This hilarious electric Chinese knock-off of a Mercedes G-Class SUV is suspiciously cheap
If you want a real Mercedes G-Wagon to show everyone that you’ve got more money than time spent off-road, go for it. But if you have neither money nor time off-road, then I’ve got a quirky little alternative for you. Behold, the Chinese electric knock-off of a G-Wagon!
It’s a perfect choice for this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week entry, since it has so many quirks and so much charm stuffed into its shrunken down body.
It may look a bit like a purebred G-Wagon at first drunken glimpse, but don’t be fooled. A cursory glance at the hood ornament shows it actually appears to have a Mercedes father and an Acura mother.
No doubt brewed in the debts of Alibaba’s secretive EV laboratory, this little four-wheeler comes steeped in nearly G-Wagon design.
At just 2.9 meters long (9’6″), it’s never been easier to pull up onto a sidewalk while you run in to a store “for just a minute!”.
The entire thing only weighs 500 kg (1,100 lb), meaning the parking cop can just pick up one end at a time and shimmy you back down onto the pavement.
The top speed is listed at 35-45 km/h (21-28 mph), which seems a bit odd. I’ve never seen a top speed given in a range before, but perhaps it depends on how many people you’ve got in the car.
There are four seats, but the rather diminutive drivetrain may find itself struggling with a full load of entitled country club members.
That’s not the end of the quirks in this Chinese G-Wagon knock-off. In fact, it only gets better from here.
The air conditioning is listed as “manual”, which is a bit unclear but certainly doesn’t bode well. I’m a bit worried that there’s going to be one of those folding paper fans in the glove box with a label on it that says “air conditioning”.
And checking out the video below, the engine compartment seems to have been reimagined as a “frunk”. Or at least it could have been, had they put some sort of bottom in it. Instead, standing over it and popping the hood just gives you a good view of your shoes.
That’s apparently where the range extender motor goes, should you choose to install it. Adding that accessory boosts the range from the lead acid battery pack from 50 km (31 miles) all the way up to 110 km (68 miles).
Hmmm, maybe you will be able to reach those trails after all.
When it comes to pricing, I’ve got good news and bad news for you. The good news is that it’s ridiculously cheap, priced at just $2,200. The bad news is that the price doesn’t include batteries, which will add a good bit more to that figure. Oh and there’s more bad news: the minimum order quantity is three. You better get that shipping container ready.
And while we’re shoveling it on, keep in mind that the “real” price is likely to be significantly higher. I once bought a $2,000 electric pickup truck from Alibaba, only to end up paying closer to $8,000 by the time it dropped onto my folks’ driveway in Florida. To be fair, it was worth it. That thing has become a veritable workhorse on the family ranch, but suffice it to say that you’re going to have to reach a bit deeper into your trust fund than you expected if you want to make one of these knock-off G-Wagons yours.
And as usual, please remember this disclaimer: I absolutely, positively, unreservedly implore you not to take the risk of ordering something like this from China. Not only is it not even close to being street-legal in the US and thus not legal to import, but you’ve got a very real chance of never seeing the vehicle or your money again. I recently got scammed buying a mini-excavator from Alibaba (that story is still coming, once I cool off) and so despite having several positive purchases behind me, it’s still easy to get screwed royally.
So instead let’s just enjoy this thing from the safe distance of our computer screens. Or let’s get real, probably from your phone screen in the bathroom. Yep, there are a bunch of dudes out there who feel awkwardly seen right now.
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Rondo Energy and energy producer EDP are installing a massive 100 MWh renewable-powered heat battery at HEINEKEN’s brewery in Lisbon, Portugal. The project will deliver round-the-clock renewable steam and reduce emissions without altering the facility’s beer brewing process.
Brewing HEINEKEN with zero-carbon steam
The Rondo Heat Battery (RHB) will be the biggest deployed in the beverage industry worldwide. It can store electricity as high-temperature heat using refractory bricks, then convert that heat into 24/7 steam, all without burning fossil fuels.
At HEINEKEN’s Central de Cervejas e Bebidas Brewery and Malting Plant, the heat battery system will supply 7 MW of steam, powered by renewable electricity from onsite solar and the grid. That steam is identical to steam created by gas-fired boilers, but without the carbon pollution.
EDP is providing the renewable electricity and will deliver the steam directly to HEINEKEN via a Heat-as-a-Service model. Rondo is supplying the battery, and HEINEKEN gets to ditch fossil fuels without retooling its brewing process.
