Would you trade your golf cart for this hilarious four-wheeled Chinese golf scooter?
Golf carts are becoming much more popular these days, even off of the greens, for their use as alternative transportation. But would you be prepared to give up your four-wheeled golf cart for a much smaller (yet still four-wheeled) electric scooter?
It’s a bit wacky, but that makes it just right for this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column.
I’m a card-carrying member of the I Love Golf Carts alliance, or at least I would be if such a club existed. They’re just such cool vehicles for their combination of utility and efficiency. Who needs a car when you can get around in an air-open vehicle for a fraction of the cost and with zero emissions?
But it appears that even a golf cart might be too big for some people, based on how a group of Chinese engineers decided to rethink the vehicle to create an even smaller footprint.
Meet the golf scooter, a pint-sized device that could fold up to fit on the bench of a typical golf cart.
Unlike a traditional electric scooter, this one has double the wheels to create a more stable platform. There’s no need to put a foot down when you stop, at least not unless you’re stopping on a particularly steep section.
Though even there they claim that a parking brake feature will keep you solidly planted. I’ll let someone else test that feature out.
Two of the four wheels apparently sport 2,000W motors, meaning you’ve got 4 kW or just over 5 horsepower beneath your feet, neatly tucked away in something that looks like a children’s toy. That’s a similar power level to real golf carts, and so this would make for a great drag race event!
The entire vehicle only weighs 36 kg (79 lb) yet can hit a blistering top speed of up to 25 km/h (15 mph). Ok, so perhaps that’s not terribly fast, but at least it’s got an effective range of over 45 km (28 miles).
That range is sufficient to make this little four-wheeled electric scooter effective even off of the golf course. I could see this being a handy utility vehicle. Instead of a golf club bag, you could swap a shopping bag into its place and scoot around your local grocery store performing the weekly shopping run.
Or perhaps you just need to get even more creative. This may look like a one-person vehicle to the untrained eye. But the out-of-the-box thinkers among us might just be able to turn it into a family vehicle for dropping the kids off at school.
There’s even a version with an attached umbrella so your kid doesn’t get wet. I mean, they may serve as a mudguard from the front, but at least their hair will stay dry!
And if you’re still not sold, then wait until you see the price. While even a cheap golf cart will run you around US $9,000 these days, the four-wheeled golf scooter here is priced at a reasonable $999. But as my savvy Alibaba-post readers will know, you can often do even better when shopping in bulk. If you are prepared to take delivery of 100 of these blessed contraptions, you can drop the price down to a cool $850. I know, I know… How can you afford NOT to?!
Ok, joking aside, please don’t try and buy one of these things. I often intend to remind folks that this series is largely tongue-in-cheek and that buying any large purchase sight unseen from halfway around the world is fraught with peril. I’ve had some awesome successes doing this myself, but I’ve also had some dismal failures that left me out some serious cash. That’s why these Alibaba products should probably remain an amusing intellectual exercise, nothing more.
So, while it’s fun to enjoy imagining what it’d be like to cruise the links on a Chinese four-wheeled e-scooter, this is one that’s probably best left on the computer screen. But if you do ignore my warnings, as my readers often seem keen to do, definitely let me know when it’s time to open the box. I’d be fascinated to see it!
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Environment
Japan’s Nippon expected to close acquisition of U.S. Steel at $55 per share, sources say
Japan’s Nippon Steel is expected to close its acquisition of U.S. Steel for $55 per share, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC’s David Faber.
President Donald Trump cleared Nippon’s bid for U.S. Steel on Friday, referring to the deal as a “partnership.” Trump said Nippon will invest $14 billion over the next 14 months. U.S. Steel’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, the president said.
U.S. Steel shares were up more than 1% on Tuesday. The $55 per share bid for U.S. Steel is the offer that Nippon originally made for the company before the deal was blocked in January.
President Joe Biden had blocked Nippon’s bid for U.S. Steel on national security grounds, arguing that the deal will potentially jeopardize critical supply chains. But Trump ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition in April, despite his previous opposition to Nippon acquiring U.S. Steel.
The United Steelworkers union had opposed the Nippon’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel. USW President David McCall said Friday that the union “cannot speculate about the impact” of Trump’s announcement “without more information.
“Our concern remains that Nippon, a foreign corporation with a long and proven track record of violating our trade laws, will further erode domestic steelmaking capacity and jeopardize thousands of good, union jobs,” McCall said in a statement.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the deal is an “investment, it’s a partial ownership, but it will be controlled by the USA.” Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick told CNBC on Tuesday that U.S. Steel will have an American CEO and a majority of its board members will be from the U.S.
“It’s a national security agreement that will be signed with the U.S. government,” McCormick told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There’ll be a golden share that will essentially require U.S. government approval of a number of the board members and that will allow the United States to ensure production levels aren’t cut.”
The $14 billion that Nippon will invest includes $2.4 billion that will go to U.S. Steel’s operations at Mon Valley outside Pittsburgh, McCormick said. The deal will save 10,000 jobs in Pennsylvania and add another 10,000 jobs in the building trades to add another arc furnace, the senator said.
When asked what Nippon gets from the deal, McCormick said the Japanese steelmaker will “have certainly members of the board and this will be part of their overall corporate structure.”
