I test-drove the only street-legal electric microcar in the US, and it’s wild
Electric microcars are a tricky to define subset of motor vehicles, especially in the US. Open-air neighborhood electric vehicles, fancy golf carts, and other small vehicles tend to blur the line, leaving microcars in that weird category of “I know it when I see it.” Now after recently test-driving one myself from the New York-based startup Wink Motors, now I definitely know it.
There are a few different street-legal microcar-style EVs in the US, but most take the form of golf cart-style buggies. Some are even actual golf carts that have been souped up with the required hardware to make them street legal. That leaves Wink as pretty much the only low-cost, car-like, and street-legal microcar in the US, at least for now.
What is a microcar?
To be more precise, these types of tiny electric vehicles aren’t actually “cars” in a legal sense. They’re street-legal motor vehicles in the US, but they actually fit into a different category in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s motor vehicle designations.
It’s a classification known as low-speed vehicles (LSVs), which have a reduced number of regulatory requirements compared to highway-capable cars. They are permitted to travel at speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h), and can travel on roads with posted speed limits up to 35 mph (56 km/h), provided they meet a shorter list of safety and manufacturing regulations.
However, it’s so difficult to actually meet those regulations that there just aren’t very many street-legal LSVs available in the US. We’re starting to see some new entries into the market such as interesting truck-like LSVs, though the pickings are still slim.
But if you want a fully enclosed car-like LSV with the type of accoutrements you’d normally find in a “real” car (A/C, power locks and windows, infotainment system, hatchback, etc.), then Wink Motors is basically the only street-legal option. There are some imported Chinese LSV-type vehicles starting to become available in the US (I imported one myself), but they aren’t street legal as they aren’t manufactured to federal standards nor are they registered with the DOT.
To actually get out on public roads as I did, that requires a street-legal LSV like the ones I tested from Wink. Check out what it’s like to drive one of these things in my video review below. Then keep reading for the entire experience.
Wink Motors test ride video
LSVs in the USA
I’ve actually watched Wink Motors grow over the last 18 months or so and even did some consulting during the design phase, giving me a unique look at the development process.
The company’s four models (Sprout, Sprout Solar, Mark 1, and Mark 2 Solar) are produced in Asia to US regulatory designs, and even exceed US regulations in several areas related to safety and ruggedness.
And when I climbed into one these vehicles for the first time last week in New York City, I was surprised to see just how much like a “real” car it felt. Considering they cost less than many golf carts (the Wink Sprout LSV starts at around US $9,000), there’s a surprising amount of car-like qualities.
While many cheaper Chinese micro-cars have a simple bench seat up front, Wink’s models have bucket seats that look more like you’d find in a conventional sedan. The paint is surprisingly high-quality metal-flake paint like you’d find on nicer cars, and they even have some cool features like an automatic parking brake that functions as a hill-hold feature. It engages after three seconds of holding the brake pedal, and automatically releases as soon as you touch the accelerator pedal.
The four different Wink models are fairly unique on the inside, with the lower-cost Sprout and Sprout Solar having a different body style from the more Mini-shaped Mark 1 and Mark 2 Solar. All the models are four-seaters, those the first three are two-door coupes that require you to tilt the front seat forward on either side to access the rear seats. The US $12,000 Mark 2 Solar is the only four-door model, and it’s interior was probably my favorite of the bunch. Though a quick word to the wise: You can save $150 on any of the models by using the discount code ELECTREK.
While the Mark 2 Solar had a nicer interior, the lighter Sprout model felt a bit peppier off the line, likely due to the smaller vehicle’s lower weight. They all share the same 3,500W motor, but the Sprout’s weight of 760 lb. (345 kg) compared to the Mark 2 Solar’s 1,250 lb. (567 kg) curb weight helps it squirt out even quicker.
Of course both models limited me to a maximum speed of 25 mph (40 km/h), but that didn’t really seem to be an issue 99% of the time. The average speed of traffic in Manhattan is 4.7 mph (7.5 km/h), meaning it doesn’t matter how much power your car has — everyone is crawling around like snails there.
