Weird Alibaba: You can buy your own electric bumper car to drive around
One of the coolest things about all the weird electric vehicles we find on Alibaba is that many of them seemingly come from objects you’d never expect to see on the road. Take a tiger-shaped bus or a house on wheels. Other times you get things that are technically vehicles but that still should never be near an actual road. And that makes me want to do exactly that, by getting one of these electric bumper cars for cruising my neighborhood’s streets.
Welcome to the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week, bumper car edition!
Here’s the thing — when I was a kid, bumper cars had a giant stick coming out of them. You got to ride around an eerie cheese grater floor while a metallic clothes rod with a tin foil shoehorn created arcing sparks above your head.
Classic kids ride.
But apparently these days the youth will never know the thrill of an amusement park ride that could conceivably electrocute them if they were tall enough.
That’s because there’s a new breed of bumper cars hitting the sad, dried up and money strapped amusement parks barely struggling to hang on. These new battery-powered bumper cars may not carry the same hiss and crackle of the old school models, but they have one redeeming quality: you can drive them anywhere.
Without being stuck in the designated and electrified bumper car thunderdome, you can drive off as far as you please. Or at least as far as your battery will last.
The bumper cars use a 48V system paired with a 500W motor. That means they’re roughly as powerful as an average electric bike that can hit 20 mph (32 km/h).
Unfortunately these things will barely get you to a third of that speed. But you know what happens when you gear down the speed? The torque should skyrocket, meaning these suckers could probably moonlight as airplane tractors. Giddy up!
Surely you won’t be getting anywhere quickly at a maximum speed of 6 mph (10 km/h), but you’re definitely going to be arriving in style.
You’ve probably already lost the race to be the first in town with a fancy new F150 Lightning or Rivian. Why not try to be a different kind of first?
It won’t even cost you that much. What if I told you that I could put you in this bad boy for a cool fifteen hundred bucks? *slaps hood*
That’s right. $1,500 is all it takes to become the proud new owner of a battery powered bumper car.
And that’s not all you get. If the low-budget marketing video below is any indication, the bumper car also comes with a pile of firewood as an “accessory”.
And don’t even get me started on the awesome list of features.
The battery bumper car comes complete with “leather” seats, anti-skid steering wheel, LED lighting, speakers that can play your MP3 mix from an SD card, and an impact-resistant body.
Plus they’re super easy to park thanks to their 360 degree turning ability. And if you ever did accidentally kiss another car while sliding into your spot, you can just shrug at the owner and point to your ride. What did they expect, it’s a bumper car.
As much as I’d love to get a few of these and turn a parking garage into a kids birthday party, I think I’ll take a break from my weird Alibaba orders for now.
I’ve still got my electric boat to unbox and I’m not sure there’s room for a dozen bumper cars. You absolutely shouldn’t buy one either. But if you do, I want to hear all about it!
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On today’s sunny side up episode of Quick Charge, we take a look at the latest from the world of solar power, and discuss Congressional Republicans’ plans to limit your energy independence by eliminating a critical tax credit for homeowners nearly ten years early. (!)
We’ve also got a quick review of a massive solar farm powering 200,000 homes in Indiana and the biggest solar project East of the Mississippi – both part of a record 98% of all new power generation and grid capacity introduced in 2025 coming from wind and solar. Those are jobs, those are lower utility rates, those are energy independence … so why are Congressional Republicans working to make that more expensive?
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If you want to read that EnergySage report on the state of the home solar industry, including news about battery energy storage system and V2H/V2G prices and financing trends, you can check it out for yourself, below, then let us know what you think in the comments.
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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A Waymo autonomous vehicle drives along Masonic Avenue on April 11, 2022 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Alphabet’s Waymo unit has received approval to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service to more parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose.
In March, the company submitted a request to the California Public Utilities Commission to gain approval for its latest passenger safety plan, a key step in gaining permission to operate driverless vehicles across a broader area. On Monday, the proposed expansion was approved, allowing for Waymo’s driverless coverage to extend from San Francisco down through the Peninsula.
“We’re very excited to share that the CPUC has approved our application to operate our fully autonomous commercial ride-hailing service in the South Bay and nearly all of San Jose!” the company wrote in a post on X on Monday. “While this won’t change our operations in the near-term, we’re looking forward to bringing the benefits of Waymo One to more of the Bay Area in the future.”
The $5 billion Empire Wind is back in business. The Trump administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has lifted its stop-work order for Empire Wind, a major offshore wind project off the coast of New York led by Empire Offshore Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Equinor. Construction is now allowed to resume.
Equinor CEO Anders Opedal welcomed the news, saying the restart reinforces Equinor’s commitment to delivering clean energy while supporting local economies and saving thousands of jobs. He also credited a wide coalition of officials for helping get the project back on track, including Trump, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and congressional leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Dan Goldman. Opedal also thanked the Norwegian prime minister and the minister of finance for raising the issue with the US administration.
Governor Hochul said in a statement that “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” had taken place.
Neither the BOEM nor the Department of the Interior has issued a comment.
The Trump administration halted construction of the 54-turbine Empire Wind on April 16, but discussions between Equinor, regulators, and leaders at the federal, state, and city levels led to a reversal. That means Empire Wind can now push ahead with its goal of powering 500,000 New York homes with offshore wind energy.
“This project delivers on the energy ambitions shared by the US and New York by providing a vital new source of power to the region,” said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Wind US. She added that Empire Wind is boosting supply chain investments across the country, with activity in New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina.
Equinor plans to reassess the project’s financials in the second quarter. The goal is still to install turbines offshore in 2025 and hit full commercial operation by 2027. The company says it will work with suppliers and regulators to minimize any delays from the month-long pause.
Empire Wind was first awarded its offshore lease in 2017 after a competitive federal process. It received its final construction green light in early 2024 following an extensive environmental review. Construction kicked off shortly after, and the project is now over 30% complete.
The US is a major market for Equinor. The Norwegian energy giant says it has invested around $60 billion in US energy projects since the early 2000s, more recently in low-carbon solutions, critical minerals, and renewables. Empire Wind is one of its flagship projects in the US.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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