Some of you who follow this tongue-in-cheek series may know that I’ve long sought after an electric aircraft from Alibaba to bestow upon it the dubious honor of being featured here. I’ve gotten close, but no cigar. I still haven’t caught my white whale this week on China’s largest online shopping platform Alibaba, but they say if you’re going to shoot for the stars, then you’d better aim for the lowest one. And that’s what I plan to do with my very own electric aerial work platform. Or as we called them as kids, cherry pickers.
Apparently these things go by a lot of names. Cherry pickers, aerial work platforms, bucket trucks, mobile elevating work platforms, bad ideas on wheels, etc.
But they all have two things in common: They drive around and the stick people where the gods didn’t intend them to get to.
And for a mere $5,000, this Chinese electric cherry picker could be mine, lifting me to heights of 10 meters (33 feet) with the same fuel source running through my e-bike and your Tesla: electricity! Think of all the sleeping giants you can sneak up on with this silent stalker of the skies.
The cool thing is that the 10-meter version is just the beginning. These bad boys come in a model line that goes all the way up to 18 meters (59 feet)! At that height, it might be worth reading the instruction manual, lest you suffer the same fate that our graphics guy seems to think will befall me.
Amazingly it only takes a 4,000 watt motor to power the various hydraulic pumps and rams on this massive children’s toy. Considering that’s around the same power of the motor in my mini Chinese electric pickup truck, I’d say that’s pretty impressive for such a little motor.
But don’t let the low power of this Alibaba electric lift fool you. This thing was made for getting stuff done, I tell ya! When the next hurricane comes and your neighbors are all out of power, you’ll get the last laugh when the next morning you’re up there plugging stuff in and jamming high voltage wires wherever they look like they should go.
You know why they make telephone poles so high, don’t you? It’s because they don’t want us seeing all the cool stuff they keep up there. Well now that we can all buy our own elevated work platforms, those utility men are going to have build even higher ivory towers, now aren’t they?!
There are a thousand and one uses for these things.
Hang the most awesome Halloween decorations. Clean your gutters yourself. Save a kitten from a tree without bothering the fire department. Put another more annoying kitten up IN a tree. Hey, some of them have it coming.
I’d say the sky is the limit, but that just isn’t true anymore, now is it?
The next time you need help changing the lightbulbs in your lofted ceiling, you know who to call. I’ll be there in a jiffy with my Alibaba special to help you out for the cool price of $5,000. I gotta pay this thing off somehow!
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The UAW union’s Stellantis Council met yesterday to discuss the beleaguered carmaker’s “ongoing failure” to honor the agreement that ended the 2023 labor strike, and their latest union memo doesn’t pull many punches.
In an email sent out by the UAW earlier today (received at 4:55PM CST), UAW President Shawn Fain wrote, “For years, the company picked us off plant-by-plant and we lacked the will and the means to fight back. Today is different. Because we stood together and demanded the right to strike over job security—product commitment—we have the tools to fight back and win … We unanimously recommend to the membership that every UAW worker at Stellantis prepare for a fight, and we all get ready to vote YES to authorize a strike at Stellantis.”
Kia promises the new EV9 GT will have “enormous power,” but that’s not all. For the first time, the Kia EV9 GT was caught with an active spoiler, giving us a sneak peek at potential new upgrades.
The brand’s first three-row electric SUV is already making its presence known in the US, helping push Kia to back-to-back record sales months. Meanwhile, a more powerful, sporty variant is on the way.
Kia confirmed the EV9 GT will top off the electric SUV’s lineup in April. Packing “enormous power,” the high-performance GT model can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in 4 secs.
With a “high-output” dual-motor (AWD) system, the EV9 GT can quickly pick up speed despite weighing over 5,000 lbs.
Kia also equipped it with other high-performance features, such as a reinforced suspension and electronic braking system, for better control and stability.
We’ve already caught a glimpse of the performance electric SUV out testing, revealing aggressive new bumpers and wheels. Now, a new design feature has been spotted.
Kia EV9 GT could come with an active rear spoiler
The latest video from HealerTV shows the EV9 GT with what appears to be an active spoiler. As the reporter noted, it could be similar to the one spotted on the Genesis GV70 Magma.
Tesla’s Model X also used to come with an active spoiler until it was dropped a few years back. Although the GT model was spotted with one, Kia could just be testing new features, so don’t get too excited yet.
Earlier this week, a video from HealerTV showed the front row of the EV9 GT, comparing it to the current GT-Line model.
Several differences can be immediately noticed, including a more aggressive, all-black design with a yellow stripe down the center of the seat.
Kia is set to launch the EV9 GT in early 2025. It will rival other performance SUVs like the Tesla Model X Plaid.
Although prices have yet to be confirmed, the GT model is expected to sit above the current GT-Line at $73,900. In comparison, Tesla’s Model X Plaid starts at $94,990 and can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 secs.
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Consumer Reports and EV charging app Chargeway are working together to give drivers a better way to rate public chargers, report uptime, and address maintenance issues.
The technical collaboration with Chargeway is part of a larger effort called the EV Charging Community, which engages with a number of different EV advocacy groups including Plug In America, GreenLatinos, and Generation 180, and leverages the mobile app to rate public EV charging experiences based on various factors, with the findings reported back to industry stakeholders like EVSE manufacturers, CPOs, and utilities.
Be heard
“We are very excited to be partnering with Consumer Reports,” says Chargeway founder, Matt Teske. “From day one, Chargeway has focused on a driver first app design to provide easier EV charging experiences as well as transparency for what drivers can anticipate at (the) station they choose … we share Consumer Reports’ goal to give drivers a voice in the public EV charging reliability conversation. Now, instead of posting complaints on social media and feeling ignored, EV drivers can use the Chargeway mobile app to provide their feedback to the leading consumer advocacy organization.”
Consumer Reports says it’s already seen nearly a third of its 1,600 enrolled community members experience a problem with public charging, so it’s a real problem. “Charging stations are critical services, but when they’re out of order or barely functional, it wastes consumers’ valuable time,” explains Drew Toher, Consumer Reports’ sustainability campaign manager.
Consumer Reports points out that EV drivers who don’t use Chargeway can also enroll to be part of the community at this link.
Electrek’s Take
Chargeway founder Matt Teske is an old friend. He’s a good friend, too, so it’s great to see his top-shelf EV charging app starting to get some of the recognition it deserves. The CR tie-up and added visibility these ratings will give to industry stakeholders are only going to make things better for EV drivers everywhere.
That up there? That’s one of my early interview episodes of Quick Charge featuring a walkthrough of Chargeway+, another collab between Matt and Austin Energy. Enjoy!
SOURCE | IMAGES: Chargeway, Consumer Reports.
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