A 120 kW electric van

Most of the fun and wacky EVs I find trawling Alibaba to feature in my Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week series are notable for being quite wacky. I mean, it’s not every day that you come across an electric motorcycle with only one wheel or a fully functioning electric submarine.

But the vehicle I found for this week is remarkable for its looks Ordinary it does, and the fact that halfway around the world you can buy a real honest electric pickup truck that’s road capable and ready to do a real job.

Don’t worry, folks, I won’t blame you too much. If the truck’s “Rich 6” name is any indication, this thing has enough quirks to keep it interesting.

Unlike all the times I’ve teased you with cheap electric trucks that come with a serious problem, this is not a half-scale truck.

All of these Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) trucks are great, but they’re about the size of a pint and most of the time they only hit 25 mph (40 km / h).

This week’s Rich 6 truck is actually a full-size pickup truck that doesn’t have a hard time driving in a strong headwind. That’s because it finally packs a decent electric motor, unlike most of the underpowered but comedic vehicles that I normally dig up for this series.

With 120 kW (161 hp) of dizzying power, the Rich 6 should actually be able to accelerate in the real world and even with modest towing.

Let’s not get carried away here: 120 kW of power isn’t that much in a van. For comparison, the Rivian R1T delivers more power than that at each wheel.

But it’s still pretty impressive compared to most Chinese pickup trucks found on Alibaba, and packs almost 120kW more than my own electric mini pickup that I ordered on the platform.

The 17ft (5.3m) double cab truck seats five, meaning plenty of people could accommodate the whole family in this fun wagon.

The nicely padded seats and the full entertainment system should also make the ride a very pleasant one.

Don’t expect too much comfort after this. There’s not even a frunk to take advantage of (it seems to be stuffed with a controller, charger, 12V system battery, and other important electronics).

It’s more than a little suspicious that they aren’t very open about the battery specs, but they do claim a range of 403 km (250 miles).

They also claim a 0-80% charge time of 45 minutes, which I’m going to have to file under the “I’ll believe it when I see it” column. But anyway, they’re quite ready to sell you an electric truck.

The packing and delivery conditions are listed as “Nude with a rustproof shoe polish”. I prepared for a date like this once. Believe me, it didn’t go well.

The downside here is the gearing, with the Rich 6 pickup limited to just 100 km / h or 62 mph. Seems like a big oversight to me – what’s the point of having all that power if you can’t even keep up with a minivan?

The other major downside is that just like the name Rich 6, you will need to be loaded enough to be able to afford one. The $ 30,000 purchase price doesn’t include shipping, so you could also save for an entry-level Cybertruck or even an F150 Lightning for a few bucks more.

I think I’m going to stick with the wheels I already have and not risk $ 30,000 on an electric truck halfway around the world. But the fact that anyone with the money could possibly get that truck packed and loaded onto the slow boat from China next week still tickles me, I have to admit.

Buying it is probably the easiest part … convincing the DMV to give you a plate of it, now that will be the real obstacle.

Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.