I drove around Manhattan and Brooklyn, and in fact the only time I ever ran into the software-controlled speed limit was on the Brooklyn Bridge. With a posted limit of 35 mph (56 km/h) on the bridge, I was legally allowed to drive it in an LSV, but of course I had to stick to the right lane as most traffic moved faster than me.
Interestingly, traffic in the left lane wasn’t really moving that much faster than me, though I think it might have been because everyone was driving slowly past me while staring at my tiny car.
It’s a pretty strange sight, I’ll admit. But perhaps it won’t be that strange for long as more people begin adopting tiny cars.
As I experienced first hand during my NYC test driving, these are pretty much perfect vehicles for the city.
It was a cold and dreary winter day in New York, but I was comfortable in the climate-controlled cabin. It wasn’t raining, but if it was I would have been dry under a roof and behind automotive glass with windshield wipers (or rather a single wiper).
When it came to the chaotic traffic of NYC, I was able to slip around cars driving down the lane dividers and wiggle past double parkers without even leaving my lane.
And don’t even get me started on parking. The Wink Sprout is short enough to reasonably park perpendicular to the curb, nose in. But parallel parking is super easy too. I was able to wiggle in and out of parking spaces that were smaller than just the footprint of a typical sedan, let alone the extra space they would need to get in and out of the spot.
I don’t know exactly how much battery I actually used due to the rather simple pictographic display on the battery meter, but it didn’t look like I made much of a dent in the charge level of either vehicle as I still had full bars. With big (for a tiny car) 6 kWh LiFePO4 batteries, the Wink LSVs are said to have somewhere between 40-60 miles of range (64-96 km). And since two of the models include rooftop solar panels, the range is theoretically even higher.
The solar panels aren’t terribly high power, peaking at around 100-200W depending on how sunny it is. They’ll probably put around 5-8 miles (8-13 km) of range back into the battery each day. But for someone that parks outside and only drives 25-40 miles (40-65 km) per week in the city, that could mean that you never need to charge.
When it does come time to charge, the Sprout model has a charger similar to an e-bike. Basically, it’s a brick that plugs into a typical home 120V outlet and the other end plugs into the car’s outlet, which is hidden behind what looks like a normal fuel-door on a typical car. The Mark 1 and Mark 2 Solar models have on-board chargers, so you only need the connector and an extension cord, no off-board charger required.
How safe are LSVs?
There’s no beating around the bush here, LSVs are not as safe as conventional vehicles. They aren’t required to undergo crash testing, and thus they don’t have the same level of crumple zones or other crash-related safety design. They also aren’t required to include airbags.
At a minimum, they must have at least a DOT-certified lap-belt, though Wink built its LSVs with safer three-point seat belts used in traditional vehicles. They’re the same units you’d find in normal cars, and I even had that annoying situation where you lean forward quickly to reach something and the inertial lock kicks in, forcing you to sit back and more slowly leans forward again to allow the seat belt to spool out. Nothing screams “real car” like when the seat belt inertial lock activates.
Other areas are also above and beyond what you’d expect from a tiny car. There’s no regulation on the style or function of braking systems in LSVs – only that they have them and have a functional parking brake. Not only does Wink use oversized hydraulic disc brakes that belong on a much larger vehicle, but they use a dual-circuit hydraulic system that provides a redundancy even if there’s ever damage to one of the hydraulic lines. The parking brake is on an entirely separate mechanical system outside of the hydraulic system, offering yet another redundant braking backup.
At a certain point though it doesn’t matter how pro-level the seat belts are or how overbuilt the braking system is, since in a collision with a semi truck, my money isn’t on the Wink. But then again, my money wouldn’t be on the cyclist or the motorcycle rider either. And I commute on those two-wheelers daily. I’m also extra aware of my surroundings when I’m on a bike, which is how I felt when I was in a Wink. I was be extra cognizant of my surroundings, more than how many of us are guilty of almost getting on mental autopilot when behind the wheel of a car.
