Remember that $2,000 electric mini-truck I bought from China? Now they’re down to $1,000
In what could either be a sign of the times or perhaps the start of a terrible decision-making chain, that famous $2,000 electric mini-truck I bought from China several years ago has somehow gotten even cheaper.
If you aren’t already familiar with the story, here’s a quick summary. Back in 2021, I ordered an electric mini-truck from China. I paid the factory $2,000 for it, held my breath for months, and then against all odds, it showed up one day in my family’s driveway in the US.
I made a few videos about my Chinese mini-truck that got tens of millions of views, famous YouTubers like Whistlin’ Diesel and Supercar Blondie reached out to me to try to get me to help them rip off my video on their own channels, and the story seemed to circle the world several times over. I even wound up on the state-sponsored news in China – a profoundly strange accomplishment that I probably won’t be adding to my CV anytime soon.
For those wondering, yes, my electric mini-truck is still going strong over three years later. Nothing has broken and my modifications have only made it better.
But the strangest part of all might be that, despite the current trends of rapid inflation and a climate of rising costs mixed with antagonistic tariffs, this electric mini-truck has only become more affordable.
When I bought mine, I paid around US $2,000 to the factory. I’m known to occassionaly peruse Chinese vehicle sites in search of good deals I would be ill-advised to take, and recently I’ve seen prices walking downwards on these little trucks. Now you can buy one for barely over $1,000!
A BIG CAVEAT BEFORE CONTINUING: Dear reader, please note that I am not advising anyone to actually buy one of these. It is a really bad idea. First of all, the Chinese factory price is only the first part of the story. As I described previously, I had to pay around $6,000 in additional costs at various stages before a working truck landed in the US, covering everything from customs to tariffs to US-side transport to a big lithium battery and more. The 400% price increase compared to the Alibaba price that I experienced here is a common real-world landed price estimator, but even that can vary wildly depending on the product. Then there’s the next big issue, that these things are questionably legal. I always advise people against doing what I did, and unfortunately, I’ve still heard from a few readers who reached out to tell me that US Customs seized their mini-truck when they tried to import one like mine. These are 100% not street-legal according to federal motor vehicle laws, and if CBP makes the arbitrary decision that it is “intended” for street use (which is a fair argument to make considering they usually come with turn signals, street tires, and other road-ready features), they can simply seize it at the port. Lastly (as if this bad idea needed more support), you have no guarantee that it will even ever ship to you since many of these vendors are unknown entities that offer almost zero legal recourse from half a world away. So please, please, please don’t read this article and leave with the impression of “Wow, I’m going to buy a cheap $1,000 truck,” because you’re not. You’re either going to get scammed, robbed by customs, or end up with a very expensive “$1,000 truck.” Treat the words in this poor excuse for journalism as educational only, because that’s what it is, if you can even call it that.
Ok, so warnings and disclaimers aside, let’s take a look at what these $1,000 trucks offer.
There are many different vendors for these things in China, and most aren’t even the real factory. It’s hard to determine who is really behind the ads selling these things, but most are trading companies that act as middlemen between the Chinese-speaking factories that don’t have a way to serve foreign customers and the rest of the world. Keep in mind, these mini-trucks aren’t meant for export. They’re primarily designed for use in rural parts of China as an upgrade over the tuk-tuk style electric three-wheelers that have been popular for decades.
Most of these electric mini-trucks feature styling ripped off from Western truck companies. Mine seems to have a Silverado-like front end and an F-150ish rear, based purely on styling. A lot of folks like to call mine an F-50. I think that’s being generous.
These are also often fairly barebones affairs. Several of the features you see in the pictures of my truck are things I upgraded myself. I added that tow hitch, the roof-mounted solar panel, the mud tires, and several other features. The truck did come with factory-standard air conditioning and a dump bed, which I had to pay extra for, but those were basically the only extra features I could find.
These are also fairly low performance. The top speed is barely 25 mph (40 km/h) from its 3,000W rear axle-mounted motor. I don’t know what the true range is (because lord help me if it ever dies too far from a plug). With a massive 60V 100Ah battery in it that I paid extra for, it should theoretically have around 60 miles (100 km) of range, but I doubt it would go that far. And anyway, we just use it around my parents’ homestead as a work truck. Since it’s not street-legal, it doesn’t spend a lot of time on the road.
So despite being around a half to two-thirds scale compared to a full-size electric pickup truck, its performance is significantly lower. That’s fine for the type of general “around the property” use we get out of it, but this is far from a highway vehicle.
I’ve been pleased as punch with my Chinese electric mini-truck, and it has served my family well for over three years. But that isn’t always the case for everyone who gets one of these.
As you can imagine, a truck that costs barely US $1,000 isn’t going to be the most advanced vehicle. Quality isn’t going to match what you’d expect of nicer machines, and there are basically zero options for service and support. I’ve gotten lucky that nothing has gone wrong on mine, but I also went into this knowing that I’ve got a decade or more of light electric vehicle experience and a mechanical engineering degree to fall back on, in case something ever does go wrong with mine.
