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Mexican government unveils a prototype for a new homegrown, ultra-affordable EV
- poppafuze 5mo ago[dead]
- gwbas1c 5mo ago> It remains to be seen whether the Olinia One will face similar pushback from the U.S. once it goes on sale. > can travel up to 125 kilometers (77 miles) on a single charge The US market generally rejects small-range EVs, except in very niche markets. In order to succeed in the US, it will need roughly 3-4x the range. In order for this to succeed in Mexico, their market will need different driving habits than the typical American. (I know this as a former 2014 Leaf lessee. Short-range EVs only make sense when they are the only option in my price range, and I really, really want to drive an EV. Maybe the typical Mexican rarely drives far away from home? Or maybe this is for a niche of Mexicans who really, really want an EV and will tolerate a short range?)
- friarpuck 5mo agoI was thinking it would make a good candidate for city taxis and other such urban uses
- craftkiller 5mo agoNYC taxis drive an average of 180 miles per shift[0] so they'd need to triple the range or have some sort of system where they can swap their depleted taxi for a freshly-charged one mid-shift. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_New_York_City https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_New_York_City
- alemanek 5mo agoYeah taxis in the capital and small people movers to go from hotel to beach is where these will shine. EVs are especially well suited to stop and go traffic as well. People are so caught up trying to solve every use case at once. Dropping pollution caused by old taxis in city centers will be a big win for Mexico if they can hit their price point. At the price they are quoting fleet operators can buy 2 and have their drivers swap out mid-day during their lunch.
- CalRobert 5mo ago"The car is designed for urban settings and has a top speed of 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour." I don't think range will be an issue at that speed tbh. Cool little transport but not really a "car" in the way we think of them.
- dieselgate 5mo ago> The car is designed for urban settings Huh, the speed limit is odd because in my urban/city driving in the western US (San Diego, LA, SF, Portland and Seattle) all major cities still basically necessitate non-zero highway driving. Even mopeds (and bicycles) can pretty easily exceed 31 mph. I've spent about 2 months total in Mexico City and there are still in-city areas where it'd be common to exceed 31 mph. The main rate limiter being traffic... Anyway not to pooh-pooh the idea too much, I am sure there are plenty of use cases but maybe enabling a top speed of 55 mph would increase utility IMO
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- fluoridation 5mo agoHow many people do you know who can "easily" exceed 50 km/h on a bicycle?
- CalRobert 5mo agoThey might be thinking of e-bikes that aren't regulated (at that point basically an electric motorcycle) If not then maybe downhill....
- catlikesshrimp 5mo agoAn amusing coincidence: the maximum allowed speed in Nicaragua is 50 km/h If This wasn't about to countries in America, I would suspect something technical behind those decisions. The only thing I can think of is the loss of energy efficiency when driving over 60km/h As with everything, finding an official announcement of something in Nicaragua might be horrible, so have this instead https://ni.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-new-speed-limits-in-nicaragua/ https://ni.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-new-speed-...
- guywithahat 5mo agoThat was my thought too. They obviously won’t face pushback entering the US from a legal standpoint, but I don’t think consumers will tolerate a sub-200 mile EV well here
- evan_ 5mo ago> They obviously won’t face pushback entering the US from a legal standpoint I suspect the current federal government might push back on a Mexican EV just for ideological reasons.
- Rotdhizon 5mo agoI know absolutely nothing about Mexico in terms of geography or driving so I wonder how feasible an EV that you presumably constantly have to charge is going to fare. In the US, a range of 77 miles is a complete non starter. You'd have to charge it every single day. If not multiple times a day in some peoples cases. It's interesting that info about the car is only half the article. The other half is a commentary on how US politicians are desperately trying to keep foreign EVs out of the country, lest it hurt corporate profits.
- phildenhoff 5mo agoIf you have a charger at home, or at work, why does it matter if you have to charge it daily or weekly? Yes, for some lifestyles, range matters. For others, a 125 km range is perfectly acceptable
- HeyLaughingBoy 5mo agoFor a significant segment of the US population, that thing wouldn't get them to work and back, so they'd have to charge it both at home and at work. And in many cases, forget running any errands, picking up kids from daycare, etc. And minimum speed on US interstates is typically 40mph, so that reduces its usability even more.
- phildenhoff 5mo agoI don't think this car is designed for them, similar to how trucks are not designed for urban areas. Not every car has to cater to every demographic.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5mo agoPeople move around: that's what cars are for. Trucks may not be "designed for urban areas" (whatever that means), but they certainly go into them on a daily basis.
- applfanboysbgon 5mo ago
- 4MOAisgoodenuf 5mo agoThe limits on range and speed (reported 50kph) would make it a horrible deal for the average American. 150k pesos (~$8.6k) for a brand new wheelchair-accessible city van seems like a killer deal in the Mexican market. That would come on the market for less than a used air-cooled VW beetle (ended production in Mexico in 2003)
- wqaatwt 5mo agoCan’t you get a much better used car for that? that’s probably one of the reasons why there is not much demand for basic cheap cars with no features in Western countries at least. Modern cars are much more reliable and last longer than they used to several decades ago and stripped down budget models can’t compete with that.