So I don’t mean to minimize the reduced safety aspect of LSVs. They don’t have the same impact resistance as cars. But we all take on a level of risk that we are comfortable with each time we enter the road. And since LSVs generally travel on lower speed roads (and at lower speeds themselves), airbags and crumple zones just aren’t as critical on an LSV as they are for highway-speed vehicles. Driving around NYC, I rarely saw myself or other cars reaching any speed that started with a “2,” and I never really felt like I was taking on any significant risk. I was at the same height as other drivers, in a brightly colored vehicle traveling the same speed as them, and none of us wanted to pay for damage to each other’s cars, so we all basically respected each other’s fenders and agreed to not swap paint.
What’s the use case?
As someone who mostly gets around by e-bike and e-motorcycle, driving any form of car is foreign to me – even a tiny electric car. But if I had to be stuck behind glass in a four-wheeler in a city, an LSV seems like the best way I’d want to do it.
The vehicle is small, nimble, easy to maneuver and best of all, it’s pretty darn cheap. At between US $9K-$12K, it’s the price of a nice golf cart, yet offers so much more (and don’t forget that $150 discount with the code ELECTREK).
And they even feel almost like a real car, despite some fit and finish shortcomings (the panels on the interiors of the doors look and feel fairly cheap, as does the funny little accessory plastic fan on the passenger A-pillar). Another area that removes you from feeling like a real car is the lack of sound-proofing. You hear the outside world nearly as well whether the windows are up or down. For example, the pedestrian warning noisemaker, which is an annoying external noise that is projected to warn blind or smartphone-blinded pedestrians of an electric vehicle’s presence, is quite audible even inside the car.
I know that the device is required by law and is part of what makes the vehicle street legal (in fact, electric LSVs without noisemakers aren’t in compliance with federal standards). But if this were my personal car, you can bet I’d be crawling under the chassis with a wirecutter looking for that speaker.
But despite those shortcomings that remind you of how this isn’t a real car, there are so many other aspects that try to convince you otherwise.
I was even unlucky enough to somehow get a flat tire halfway through my test drive – I blame all those construction trucks in NYC dropping nails and other crap on the roads. As annoying as it was, it was a chance to test the cute little jack and lug wrench that comes in the car’s tool kit. The whole vehicle almost feels like you could just have a buddy lift up the corner while you swap the tire, but the adorable little scissor jack had a similar effect and ensures a single person can change a wheel by him or herself. A few minutes later, the equally adorable spare tire was on and I was back in action.
I don’t expect that millions of Americans are going to switch to tiny cars overnight. But after testing a pair of them on the streets in real everyday driving scenarios, I can see how they’d work for a lot of people.
I still prefer the open air feeling of a bike, but there are times where it’d be nice to take three friends somewhere, and my bike can’t do that. It also doesn’t have a hatchback with a flip-down rear bench seat for cargo storage. Nor does it have locking doors if I want to leave stuff in the vehicle. So yeah, I can see some advantages.
If you live off of a 50 mph (80 km/h) road, then an LSV probably isn’t for you. Bummer.
But if you live in a city, a suburb or a beach community, I can definitely see the use case. I can even imagine sharing one with friends in a city. Even $10K is a bit rich for my blood when I probably wouldn’t use the vehicle all too often. But if I shared it with a friend or two for those times that we simply needed more space for cargo or people, now that’d be an interesting proposition.
Is it worth it?
At between $9K to $12K depending on the model, Wink Motors is one of the most affordable LSV options in the US. It’s priced similarly to a golf cart, and when you consider that comparison, it sounds like a steal.
Of course the flip side to that argument is what I like to call the “Used Nissan Leaf Case.” This is a fun little game that my readers like to play in the comment section of my articles where for nearly any type of e-bike, e-moped, or e-microcar I cover that is priced over a few thousand dollars, they counter with “I could buy a used Nissan Leaf for that much.”
And that’s fair. But I’d counter back that a used Nissan Leaf isn’t nearly as useful in a city. Sure, it can go faster and marginally farther (or maybe not, depending on how old it is). But it can’t charge from the sun like these. It can’t fit into the same tiny parking spots (or into areas that aren’t technically parking spots but you can still get away with). It uses significantly more energy to drive around. And it’s kind of a depressing vehicle instead of a fun one. You get a very different reaction when you roll up in a used Nissan Leaf compared to when you roll up in a Wink.
