Adding options increases the price (and my fully outfitted truck would likely be north of $9,000), but those options allow drivers to customize the vehicle to their individual needs. The car version, which has a smaller battery and lower power motor, starts at $4,800, while the truck starts at closer to $7,500. A few clicks and a mini car or truck shows up at your driveway. That led to a container of them, which led to more containers and then a container of - you guessed it - my ChangLi truck!Ĭaleb was so fascinated by the little EVs and thought that Americans could make use of them, just like so many people in Asia do, that he committed to providing an alternative to private imports.ĮIM deals with the hassle of importing and clearing customs for these little cars, so Americans can simply order one as easily as they can order an electric bicycle. Owner Caleb Nelson started last year by bringing in one of ChangLi’s small four-seater electric cars. Out in Utah, there’s a little outfit known as Electric Import Motors (EIM), and they do this exact same thing on a larger scale so that people like me don’t have to jump through all these hoops to get a fun and functional mini electric vehicle from China. And ironically, I found out about it a few days after I placed the order for my truck. So the point is, I’ve got an awesome electric truck coming, though it’s been a long few weeks of back-and-forth communication with the factory, with my customs broker, and with DOT/NHTSA/EPA regulations pamphlets to even figure out how this whole thing is going to work.įortunately, there’s actually a better way.
Now, I’ve got several weeks of waiting until the truck shows up in port, and I can begin that nightmare next step.
#ELECTRIC TRUCK DRIVER#
Keep in mind that I still haven’t paid my customs broker, who will have to handle all the customs forms and clearances for me, so I don’t have to take night classes to earn a major in international import law.Īnd I still haven’t paid a truck driver to truck it the last 50 miles from port to my home. This is also the part where I start deluding myself into thinking that it’s only $6,000, though. I’m planning on using this thing in Florida, so air conditioning is going to keep them from having to peel me off those seats with a spatula. Screw it - in for a penny, in for a pound. It was another $300 or so for heavy lead acid batteries, $500 if I wanted a lithium-ion battery pack (3 kWh), $710 for a bigger lithium pack (5 kWh), and $1,050 if I wanted a giant lithium battery (6 kWh). The $2,000 price was legit, but that didn’t include batteries. Of course, nothing on the internet is ever as it seems, even tiny electric trucks. The cherry on top was that it was only $2,000! Or at least I thought it was at first. It’s a pretty legit little electric truck. It’s enclosed, has real seats and seatbelts, electric windows, a backup camera, and even a hydraulic dumping bed. However, it’s also a fully fledged truck, even if it’s a small one. It’s got Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) specs and is designed for light-duty work. The thing is only 10 feet long and tops out at 25 mph, but I love it all the same. I also write a weekly column where I feature awesome and weird electric vehicles that I found on Alibaba.Ī couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon a cool little electric pickup truck from a factory called ChangLi and instantly fell in love with it. I have several electric bicycles and mopeds, almost all of which are made – well – in China. I’m fairly familiar with using Chinese light electric vehicles.
However, despite realizing I couldn’t justify an expensive electric truck, I never gave up the dream of joyriding in one and tossing all sorts of weird stuff in the back, which is probably why when the chance finally arose, I made the impulse buy of a much, MUCH more affordable (albeit smaller) electric pickup truck straight from China. If you’re anything like me, you watched the unveiling of the Tesla Cybertruck and the electric Ford F-150 Lightning truck and thought, “Damn, those are pretty cool, but I probably shouldn’t drop $40,000-$50,000 on an electric truck that I don’t really need.”
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