“They wanted an opportunity to get access to the U.S. market — this allowed them to do so and get the economic benefit of that,” McCormick said of Nippon. “They’ve negotiated it, it was their proposal.”
Trump said Friday he will hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.
Kia has posted details of its 2026 model year EV9 SUV, including updated pricing. Most of the EV9’s third model year carries over from the 2025 version, but there are some cool new customizations and configurations. Additionally, several of the 2026 trims of the Kia EV9 are priced at their lowest to date.
The Kia EV9 has entered its third model year after establishing itself as a slam-dunk of a three-row BEV and a flagship model for the Korean automaker. During its production run, the EV9 has garnered several awards and steady sales as it transitioned production of the BEV to its US plant in Georgia.
As such, the 2025 versions of the Kia EV9 qualify for federal tax credits (while they’re still around). The 2026 versions of the Kia EV9 may also briefly qualify for credits, but the pricing of multiple trims will save consumers a little cash.
We shared how those model-year prices compare below.
Kia lowers a majority of EV9 trim pricing for 2026
Kia shared all the details of its 2026 EV9 models today, including its latest pricing. As mentioned above, most of the updates for the third model year are cosmetic, but there are some (slight) increases to range compared to the 2025 versions.
For example, the Light Long Range EV9 gained a whole extra mile (305 mi), while the Wind and Land trims jumped from 280 miles in 2025 to 283 for 2026. Lastly, the top-tier GT-Line increased the most, gaining 10 miles of range for 2026 (280 miles).
Before we get to EV9 pricing, here are some additional updates, per Kia:
- New Nightfall Edition available on Land trim
- Design and performance enhancements
- Exclusive 20-inch gloss black wheels, black badging, and gloss black trim
- New Roadrider Brown exclusive exterior color
- Exclusive interior seat stitching pattern and design elements
- Offered with both 6-passenger and 7-passenger seating configurations at no extra cost
- All AWD trims (Wind/Land/GT-Line) gain Terrain Mode (Mud/Snow/Sand), which replaces 4WD
- 2026 GT-Line gains two new two-tone exterior color options:
- Glacial White Pearl with Ebony Black roof
- Wolf Gray with Ebony Black roof
Okay, as promised, here’s the 2026 model-year Kia EV9 pricing. For comparison, we’ve included MSRPs for the first three model years of the EV9’s existence so you can see how prices have changed (or held steady). Note that these MSRP’s exclude destination and handling, taxes, title, license fees, options and retailer charges:
| Kia EV9 Trim | 2024 Price | 2025 Price | 2026 Price |
| Light Standard Range | $54,900 | $54,900 | $54,900 |
| Light Long Range | $59,200 | $59,900 | $57,900 |
| Wind | $63,900 | $63,900 | $63,900 |
| Land | $69,900 | $69,900 | $68,900 |
| GT-Line | $73,900 | $73,900 | $71,900 |
As you can see, the Light SR trim of the EV9 held steady at $54,900 for a third consecutive year. The only other RWD option, the Light LR, saw a $2,000 price drop after going up $700 in 2025. The AWD Wind trim once again held steady while the EV9 Land saw a $1,000 decrease.
Last but not least, the 2026 Kia EV9 GT-Line’s pricing dropped $2,000 and is now below $72,000 before taxes and fees. Add the potential for federal tax credits to these drops in 2026 pricing, and now is as good a time as ever to get a shiny new Kia EV9.
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Tesla’s (TSLA) situation in Europe continues to deteriorate, despite electric car sales surging and the new Model Y now being available.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) released the latest complete data for European vehicle sales for April 2025 today, and it confirmed that Tesla’s total sales in EU, EFTA, and UK amounted to 7,261 units – down 49% year-over-year:
Tesla’s deliveries in Europe are now down 38.8% year-over-year for the first four months of the year.
During that same period, battery-electric vehicle sales grew 26.4% in the market and 34.1% in April alone.
Last week, we reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed “every manufacturer” is experiencing demand problems in Europe, with “no exception.”
As we can see from the ACEA data, that’s not true. The Volkswagen Group, Renault, BMW, and SAIC are all up year-to-date and in April.
Tesla’s problems persist into May. The data coming from European markets that report daily car registration shows that Tesla’s Q2 is still tracking barely above Q1 and significantly below Q2 2024:
In Q1 2025, Tesla blamed its poor performance on the Model Y changeover, but it doesn’t have this excuse in Q2.
The automaker is currently offering record discounts and incentives to buy in most markets, including Europe. It also has its new Model Y available, but it is clear that Tesla is suffering from demand problem as its sales are down in virtually all markets.
Electrek’s Take
The narrative that everyone is having demand problems in Europe is not true, mainly when you focus on battery-electric vehicles.
Sales are way up. Tesla is the exception in BEVs.
It’s true that the Model Y changeover had an impact in Q1, but it wasn’t fair to blame the full decline on it. A significant portion of Tesla’s issues in Q1 was related to brand damage, primarily due to its CEO, Elon Musk, and this is now becoming clear in Q2.
There’s room to get worried as competition is only going to get tougher.
The brand damage occurring just as customers are gaining more options is not positive for Tesla.
At this point, it’s not clear what Tesla can do to turn things around in Europe. Distancing itself from Musk could help, but even then, it looks like Tesla would need a lot more to get out of an almost 50% drop.
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