There’s a reason they named the company Wink. These microcars are fun. They don’t take themselves too seriously with aggressive names and misleading “the freedom of car ownership” marketing. Instead, it’s a fun little barely-car that gives you just enough of what you need for transportation: essentially, a small yet comfortable box on wheels.
Would I buy one?
If I lived in the US and spent most of my time in a city, I’d probably buy an electric microcar if I needed a car. Having tried several of them by now, their convenience and fun factor is just hard to resist, and they’re a great way to get an EV without paying a typical EV price.
But I don’t live in the US, and so I can’t buy a Wink. Instead, I recently bought a less attractive version: an electric rickshaw. It’s not nearly as cool, doesn’t have the A/C, locking doors, nicer suspension, or fancy brakes. There’s no backup camera like in the Wink and there are no seat belts either. But it solves the occasional need I have of carrying lumber, a pile of groceries or multiple passengers, something my bikes just can’t do as well.
We haven’t seen electric microcars take off in the US yet, and I think this is largely because there just haven’t been any reasonably affordable options yet. There are cool vehicles like the Waev GEM (formerly the Polaris GEM), but a four-seater with doors costs closer to $20K, or $35K with a lithium battery, which has limited their purchases to mostly commercial use like hotels and airports.
With a new wave of $10K electric tiny cars like these, I can see the case for electric microcars to finally succeed in the US. But it requires someone who doesn’t take the appearance of their car too seriously.
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New filings have revealed that BYD is about to release a ridiculous 3,000 hp electric supercar: the Yangwang U9 Track Edition.
BYD already shocked the world when it launched the Yangwang U9, its first all-electric supercar.
It featured four advanced electric motors with a combined power of nearly 1,300 horsepower. The U9 can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.36 seconds.
With a motor at each wheel and a highly advanced electric-air suspension, the U9 can turn on itself and even jump over potholes.
But that was only the beginning.
Based on a new filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), BYD is preparing to launch a new ‘Track Edition’ of the Yangwang U9:
When an automaker releases a “track” version of a car, it typically primarily features body changes for better aerodynamic performance, adding downforce, and it will also often feature bigger brakes.
The Yangwang U9 ‘Track Edition’ appears to feature all that… and much more.
The filing reveals that BYD updated the motors at each wheel to a new 555 kW motor. That’s a higher-performing motor than in most performance electric vehicles. The U9 Track Edition has four of them for a total of 2,220 kW (3,019 hp).
I would have thought that this was a typo if it wasn’t for the insane electric vehicles coming out of China these days.
Here are a few pictures from the MIIT filing:
There are a lot of performance specs that are not included in the MIIT filing. Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the vehicle is fully unveiled and BYD reveals what kind of performance it can achieve with 3,000 hp packed in 4 electric motors.
Here are a few other features mentioned in the filing:
Standard features:
- 20-inch wheels with 325/35 R20 tyres
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Large fixed carbon-fibre rear wing
- Rear diffuser with adjustable blades for aerodynamic optimisation
Optional aerodynamic parts:
- Standard or enhanced carbon-fibre front splitter
- Electric rear wing
Electrek’s Take
How are they going to keep that thing from flying away? Seriously.
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The eBike space is crowded in 2025, but the Kingbull Jumper Go stands out with a rare combination of features: a compact 20” frame, full suspension, a step-through design, and a powerful Class 3 motor capable of hitting high speeds. Whether you’re commuting through the city, riding off-road trails, or just looking for a versatile, approachable ride, the Jumper Go delivers serious performance, especially for the price.
