Sandy's Reaction to World's Cheapest EV - The Changli Freeman

Senior editor of Jalopnik, Jason Torchinsky, stopped by recently to have Sandy take a look at his Changli Freeman...the world's cheapest EV made in China. This teaser video is a collage of some of Sandy's best reactions during the visit.

Check out more of Jason Torchinsky below:

Outro Music:
Music from YouTube Audio Library [Aka YAL]

[paullester]

"nothing is as crappy as it should be" - Changli's new tagline

[valldopowa]

Better that what Nikola will ever build. That thing it’s amazing, I’ve seen the review, recommended

[roryreddog]

😂😂😂 that is Gold! can’t wait for the full version

[rehleinklein]

Oh Sandy, I can feel with you: one of the best reaction (beside many others) was your enthusiasm for the rear bumper. Thank you so much for this shorty!!

[yangdaoy]

My cellphone is more expensive this CAR.

[sgaprophis]

in the end i have the same question! how'd they do that, even my bicycle is more expensive then this car!

[argon]

I love Mr. Munro's reaction to the stainless steel and the build of the vehicle. If Mr. Munro takes a deep dive to Chinese non street legal electric vehicles, he would be amazed on the different types of vehicles he can find. Some may be generic like this one, and some where it would mimic existing vehicles, but shrunk down.

On the rear bumper, those stainless steel are being sold in the bulk, anyone can buy them in China. The carriage of the vehicle, I believe, is steel, again it is being sold in bulk. You can literally buy them from stores off the street (China doesn't really have home depot, but they have small stores that sell tools, equipment and supplies) Those steel are then being welded by hand to create the carriage. Almost all the parts from this car could be bought off the shelf and another vehicle maker could make the same one. Most of the new ones come with reverse camera also.

Most of the vehicles are under 5KW motor, if I remember correctly, and they come in LHD, or motorbike steering type. The downside of these vehicle is the battery which require replacement every 2-3 years. Battery does not come with cooling solution. Cost of changing battery is almost the cost of the vehicle. Quite expensive when you are comparing to the cost of the vehicle, but really cheap in North American standard

These are usually illegally being sold as low speed vehicle or elderly mobility vehicle (not street legal), but I heard that the Chinese government or the provincial level government are taking notice on consumer demand and may step in to legalize it and regulate it.


There are some other outrageous ones that have a generator working as an range extender. If Mr. Munro knows Chinese, I bet he will be buying those vehicle (really cheap) and tearing it down for us to see.

Here are some of the link of Baidu (Haokan “Baidu's version of youtube") videos that shows those vehicle:


another interesting EV would be the Wuling MiniEV. A street legal vehicle in China

[moherbert]

It might be great in a retirement community, keeps the rain off your canasta cards.

[boy]

The crossover we never knew we needed.

[mana]

Omg Sandy when he is shocked is hilarious. Love this guy.

[jhaybiebasco]

I loved this when it first appeared in Jalopnik and was hoping for more videos about it so I'm even more excited to see Sandy's team examine this beauty!

[peteregan]

In many cities of the world, including Sydney Australia, a vehicle like that with better safety and slightly better performance would suit many people as it makes a visit to the local shops, or a drive to work in congested non-highway traffic more pleasant and faster getting in and out of parking structures. Arcimoto is doing a 3 wheel version for various tasks without 4 wheel vehicle safety. I can't see why a $5000 version of that vehicle that meets required safety standards (not 5 star) is not possible

[Hogaboga]

Are you gonna do a teardown of the lucid air when they become available? Im very interested to see if the motor is as good as they claim

[wtthehll]

You should publish a longer cut of Sandy just exploring the engineering on this thing, AvE style. A lot of people would love to watch that.

[EnlightenedSavage]

2 seconds after seeing it. I want this.

[robertweekley]

It's the "Un-Cyber-Tuk!"
😆

[lifestyledividends]

quality content.. 2 minutes straight to the point!! that's what youtube should really be 👍🏽

[HansMilling]

I hope you release a full walkthrough of this, would be awesome.

[TheRealAndyR]

This is pure gold. I've suggested a Juicero tear down in the hope of seeing the same sort of reactions but for opposite reasons.

[JRP]

Get ready for a new "Tesla Killer" article from the shorts.