Others aren’t so lucky. Case in point: a set of four of these Chinese electric mini trucks imported by Hinds Community College for their campus police to use recently went up for auction in non-functioning status. Based on the description, it looks like the college bought four of these, then they all broke and would no longer turn on. The college couldn’t fix them and so they ended up selling the four of them “as-is” for just over $6,000 total. Maybe the 72V batteries were dead. Maybe the motors had burned out. Maybe they had fried their motor controllers. Or perhaps some wiring connection had merely shaken loose and needed to be reconnected. Who knows? Perhaps the guy who wound up with four non-functional mini-trucks. But the point is, there are not a lot of options for fixing these things yourself without some electrical know-how and a healthy disregard for high-voltage electrical safety.
The spread of these interesting and useful electric mini-trucks is evidence of demand for these types of low-cost, low-impact, yet highly useful tools. However, the incredibly low prices seen advertised on Chinese shopping sites don’t tell the entire story.
So while it’s cool to see prices dropping as low as $1,000 to roll one out of the factory, keep in mind that the true cost is likely to approach five figures, and that doesn’t include the potential for issues down the road. Or I should say, down the trail. Remember, these aren’t street legal… unless you happen to be a community college police department, I guess.
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Element3 just raised a fresh round of funding to launch the first US commercial lithium extraction plants, and it’s sourcing the lithium from oil and gas wastewater in Texas. That’s a big deal because it means there will be a domestic lithium supply for EVs and battery storage within a few months.
The critical materials extraction company announced the close of its Series A funding round led by TO VC. Fort Worth, Texas-based Element3 will use the money to deploy its first extraction plants on oil and gas company Double Eagle Energy Holding’s water infrastructure in the Permian Basin by the end of 2025. That means Element3 will become the first new lithium extraction player in the US to reach commercialization, with its first commercial shipments expected by year-end.
Element3’s breakthrough technology pulls battery-grade lithium from the Permian Basin’s produced water, turning a waste stream from oil and gas drilling into a valuable domestic resource. With a lithium carbonate plant already installed in the region, the company says its vertically integrated setup is ready to supply lithium for the US energy transition.
“This funding accelerates our mission to build American lithium independence from the ground up,” said Hood Whitson, Element3’s founder and CEO. “While other US projects are still in planning and years away from production, we’re bringing our plants online now and shipping product this year. Using existing oilfield infrastructure, we can move faster, cleaner, and at a fraction of the cost.”
The US oil and gas industry produces over 1 trillion gallons of wastewater annually, containing an estimated 250,000 tons of lithium carbonate – more than half the country’s projected supply gap by 2030. By tapping into that wastewater, Element3 avoids many challenges that delay conventional lithium mining, such as lengthy permitting, land disruption, and high carbon emissions. Instead, it uses existing infrastructure, turning waste into a new, low-carbon supply stream.
Recovering lithium from wastewater is significantly more environmentally friendly than conventional mining. It doesn’t require digging new pits, evaporating vast ponds, or consuming large amounts of fresh water. It also eliminates the need to transport raw materials internationally, helping reduce emissions tied to global supply chains.
“So much capital has gone into onshoring battery manufacturing, but far less into securing the upstream supply of lithium itself,” said Joshua Phitoussi, managing partner at TO VC. “Traditional mining takes billions and more than a decade to bring online. Element3’s approach is faster, cheaper, and uses an already abundant resource. This means that Element3 will be the first [direct lithium extraction] company to get to commercial scale, and could become a top three domestic lithium producer within the next three years.”
Read more: A $1.2B battery-grade lithium refinery breaks ground in Oklahoma
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The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will spend $625 million to “expand and reinvigorate” the US coal industry, claiming it will boost energy production and help rural communities. Energy Secretary Chris Wright praised “beautiful, clean coal” as “essential to powering America’s reindustrialization and winning the AI race.”
The Trump administration argues this spending will keep aging coal plants running, lower electricity costs, and prevent blackouts. But this so-called coal revival plan wastes millions when clean energy is cheaper and growing at a breakneck pace.
What the $625 million will fund
According to the DOE press release, the funds will prop up coal-fired power plants through several programs:
- $350 million to restart or upgrade old coal plants, improving their capacity and reliability.
- $175 million for projects bringing power to rural areas, aiming to deliver cheaper, more reliable coal-fired electricity.
- $50 million to upgrade coal plant wastewater systems, reducing water pollution and extending plant life.
- $25 million for “dual-firing” retrofits, so plants can switch between coal and other fuels like natural gas.
- $25 million to develop 100% natural gas co-firing, keeping boilers running efficiently if a plant uses gas instead of coal.
Wright claims these DOE coal investments will “keep electricity prices low and the lights on without interruption.” He also touted coal as the “backbone” of industries like steel and cement, insisting it’s “necessary to feed the AI boom.” In short, the administration is betting that propping up coal now will secure US energy supply for factories and data centers.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also said at a press conference in Washington that 13.1 million acres of federal land will be opened up in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming for coal leasing.