Key specs
On paper, the Kingbull Jumper Go has all the hardware you would want and need for its size and price. It blends commuter-friendly features with the components you’d expect from more premium off-road eBikes. These specs on paper translate to real-world use amazingly. Here’s a quick rundown of the key specs:
- Motor: 750W Bafang rear hub motor
- Top Speed: 28 MPH with pedal assist (up to 40 MPH unlocked; check local laws)
- Battery: 48V 20Ah Samsung removable battery
- Max Range: Up to 80 miles per charge
- Gearing: Shimano 8-speed drivetrain
- Brakes: Tektro hydraulic disc brakes
- Suspension: Front 80mm fork + rear mid-frame air shock
- Tires: 20” x 4.0” Kenda fat tires (puncture-resistant)
- Frame: Step-through aluminum frame with internal cable routing
- Display: Integrated LED display with speed, assist level, and battery status
- Lighting: Integrated 48V headlight and rear brake light
- Included Accessories: Rear cargo rack, full fenders, mini tool kit, zip ties, tire pump
Together, these features make the Kingbull Jumper Go a rare all-in-one package: powerful, approachable, and ready to handle daily commutes and adventures without compromise.
Real-world experience
I have been living with the Kingbull Jumper Go for two weeks now and have been using it as my daily driver. I have used it for pretty much everything, from small grocery runs, to running a quick errand, to just taking me from place to place. Here is what you need to know.
The setup
The setup was surprisingly simple. The bike has everything needed for assembly, including a mini tool kit, zip ties, and even a tire pump. The Kingbull Jumper Go comes about 80% pre-assembled, with the rear tire and monitor intact. I had to install the front tire, front fender, handlebar, headlight, and seat. Assembly took roughly 20 minutes, and I am someone who does not do this often. It was great that I did not need any of my own tools to get the bike ready. The final thing I did was ensure it was fully charged before getting on it.
The ride
On the road, the 750W motor gives you quick acceleration and plenty of torque, easily handling hills and the urban terrain I live in. The five levels of pedal assist and throttle control give you full flexibility in how much effort you want to put in. I got the bike to almost 30mph with the pedal assist and to 22mph using the throttle. The suspension system, which features an 80mm front fork and a rear mid-air shock, makes city potholes and light off-road trails smooth and manageable.
I live in New Jersey, and if you know anything about our roads, they are terribly maintained and have potholes everywhere. The Kingbull Jumper Go kept the ride very smooth and managed those potholes perfectly. I also took it through some gravel roads, trails, and through some wet terrain, and it was great. The fat tires gives you a strong sense of confidence both on road and when you are dealing with a more challenging terrain.
The design
The step-through frame is especially helpful for beginners and for riders who are sharing this bike with someone who is a different height. The step-through frame also makes it easy to dismount or quickly react by easily putting your feet down without feeling like you are going to tip over.
The 20” Kenda fat tires provide great traction and comfort on surfaces ranging from pavement to grass and gravel. The Tektro hydraulic brakes are responsive and reliable, offering solid control even at higher speeds. You also get a fantastic LED display with real-time speed, distance traveled, and battery life. It is also plenty bright, so the display is easily visible even in the brightest conditions.
After riding this for two weeks in both urban and off-road settings, the Kingbull Jumper Go proved to be equally capable as a commuter eBike, urban cruiser, and all-terrain bike. Its compact frame makes it easier to handle and store compared to larger full-size fat-tire bikes, but without compromising on performance.
Kingbull Jumper Go Pricing and availability
The Kingbull Jumper Go is currently available through Kingbull’s official website for just under $1,699. However, they have a limited-time summer promotion offering $100 OFF with code Electrek, bringing the price down to $1,599. That discount makes it one of the best values on the market for a full-suspension, Class 3 fat-tire eBike. Kingbull’s 2-year warranty also backs it and offers local test ride availability in California, giving potential buyers added peace of mind and confidence in the brand.
Check out the Kingbull Jumper Go today!
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Yep, I did it again. I bought something weird and crazy from China. It’s a mini electric jet boat. “What’s a mini electric jet boat?” you might be asking. Think: comically small one-seater boat with an electrically powered jet ski drivetrain.
Basically, I plopped down a not insignificant amount of money online and then crossed my fingers. Here’s what happened next.
Firstly, this is kind of par for the course for me. If you’ve been following my writing for any significant period of time, you’ll have learned two things about me. I like e-bikes and I like buying weird electric vehicles from China that I don’t need. It’s a problem, I know. I’m going to get help one day. But that day is not today.
