Weird Alibaba: Try not to vomit while driving this electric rolly car around
When we find electric vehicles for this weekly column on China’s bottomless pit of a shopping megasite Alibaba, we generally look for something that looks weird, fun or at least remotely useful. This week I’d say we nailed the first two. I’m not quite sure what to call this thing, so I guess I’ll have to go with the name given to it by its creators: the Happy Car.
Though unless you have a stomach of steel, you might not be the happiest rider after a few revolutions in one of these.
I’ll do my best to describe the Happy Car accurately, though I’m going into this just about as ignorantly as you are.
What we have here is a giant tube with a big tire around each of the two ends. It’s something like a monowheel that you’d sit inside, except that it has two “wheels” to prevent the ol’ fall over and scrape your face off problem of monowheels.
There are two bucket seats with four point harnesses to keep victims riders strapped in. You may be wondering why they need a four point harness, which is a fair question for something that looks like one of those rides outside of a dilapidated K-Mart that give you 30 seconds of bouncing on a plastic unicorn for a quarter.
Well the $3,300 Happy Car is a bit more action packed since the rider’s capsule is free to rock back and forth inside of the main barrel. That means if you accelerate or brake quickly enough, you can actually go inverted or completely flip over.
The round shape of this odd electric vehicle is of course a result of it being designed to roll around like a barrel. But I imagine that the engineers were likely clever enough to use it for another purpose. I’d bet dollars to donuts that there’s a convenient drain plug at the bottom so that it’s easier to remove the vomit and hose it off after each ride.
Don’t believe me about how stomach turning this must be? Take a look at the video below (skip to about 22 seconds in for the driving footage) and tell me that doesn’t look vomit-inducing. Oh, and maybe turn down your speakers too.
Somehow this contraption is actually powered by a pair of dinky little 300W electric motors. That’s barely more than the motor in an EU-legal electric bike.
But maybe the power is so low because the Happy Car just doesn’t go very fast.
The speed is listed in meters per minute, which is the first clue that you won’t be going anywhere quickly. But if you don’t mind cruising at 40-60 meters per minute (1.5-2 mph) then this could be the perfect ride for you and a friend.
Just make sure you and your friends aren’t taller than 185 cm (6’1″), as that’s the height limit for riders. There’s also a 200 kg (440 lb) weight limit, though it’s not clear if that’s for one rider or both.
If the rolling around and flipping over wasn’t enough stimulation for you, the Happy Car comes with a complete light package and customizable sounds to create a multi-pronged assault on the senses.
Of the many weird Alibaba EVs I’d featured over the past couple years in this column, I’m not sure this one makes the top of the list for ones that I want to wait in line to test out.
I’ll save that for someone braver and less prone to upchucking than myself.
But I can still admire just how weird Alibaba’s catalog of wacky electric vehicles has become. Gotta love the free market!
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Nexamp just pulled off something that could speed up clean energy deployment across the US – and potentially lower costs for everyone. The Boston-based solar developer just finished building three new solar farms in Maine and Massachusetts. But instead of waiting on the utility to handle all the grid hookup work, Nexamp did it themselves.
That might not sound groundbreaking at first, but in the world of renewable energy, it’s a pretty big deal. Normally, utilities are in charge of any grid upgrades and interconnection work needed before a new solar project can start sending power to homes and businesses. That process can be very slow and expensive.
Nexamp’s new approach, called “self-performance,” flips the script. It lets developers take on some of that work, like ordering and installing equipment, so they don’t have to sit around waiting for the utility to schedule it. That means solar farms can get online faster, which gets clean power to the grid sooner and keeps project costs in check.
The three projects that kicked off this self-performance effort are:
- Hartland Solar – 1.2 MW DC in Hartland, ME
- Barre Road Solar – 1.3 MW DC in New Braintree, MA
- Summit Farm Solar – 2.6 MW DC, also in New Braintree
Nexamp didn’t go rogue – they worked closely with Central Maine Power and National Grid on the interconnection designs, safety standards, and technical specs. But by handling the actual procurement and construction, Nexamp had way more control over cost, timing, and supply chain headaches.
“Self-performance lets us take much greater control over interconnection procurement and construction,” said Daniel Passarello, Nexamp’s lead consulting engineer for grid integration. “We can move much of the interconnection work forward at the same time as the solar farm build instead of treating them as separate. That helps us bring projects online faster and stay closer to budget.”
It also helps that Nexamp already has solid relationships with suppliers. Instead of going through multiple layers of utility procurement, they can go straight to the source, fast.
That kind of streamlining is exactly what the solar industry needs right now. Community solar is booming – as of the end of 2024, nearly 8 gigawatts of it have been installed across the US, according to the the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and that number is expected to almost double by 2030. But bottlenecks in the interconnection process slow things down.
