on top, but he figures it cost only around $245. However, he says, he didn’t build it to beat the traffic or save money on commuting. He just likes making things with his hands.
Electric scooter and motorcycle have long been popular and in the past several years more and more small electric cars are appearing on crowded urban roads
One popular three-wheel electric vehicle has a large retractable bubble top, making it look like a futuristic car from a low-budget 1950s Hollywood movie. It may have a top speed of only 30kph, as the <%$Linker:
The three-wheeler cost between US$950 and $2,350 back in 2012. Fast forward to today and the small Chinese car has got even smaller as well as less expensive, thanks to a 60-year-old inventor in Shanghai. Xu Zhiyun, built his own petrol-driven mini car that measures 60cm long, 35cm wide and 40cm high – it barely reached up to his knee.
You don’t sit in it, you sit on, as the <%$Linker:
Xu may have taken two years to build what looks like a large vacuum cleaner with a seat on top, but he figures it cost only around $245. However, he says, he didn’t build it to beat the traffic or save money on commuting. He just likes making things with his hands.