Because today I’ve got a new electric jet boat. You can see my unboxing and testing video of this aquatic miracle here, or keep reading below for the full story of how this happened.
So here’s how it went. I’ve spent years writing a mostly-weekly column on the fun and weird Alibaba electric vehicles I find in my time-wasting window-shopping searches. A couple of years ago, one of them was a mini electric jet boat. And I’ve wanted one ever since.
So I started researching factories in China that build these things and talked to a number of them. Some seemed fairly new. Others seemed like fronts or merely trading companies. And they all seemed pretty shady. But this isn’t my first rodeo and so I chose the one that seemed the least risky and started talking details. I use a Chinese messaging service similar to WhatsApp that makes it a lot easier to communicate with the factories, and the lovely girl who works their sales office showed me several models and features. Together, we worked through the details and specs until I had planned out basically what I wanted.
Then it came time to pay.
This is always the scariest part and so I wired to China more money than a bad idea should cost. Over there, it’s common to do a 30% down payment and 70% balance payment upon completion, so that’s what I offered. I’m glad I did because production took several months longer than I expected, and I was starting to get worried, but fortunately, the factory was sending me fairly regular pictures and video updates of progress, which was comforting. After a few months, my order was finally ready, and so they packaged it up and shipped it off to me.
I should also mention that while I normally use FOB (free on board) or CIF (cost, insurance, freight) terms for these kinds of deals where I get some new toy in from China, this particular case was a bit riskier, and so I went with DDP (delivered duty paid) terms. The two former options leave most of the work on me to ship and import the thing, while the last option means the seller basically handles everything until there’s a janky wooden crate dropped in my driveway. DDP terms are always more expensive, and many factories don’t want to mess with it since it leaves most of the work of shipping and importing on the seller or their freight forwarder, which I preferred in this case.
This was also before all the new Trump tariffs this year, and so duties were much lower (somewhere around 27-28% total, I believe. Now they are probably 2-3x that much).
But with all of the work of actually dealing with getting the thing now finished, it was time to crack open the box. Inside was my shiny blue electric jet boat! I had it shipped to my parents’ place in Florida because they have a decently large pond where I could test it. There I got it open and hauled it back to the pond in what else but my electric mini truck that I bought from China nearly four years ago. It has since lived a loving but not easy life as a farm truck, and this isn’t even one of the weirdest things that has graced its bed in the last few years.
The little boat is so small that it actually fits nicely in the little bed of my mini-truck, and it was a great example of why I even wanted this thing to begin with: it’s small enough to fit in a car, so you can take it to the lake or ocean without needing a boat trailer.
Even a jet-ski needs a trailer, but you could take this little vessel to the shore with a kayak rack on your Tesla, or even on a decent car! Just kidding, I don’t even own a car… unless you count that mini-truck that I gave to my parents.
At the pond I dropped the boat down onto the grass, dragged it the last bit of the way down the bank and splashed it right into the drink. From there, I just needed to plop the 5 kWh LiFePO4 battery into the underseat compartment and I was ready to go.
There were no instructions, so it took me a couple of minutes to figure out the right combination of buttons to push and key turns to actually start it up, but from the first push of the accelerator, I knew this thing was wild!
It was supposed to be just over 30 mph capable (50 km/h or 27 knots), but the pond is only around 300 feet long and so the opposite bank comes at you mighty fast. I think I only got it up to around half its top speed because 1) I didn’t want to run aground, and 2) I was legitimately scared to go faster.
The boat comes with these weird stainless steel mounts on the side, and it turns out they are for this ridiculous looking inflatable bumper thing that reminds me of a big toilet seat. I didn’t install it because I hate how it ruins the sleek look of the boat. But I instantly discovered why they designed it, since the jet boat feels horribly unstable at slow speeds. As soon as you turn sharply and let off the throttle at slow speeds, you start heeling over significantly. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling since you’re sitting at the water line and feel like you’re going to be thrown out of the boat. The ballast of the huge battery sitting so low, plus whatever actual ballast they build into these things, probably means you won’t really capsize. But it sure feels like you’re going for a swim soon.
