Weird Alibaba: Get a 3-person electric bike pedicab taxi for under $1,000!
It’s not everyday that the odd little EVs I find for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week are so cool that I’m tempted to buy them myself. But this week it’s going to be hard to pass up on this three-seater electric pedicab that you can own for a song!
Alright, so let’s dive in here. This is what we’re looking at: an electric trike with a pivoting front end that mounts a bench-style seat for two adults (or probably three kids squished shoulder to shoulder).
This 85 kg (187 lb.) electric rickshaw is the open-aired pedal minivan you’ve been looking for. Or maybe you haven’t been looking for it, but it found you anyway. Just look at the luck on you, my friend!
The electric pedicab comes with comfy cushions for the bench seat and backrest, diamond plate flooring, and even a set of wooden arm rests to keep your fares comfortable.
For the driver we’ve got a padded full-width handlebar and a six-speed transmission. Steering is accomplished by turning the whole front end of the e-trike, which is a dead simple way to offer the stability of a tadpole trike (two front wheels instead of two rear wheels) without the complexity of steering knuckles and articulating front wheels.
And of course the entire thing is electric, meaning you won’t have to pedal the 200 kg (440 lb.) payload capacity under your own strength, or at least not entirely by yourself.
Now I’ll be the first to say that the electric kit on this pedicab leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a simple 250W Dapu e-bike motor and controller. That means it’s not going to get rolling very quickly, and so it’s a good thing you’ve got a six-speed transmission that allows you to drop into low gear to help get things moving.
The bike includes a 36V 13Ah battery, which again, is not particularly large. But since this pedicab likely maxes out at around 25 km/h (15 mph), it’s not like you’re going to be burning up that much energy doing low-speed riding.
The company claims the e-rickshaw can handle a 35º hill, but that’s probably a fib taller than these handlebars. You’d have trouble walking up a 35º incline, let alone powering a heavy e-bike up one.
But we’ll let that slide since the bike seems to come with some pretty nice features. It even has hydraulic disc brakes plus a pair of storage compartments behind the seat! What’s not to like here?
You can see the major features in the video below. My favorite part is the tranquil music and the subtle narration.
But my favorite part of all of this is probably the price. The non-electric version of the pedidcab is priced at an amazingly affordable $685. If you want the electric pedicab, that’ll be a slightly higher but still more than reasonable $980.
And now you’re probably thinking that “sure, it’s cheap, but shipping is going to be the killer here.” And you’re right, sort of. I inquired about door-to-door shipping and the vendor told me that it’d cost over $1,000 to the US. So next I had the vendor check on LCL (less than container load) shipping to Miami port, which turned out to be a cool $280. Ka-ching!
If you’re on the West Coast then it’s probably going to be even cheaper, since you’ve got one less Panama Canal to navigate.
From there you’d still have other add-on charges, such as import duties, arrival duties, broker fees, and the responsibility of picking it up at port or trucking it yourself to your final destination. But you could probably be home free for less than $2,000 if you play your cards right. Is it going to be as nice as a $2,500 e-trike? No way. But can it carry more and give you a better story of how you got it to the US? Definitely.
And the best part is that this is all a write-off, since you’re definitely going to be starting a pedicab company with this thing, right?! I mean, why wouldn’t you? Charge $5 a ride and you’re just a mere 400 fares away from paying this bad boy off.
Realistically speaking, even if you’re not planning on bringing in 20 of these and becoming the next pedicab tycoon of your local beach town, this could still make a fun family vehicle. It’d be perfect for more than just Sunday rides with the kids. You could even use it for carpool duty during the week to drop those rug rats off at school or make a little cargo net for the front to turn the bench into a big trunk for grocery shopping.
When you own your own electric trike, the world is your oyster!
Now I just have to decide if I’m really going to get one of these. I don’t need it, but then again I didn’t need an electric boat or mini e-truck either, and I don’t regret those!
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British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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