Sara Birmingham, VP of state affairs at SEIA, called Nexamp’s move a step in the right direction. “We must modernize and streamline the interconnection process to keep pace with fast-growing demand,” she said. “Self-performance is one of several innovative approaches that can accelerate project timelines and lower costs, which benefits all ratepayers.”
Read more: Walmart and Nexamp are rolling out 31 solar farms in 5 states
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When Genesis first previewed its full-size electric SUV, the coach doors were one of the biggest highlights. It looks like it will actually make its way into the production vehicle. A Genesis GV90 model was spotted in the US for the first time with coach doors, offering a glimpse of the upcoming ultra-luxury SUV.
Genesis GV90 spotted with coach doors in California
We got our first look at the full-size luxury SUV after Genesis unveiled the Neolun concept at the NY Auto Show last March.
Genesis said the concept was its “ultra-luxe vision of luxury SUVs,” and it wasn’t kidding. When it arrives, it will be sold as the GV90 as the brand’s new flagship vehicle.
The GV90 is not just a pretty-looking luxury SUV. It’s also loaded with Hyundai’s most advanced software and tech. According to Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis’ head of creative design, “it’s the epitome of timeless design and sophisticated craftsmanship.
Last month, we got a sneak peek of the interior after a production-ready GV90 was caught in California. Although somewhat toned down from the original concept, the cabin still featured many of the same elements.
Another Genesis GV90 was recently spotted in California, with actual coach doors. The new images from KindelAuto (via TheKoreanCarBlog) show a camouflaged vehicle with a hinge at the rear, where the coach doors will open.
Genesis said that B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles, like the GV90. However, don’t expect it to come standard on all models.
The feature will likely be reserved for higher-priced trims. We’ve seen other variants, featuring traditional doors, that are being tested in the US and Korea.
Genesis is expected to launch the GV90 in mid-2026. We will learn prices and final specs closer to launch, but the flagship electric SUV is set to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform.
Hyundai said the platform is designed for EVs across all segments and will “provide a 50 percent improvement in driving range” compared to current EVs. It will also support Level 3 or higher autonomous driving capabilities and OTA software updates.
Source: KindelAuto, TheKoreanCarBlog
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Elon Musk has finally confirmed that Tesla’s new ‘affordable’ electric car is just going to be the Model Y in a cheaper format.
Musk has ended months of speculations and misinformation, which he partly created, about Tesla’s upcoming cheaper electric vehicle model.
Since last year, Tesla has guided “launching new affordable models” in the first half of 2025.
We are past the first half of 2025, but Tesla confirmed yesterday that the “first build” of the new model was produced in June, and it will launch later this year.
During the shareholders’ call following the earnings results yesterday, Tesla was asked about what the new affordable model would look like. Tesla’s CFO, Vaibhav Taneja, initially stated that they wouldn’t disclose details about the design, but then Musk interrupted him and said, “It’s a Model Y.”
It’s hard to hear exactly on the call because he talked over Taneja, but he said, “the cat is out of the bag” and confirmed that the new vehicle is simply a Model Y.
Electrek has been reporting on this fact all year. We have known for months that Tesla’s upcoming “new affordable models” are Model 3 and Model Y with a stripped-down interior with fewer features, like no rear screen, and cheaper materials:
However, this fact was not accepted in the Tesla community because CEO Elon Musk falsely denied a report last year about Tesla’s “$25,000” EV model being canceled.
The facts are that Musk canceled two cheaper vehicles that Tesla was working on, commonly referred as “the $25,000 Tesla” in early 2024. Those vehicles were codenamed NV91 and NV92, and they were based on the new vehicle platform that Tesla is now reserving for the Cybercab.
Instead, Musk noticed that Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y production lines were starting to be underutilized as the Company faced demand issues. Therefore, Tesla canceled the vehicle programs based on the new platform and decided to build new vehicles on Model 3/Y platform using the same production lines.
Now, only the new Cybercab is going to be based on the new unboxed platform.
During the conference call last night, Musk stated that the primary goal of the more affordable Model Y is to expand the market by making the vehicle more accessible to a broader audience. He suggested that it will go on sale in Q4.
Electrek’s Take
Finally, we can put this to rest. I think we can expect something similar to what Tesla did with the Model 3 in Mexico.
I think we can expect changes, such as using cloth materials instead of vegan leather, no rear display, no ambient lighting, and a lesser audio system.
In the case of the Model Y, Tesla may consider dropping some exterior lighting features, such as the light bars.
I wouldn’t be surprised also to see some powertrain changes. Maybe a less powerful RWD motor.
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