Turning at speed is much nicer, but if you’re not yet planing (going fast enough to rise out of the water and glide over the surface instead of just floating due to water displacement), it just feels like you’re going to rock yourself right out in a turn. The boat was obviously designed to handle at high speeds, not low speeds. It doesn’t have the wide beam of a jet ski for stability, so that inflatable toilet seat gives it low-speed stability.
But alas, I just couldn’t bring myself to install the nautical version of training wheels on that beautiful thing, so I pushed through it and just kept it at fairly high speeds in the pond. It was a blast, and with my dad there watching me, I was excited to give him a turn too.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I actually bought two of them.
With my dad’s boat unboxed, we both got in our own mini jet boats and had a blast ripping high-speed loops around his backyard pond.
These things are insanely powerful for what feels like a stubby kayak when you sit inside it, and the performance gives you an ear to grin.
Just be prepared for your face to turn to terror the first time you let off the throttle too abruptly and take a sharp turn.
As fun as they were though, we still weren’t even past half way down on the accelerator pedal, and so I knew that a larger body of water was going to be in our future.
These are motorized vessels and so they require registration to use them in public waterways in most states. It’s not like a kayak or canoe where you can just put in anywhere and pretty much be alright with the law. And in Florida, where the state makes a lot of its money from its waterways, they actually enforce this stuff.
I imagine I can get the boats properly registered with hull numbers for use in public waterways, but for expediency’s sake, I set my sights on a big private lake in a local eco-friendly planned community. The cool thing is that these huge lakes are off-limits to combustion engine watercraft, which means they’re basically only for kayakers and canoers, or the rare person who has an electric boat.
I’m a rare person.
So with the entire lake empty, I brought my jet boat over in the back of my family’s car and put in at the kayak dock.
If you watched my video above, you’ll already know how that went (complete with Beach Boys-style song montage). But for those who prefer to read instead of watching an awesome little jet boat rocket around a big lake, just know that it was an absolute riot. The mini electric jet boat is insanely fast and skipped the glassy surface of the pond like a pebble with a rocket engine on it.
Of course, the surface didn’t stay glassy long with the massive wake I was sending out, and that meant soon I was getting airborne, hopping my own wake while pulling tight figure eights.
With around 25 minutes of boating and filming, I had dropped the battery from 100% to 70%. Despite the high power, that big battery was impressively lasting!
The whole experience proved to me how right I was about the convenience of this boat format. This whole exploit was simple, a word that is almost never used when discussing boat ownership. To get to the water, I simply loaded the boat in the back of the car and then used a cheap Amazon kayak trailer to waddle it the 100 feet or so from the parking lot to the dock. The boat is still quite heavy – I’d guess at least 150 lb (70 kg) or so. But lifting one side at a time is doable by one dude, and the kayak trailer made it easy enough to move on my own across land.
There was no boat trailer necessary. No searching for a boat ramp. No hoping to stay off of Miami Boat Ramp YouTube channels lampooning people who don’t know what they’re doing with a trailer, etc. It was the boating experience of a jet-ski meets the ownership experience of a kayak.
For anyone who lives along the water, this would be an amazing toy to own. There are so many people with lakefront property who could have their own mini electric boat to tool around on whenever they want. Or if you live close to the coast, you could keep the boat in the garage with a kayak hoist and just drive it on down to the coast for fun. These things practically sell themselves. Cheaper than an electric surfboard and nearly as portable.
Which brings me to cost. I ended up paying around $5,500 for each boat, which is a lot to risk on this stuff, with only a hope that it would work out and that I could make some of the money back on my video and writing. And if you’re thinking, “Wow, this guy plopped down $11k on this stuff,” then I have two things to tell you. First, a Jet Ski would have cost more and been a huge hassle. And two, I didn’t spend $11k; I spent a lot more.
In fact, I couldn’t stop myself at the time (and considered it something of a business expense – hey, I’m working right now, people!), so it turns out that I actually bought three of these things. I know this sounds like an excuse, but it just made sense with how much shipping was already costing me! I mean, c’mon – I couldn’t afford not to.