‘This is a colossal waste of money’
Environmental experts and clean energy advocates blasted the DOE’s coal plan as wasteful, polluting, and economically foolish. “The Trump administration is hell-bent on supporting one of the oldest, dirtiest electricity sources. It’s handing our hard-earned tax dollars over to the owners of plants that cost more to run than new, clean energy, while giving those plants a free pass to keep polluting,” said Amanda Levin, policy analyst at NRDC. “Propping up coal means dirtier air and water, destruction of public lands, and higher utility bills for struggling families… This is a colossal waste of money at a time when the federal government should be spurring on new energy sources that can power the AI boom and help bring down utility bills.”
Levin’s frustration is echoed by others. The Sierra Club warned that continuing to subsidize coal will lead to “skyrocketing bills,” worse health outcomes, and a “decaying environment.” The Environmental Defense Fund noted that modern clean energy like solar, wind, and battery storage is now cheaper and faster to deploy – the real solution for powering a high-tech economy affordably. Critics argue that pouring more money into coal props up “dirty, uncompetitive plants from the last century” instead of investing in 21st-century energy.
Coal’s decline vs. clean energy’s rise
The backlash is fueled by coal’s sharp decline in the US power mix. Coal generated only about 15% of US electricity in 2024, down from 50% in 2000, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), as cheap natural gas and booming solar and wind power have eaten away coal’s market share. No new US coal plants are planned, and dozens of aging coal plants are slated for retirement in the next few years due to high costs and old age. In fact, wind and solar produced more electricity than coal in the US last year for the first time ever, and the EIA reported last week that wind and solar combined provided 19% more electricity than did coal during the first seven months of 2025.
Against that backdrop, pouring hundreds of millions into coal flies in the face of market trends and climate urgency. Analysts are skeptical that the DOE’s coal push will change coal’s long-term outlook, calling it at best a short-term boost for a “zombie” industry that can’t compete in the long run.
Electrek’s Take
Spending $625 million to revive coal – the dirtiest, most carbon-heavy energy source – is a ridiculous move when clean energy is cleaner and cheaper. It’s an especially hypocritical move given that just last week, Wright canceled $13 billion of funding for renewable energy projects and dismissed renewables’ need for federal subsidies at a press conference, saying:
If you can’t rock on your own after 33 years, maybe that’s not a business that’s going places.
Guess it slipped Wright’s mind that US fossil fuels already receive about $760 billion a year in federal subsidies, according to the International Monetary Fund, after nearly two centuries of government support. And just days later, he’s handing hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars to a dying coal industry that isn’t “rocking on its own.”
This hefty taxpayer-funded handout is highly unlikely to reverse coal’s decades-long decline, but it could slow cleaner investments and keep polluting plants on life support. At a time when the government “should be spurring new energy sources to power the AI boom,” funneling money into dirty 19th-century fuel is an embarrassing, damaging throwback.
Read more: The oil shill running the Energy Dept. just banned the words ‘climate change’
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. 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 few years ago, it was basically a Tesla, Nissan Leaf, or Chevy Bolt if you were looking for a used electric vehicle. Nowadays, you can buy used Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Chevy, or Honda EVs for about the same, or even less than, gas-powered cars.
Is now the time to buy used EVs?
Used EVs are now the fastest-selling cars in the US. A record 40,960 used electric vehicles were sold in the US in August, according to Cox Automotive, up 59% from the same month in 2024.
Despite also hitting a new record in August with 146,332 units sold, new EV sales increased by only 17.7% compared to last year.
With the federal tax credit of $7,500 for new and $4,000 for used EVs set to expire on September 30, buyers are rushing to lock in the savings.
So, why are used EVs flying off the lot compared to new models? For one, there are so many more options to choose from. Used electric vehicles from Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, and Honda are starting to appear at dealerships across the US.
In 2022, a flood of new options, like the Ford F-150 Lightning, Toyota bZ4X, Cadillac Lyriq, and BMW i4, launched in the US. Since many buyers opt for a three-year lease, these same EVs are now hitting the used market.
Perhaps, even more importantly, the price is comparable to that of a similar gas-powered car, but it typically offers significantly more.
The price premium over used ICE vehicles is now just $897, the lowest on record. In fact, 14 makes had a lower average EV price than their gas-powered counterpart.
The top five selling used EVs, the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, Chevy Bolt EV, Tesla Model S, and Ford Mustang Mach-E, were all priced below the market average. Tesla’s Model 3 led used EV sales with an average price of $23,278, while the Nissan LEAF ($12,890) and Chevy Bolt ($14,705) remained the most affordable.
Cox Automotive expects another strong month for both used and new EV sales, with the IRA tax credit expiring at the end of September. How automakers react with price changes and incentives will impact sales through the end of 2025.
Since electric vehicles have fewer moving parts, require little maintenance, and offer more advanced software, safety, and connectivity technology, the new wave of used models may be your best bet for an affordable EV.
With models like the Honda Prologue, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Chevy Equinox EV leading the way in new EV sales, more used EVs are already starting to hit the market. The top six selling new EVs in August were the Tesla Model Y, Model 3, Honda Prologue, Chevy Equinox EV, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
There are still two days left to grab the EV savings. If you’re curious, you can use the links below to see what’s available in your area.
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