Why this matters
This project is a big win for industrial decarbonization. High-temperature steam is one of the most complex parts of manufacturing to electrify, and the beer industry runs on it. HEINEKEN’s Lisbon site already uses solar panels for electricity and electric heat pumps for hot water, and this move helps it go even further.
It’s part of HEINEKEN’s “Brew a Better World” plan to hit net zero emissions by 2040 and decarbonize all of its global production sites by 2030.
Additionally, the deployment aligns with Portugal’s national target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.
The bigger picture
With the European Investment Bank and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst backing this and other Rondo projects with €75 million in funding, this Lisbon installation is just the beginning. Rondo’s technology enables energy-hungry industries to switch from fossil fuels to renewable electricity without compromising 24/7 operations.
Rondo CEO Eric Trusiewicz sums it up: “We are thrilled to be installing our first Rondo Heat Battery in Iberia, and to support HEINEKEN to reach its goals. We look forward to helping industries across Iberia cut costs and carbon, and help Iberia capitalize on the opportunity.”
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Lucid Group (LCID) reported third-quarter earnings after the market closed on Wednesday, missing top and bottom-line estimates.
With 4,078 vehicles delivered in Q3, Lucid marked its seventh straight quarter with higher deliveries. Through the first nine months of 2025, Lucid delivered nearly 10,500 vehicles, more than the roughly 10,200 it handed over in 2024.
Although supply chain issues hampered production in the first half of the year, Lucid’s CEO Marc Winterhoff said the company made “significant progress ramping production of the Lucid Gravity through Q3,” including adding a second manufacturing shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona, plant.
Lucid produced 3,891 vehicles in Q3, missing estimates of around 5,600. With 9,966 EVs produced through the third quarter, Lucid will need to build over 8,000 more to meet its full-year production goal of 18,000 to 20,000.
According to estimates, Lucid is expected to report an adjusted quarterly loss of $2.27 per share on revenue of $352 million in Q3 2025.
Lucid Group Q3 2025 earnings breakdown
Lucid missed top and bottom-line estimates as it continues to address industry-wide supply chain issues that are hampering production of the Gravity SUV.
Although it missed estimates, Lucid reported Q3 revenue of $336.6 million, which is still up 68% from $200 million in the same period last year.
Lucid’s net loss narrowed to $978.4 million in the third quarter, or $3.31 per share, from $992.5 million, or $4.09 per share, in Q3 2024. On an adjusted basis, Lucid posted a loss of $2.65 per share.
In addition, Lucid said it agreed with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to increase the delayed draw term loan credit facility (DDTL) from $750 million to around $2 billion.
Given the increase, Lucid said total liquidity would have been around $5.5 billion at the end of Q3, up from the $4.2 billion it reported. Lucid ended the third quarter with $1.6 billion in cash and equivalents.
Lucid said liquidity is enough to fund it through the first half of 2027, up from the second half of 2026, as previously forecast. Lucid plans to launch production of its more affordable midsize platform in late 2026 with vehicles starting at around $50,000.
Lucid confirmed it was still on track to start production of the midsize platform later next year. However, given the supply chain issues, it now expects to hit the lower end of its production goal at around 18,000.
Winterhoff said the company “remains intensely focused on ramping up production and addressing the significant supply chain disruptions impacting the entire industry.”
Lucid is advancing other emerging tech, including autonomy and intelligent mobility. Through a new partnership with NVIDIA, Lucid aims to be among the first to offer Level 4 autonomous driving.
The third-quarter earnings miss comes after Rivian (RIVN) beat expectations this week, reporting higher revenue and improving gross margins.
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Robinhood beat Wall Street expectations for the third quarter on Wednesday, extending a hot streak that has made it one of the biggest large-cap U.S. tech stocks this year.
Here is how Robinhood’s results compared to Wall Street estimates, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 61cents vs. 53 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.27 billion vs. $1.19 billion expected
Revenue doubled year-over-year, while net income climbed to $556 million, or 61 cents per share, up significantly from the same quarter last year, when the company posted net income of $150 million, or 17 cents per share.
Transaction-based revenue, which is a proxy for trading activity, came in at $730 million, below StreetAccount’s $739 million estimate.
“Q3 was another strong quarter of profitable growth, and we continued to diversify our business, adding two more business lines — Prediction Markets and Bitstamp — that are generating approximately $100 million or more in annualized revenues,” finance chief Jason Warnick said in the release.
Robinhood is closing the gap with Coinbase as it pushes beyond retail trading into full-scale wealth management. The company has been aggressively offering deposit matches to lure clients from Fidelity and Schwab, and assets under management have grown with its TradePMR acquisition.
Robinhood year-to-date stock chart.
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