Though I still have the third one in the crate and I’ll probably end up selling it new in box, if someone wants to find my email and make me an offer.
That also means I have two boats that I plan to keep, and I need names for them. Please hit me with your suggestions in the comment section. One of my subscribers suggested an absolute banger of a name with Sunny Side Up for my yellow and white solar-powered Chinese electric pleasure boat, and that’s what I went with.
Now I will say that as fun as these things are, they aren’t perfect. One of the boats arrived with its bilge pump motor always running due to a faulty float switch (oh yeah, they even have a bilge pump!). The factory also told me that they couldn’t install real cleats through the hull, though at least they did give me a bow eye that helps with tying it up.
I’ve technically been sitting on this story for a year, and I can tell you that after a year of living out in the Florida elements, one of the boat’s paint is a bit cracked near the hinges of the seat where it gets stressed from lifting the seat up to remove the battery.
The boats are also surprisingly loud. These are the loudest EVs I’ve ever seen, and I thought the F-150 Lightning was loud! A neighbor has one and I once remarked that it sounded like a jet turbine in the summer because of all its fans running, but now I know what an EV with an actual jet turbine sounds like, or at least a water jet turbine. To be more accurate, it’s not the boat that’s loud, but rather the cavitating water inside the jet turbine that is constantly screaming as its vacuum cavities repeatedly expand and collapse as they shoot out the back of the boat’s vectored thrust nozzle. It sounds like a wet, angry bat out of hell. A guy watching me from the shore of the lake actually asked if it was a two-stroke! So don’t think this is going to be a silent boat. The motor is silent, but the shooting water is loud.
Then there’s the battery. It weighs nearly 80 pounds and you have to pull the battery out to charge it – you can’t leave it in the boat and charge it since the charge and discharge port are one and the same.
I also burned out one of the chargers when I accidentally let the charger tip fall on some wet grass while it was plugged in. Poof. The magic smoke was out of the charger, and it wasn’t going back in. I’ll have to find another 84V charger and solder this massive and unique charging connector onto its output wire.
Speaking of the chargers, they are 2,500-watt chargers. They’ll impressively fill the batteries in just over two hours, but they are so powerful that they won’t run on any normal household 120V outlet. I got lucky that my dad’s garage had an RV outlet with a 30A breaker; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to use the charger.
But downsides aside, the rest of the experience was incredible! I love these things! They’re just so much fun, and they bring a smile to everyone’s face. Since I bought them a year ago, I’m seeing many more options on Alibaba for other factories starting to make and sell mini jet boats. I can all but guarantee you that within a year or two, there will be people re-selling mini jet boats in the US. Just make sure you go with a reputable company that has done its homework and can stand behind these things. A couple of years ago, I started an electric tractor company based on making a long list of improvements to what was originally a German-designed and Chinese-produced electric loader. We developed it (and subsequent models) into our own new design, offer full warranties, and keep a US warehouse stocked with replacement parts. That’s the only way to do business right, so don’t get hosed a few months from now by some fly-by-night company that read this article and then thought it would be a good idea to start hawking Chinese mini jet boats in the US. These things are quite rough around the edges (literally and figuratively) and would take some significant work to make them safe and reliable for a Western market.
And in the same vein, I don’t actually recommend anyone try and buy one of these from China, either. There’s just too much risk and too big a chance that you’ll get ripped off in the end, or you’ll get bent over a shipping container by customs and end up paying several times the purchase price in shipping and import fees.
I don’t have any plans to import and sell these, largely because of the liability (imagine how much I pay in business liability insurance just to run a tractor company) and the fact that there are too many design changes I’d need to make to turn it into something I’d be proud to stand behind and put my name on. I mostly go on these real-life Alibaba escapades because 1) I enjoy testing the weird and fun things you can find in a country that has certain product safety and manufacturing advantages compared to the West (i.e. less of the first and more of the second), and 2) so that I can share these experiences with my audience, most of whom will never have the ability to try these things themselves.
But hey, as a neat toy for my parents’ pond and the local lakes or Gulf of Mexico fun days, these are going to be perfect for us!
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