Weird Alibaba: You can literally buy a 10 ft. long rideable electric dinosaur
This one is a bit out there, even for me. But stick with me here, because there’s just something about a giant ride-on electric dinosaur powered by a mystery electric motor that feels perfectly fitting for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is perhaps one of the least useful yet most fun-looking Chinese EVs I’ve featured yet in this exploratory column.
I can think of absolutely zero utility for this ride-on dinosaur, other than separating parents from their money at amusement parks. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s a fine use indeed.
And if there was ever a truly awesome parental money separator, this would be it. I’m not even a kid and I want to beg someone to pay for me to ride this thing.
There’s a coin collector or card swipe option (I’m really curious where they put that swipe – do you lift the tail?), and then it’s off to the dinosaur races!
Of course no one will be moving very fast on their triceratops or brontosaurus. The speed is rated at 50 meters per minute, which Google kindly informs me is around 3 km/h or 1.8 mph.
Controls are mounted on the dinosaur itself, but there is also a remote control that an operator can use to take over driving responsibility. I assume the kid offers up one of those pilot-style “You have the dinosaur,” “I have the dinosaur” hand-off moments like in the movies.
And if you’re wondering just how complicated the controls could be, you might be surprised.
There’s more than just forward and reverse here. In addition to standard dinosaur walking, there are also functions to open and close the mouth, blink the eyes, raise and lower the head, swing the tail, and engage the “light effects.” I don’t remember any of the animals in Jurassic Park coming with their own Laser Floyd show, but perhaps I need to rewatch the originals.
Power comes from a 700W motor (nearly one whole horsepower!) and is provided by a pair of rechargeable batteries. There’s no word on what those batteries are, but I’m guessing it’s more than a couple AA Duracells. The vendor says a single charge is good for six hours, which seems like a surprisingly long time. You’d be lucky to get half of that from an electric bicycle under continuous use.
But then again a triceratops is significantly larger than an e-bike, and I assume that means more room for batteries, so perhaps I should have seen that coming.
One of my favorite features of the walking electric dinosaur (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say) is the 150 kg weight limit, meaning riders up to 330 lbs. can go for a spin. This ain’t no kids toy, this is fun for the whole family!
And I haven’t even gotten to the coolest part yet – the way it walks! Based on the pictures, I assumed it was just a rigid model with little hoverboard wheels mounted in the bottom of the feet. The wheel part is probably correct, but you can see from the video below that the legs actually walk. There’s another motor that seems to move them back and forth. I don’t think it actually provides any walking power (it seems the two non-walking feet still roll forwards), but it sure gives the illusion that it is walking instead of rolling.
So what does something like this cost? From the looks of the sales page, it will set you back $3,500.
I’m not even sure if that’s a good deal or not. What’s the going rate on a walking electric dinosaur? Is there a Kelly Bluebook value I can refer to?
Since I can’t really tell if I’m getting ripped off or not, I think I’ll sit this one out. I’ve bought a bunch of weird EVs in the last few months, so I think my wife deserves a break from my stupidity.
But hey, if your partner yells at you for buying the kids (or yourself) a walking electric dinosaur, don’t come complaining to me!
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Slate Auto, a new EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has poached a key Tesla manufacturing leader to build its electric pickup truck factory in Indiana.
Napoleon Reyes is a US Marine from Indiana who got a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue after leaving the force.
He then worked a few years at Subaru and Wabash before joining Tesla’s manufacturing team at the Fremont Factory in 2020.
There, he became part of the Model Y production ramp and was quickly promoted to lead the Model Y General Assembly in Fremont in 2022.
Reyes led Model Y GA, one of the most critical parts of vehicle manufacturing, for more than a year before being promoted again to lead new pilot processes at the factory.
Most recently, he led the launch of the general assembly line for the Model Y refresh.
The new engineering manager announced this week that he is leaving Tesla to join Slate:
A bit late on the post but after nearly 5 years working at Tesla in Fremont, I made the difficult decision to leave the Company and move closer to home with my family. It was an incredible experience being part of multiple line expansions and multiple Model Y program launches. Leading and managing the Model Y Refresh launch for GA in Fremont this year tested me professionally however we ultimately succeeded due to our amazing cross functional team collaboration. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with such great people, and I will forever be proud and thankful for everything we accomplished together.
I will be taking on a new role as Senior Manager, Plant Vehicle Engineering at Slate Auto in Warsaw, In.
Slate emerged from stealth mode earlier this year to unveil a new type of electric pickup truck featuring modular customization and an affordable price.
The company raised over $700 million through two rounds of investments from several different investors, including Jeff Bezos. It is currently raising more, which basically guarantees that it will be able to reach production.
The startup acquired a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana. It is currently converting to manufacture its electric pickup with a team from legacy automakers and also several former engineers and leaders from Tesla.
Rich Schmidt, an early Tesla manufacturing director, is the head of manufacturing.
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Genesis is preparing to shake things up with its most luxurious SUV yet, the GV90. Thanks to a new patent filing, we are getting a detailed look at how its Rolls-Royce-style coach doors will work.
New patent reveals Genesis GV90 coach door system
When Genesis first unveiled the full-size SUV at the NY Auto Show last March, it wasn’t the stunning design or advanced tech that caught everyone’s attention. It was the coach doors.
Although we were worried it wouldn’t make it to the production model, like many concepts, the Genesis GV90 will be offered with coach doors.
The ultra-luxe electric SUV was first caught with coach doors earlier this year on a car carrier in South Korea. Just last month, the GV90 was spotted in California with a hinge at the rear to open the coach doors.
After several new patents were filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for new door latching devices, we are getting a sneak peek at how they are expected to work.
The patents, titled “Cinching Device For Door Latches in Vehicle,” and “Door Latch Device for Vehicles,” give a pretty detailed explanation of how the Genesis GV90’s coach doors will operate. The “Door Latch Device” uses a door striker on the lower side of the door, which is opened or closed by a hinge unit.
Unlike traditional doors, which use the B-pillar for support, the device is attached directly to the door itself, allowing for hinge-like movement.
The cinching device works in a similar way. It’s also attached to the door and part of the vehicle. However, unlike most of its kind, Genesis found a way to use a single cinching device to control multiple units. Again, the device is used for B-pillarless doors that swing open.
Genesis already said that B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles. The patent reveals a glimpse into how the luxury automaker could make it a reality.
Although the Genesis GV90 is expected to be offered with coach doors, they will likely not be standard. Other variants, with traditional door handles, have also been spotted testing in the US and South Korea.
Genesis is expected to launch the GV90 in mid-2026. It will be built at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea. The flagship Genesis SUV is scheduled to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which the company said will “provide 50% improvement in driving range.” It will also be loaded with the latest technology, software, connectivity, and Level 3 or higher autonomous driving capabilities.
Source: USPTO
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Environment
Podcast: Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the launch of the Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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