- waffletower 5mo agoEven a used Nissan Leaf with degraded batteries is a viable vehicle in many U.S. cities. I would not call these markets "niche", there are many mid-large metropolitan population centers where they are practical. To use "niche", is either a political denial or ignorance of the population distribution of the United States. They are popular where I live, I drove one as a primary vehicle for 8.5 years, and I have purchased another used Leaf for my teenager. The empty pickup truck is also a "niche" vehicle with this usage -- it clearly isn't an appropriate choice for every driving need and locale.
- fajmccain 5mo agoThis new EV is to replace motorcycles and scooters that are ubiquitous in mexico. If it succeeds in getting 100k people off of motorcycles it will have the side benefit of reducing healthcare costs treating motorcycle accidents.
- moralestapia 5mo agoPeople don't choose motorcycles and scooters because they like them, it's because they're cheaper than cars. This EV is much more expensive than a motorcycle or a scooter, so on that regard it is DOA.
- FlyingSnake 5mo ago> can travel up to 125 kilometers (77 miles) on a single charge This would be a big hit in European cities. I own VW e-Up! and it's a perfect EU city car. With it's 375KM range, I rarely charge it more than once a month.
- dyauspitr 5mo ago77 miles is nigh useless. Realistically that means you get 40 worry free miles. It’s ridiculous.
- pjc50 5mo agoThis car is explicitly intended as a taxi. If - and it's a big if - the taxi can charge while waiting for jobs, that's going to be fine.
- rsynnott 5mo agoOh, huh, yeah, would have been helpful if the article mentioned that. Range is probably _fine_ in that case.
- rsynnott 5mo ago> The US market generally rejects small-range EVs, except in very niche markets. In order to succeed in the US, it will need roughly 3-4x the range I mean, I assume it is not the case that literally all Americans regularly make long journeys. There probably is a market. > I know this as a former 2014 Leaf lessee. That was a lot more expensive than this. The Dacia Spring has a range of a little less than twice these, and I see a good few of those around. Those cost about 15k EUR (17k USD). I'd definitely buy that there is at least _some_ market for something half the cost and half the range.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- marinhero 5mo agoHoping this brings EV infrastructure up in the country. A road trip is still quite an ordeal due to the lack of fast chargers in highways and maybe that's why the range on the first version of Olena is low, as it's aimed to provide "ultra mobility" within cities and not outside of it but still, glad to see the MX government invest into renewable technology.
- mekdoonggi 5mo agoWould this be enough range for a typical bit of driving in CDMX? Seems like a painful road trip car, but you don't need so much range for a city car.
- timbit42 5mo agoI hope we don't see these on any highways. They can only do 50 kph.
- ck2 5mo agothey're going to put six people on those small wheels on that small wheelbase? on the otherhand the mass produced general frame/battery/motor will be great for mods
- timbit42 5mo agoSix Mexicans, not six Americans.
- dotcoma 5mo agoHere is the company's website: https://www.olinia.auto/ https://www.olinia.auto/
- sct202 5mo agoIt makes a lot more sense seeing the image where they place it between a car and rickshaw/tuktuk
- bruce511 5mo agoThe Ford CEO is not wrong. Allowing foreign imports into the country at prices far below what US producers are able to make will decimate the local car industry in the US. There are 4 possible solutions to this problem; a) convince Americans that it's worth paying more for a locally built product. This is the simplest approach, but there's only so much margin here that the consumer will tolerate. At the moment this gap is too large. b) Tariff foreign imports to raise their cost. So the US consumer pays more, whether they like it or not. c) subsidize local production out of the "national interest to support this industry" budget. This has the effect of ramping up demand, hence production, hence production being developed, and eventually getting cheaper. d) improve US products, and prices, so that they compete in price to the import - or at least fall inside the margins such that a) becomes effective. c) can help bridge the gap here until the US companies have caught up. In the long run, not all these strategies win. If you go the tariff route, then it's hard to undo it later. Local products fall behind, and the harder it becomes to catch up. Not impossible, but hard. If Ford wanted tarrifs to help boost EV demand, and so allow Ford to build out infrastructure and lower costs, then fine. But it seems it's more of a short term play to just keep ICE Fords selling in the short term. This is one of those "the internet is a fad, it'll never catch on" moments. EV's are here to stay. They're going to win. That's pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. If the question is "how to maintain the US car production" then they should be all-in on EV development now. It seems to me though that the current strategy seems to be very short term thinking - trying to just hold back the tide.
- MadrasThorn 5mo agoA lot of the underlying EV technology is military applicable too
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- Animats 5mo agoThis seems to fill a useful niche, but may be too downscale. Remember the Tata Nano.[1] Tata built a basic car with a price below 1 lahk, but it didn't sell. In the US, there's Slate, which claims to be making a small electric pickup truck. "Preorders will start on June 24, 2026. First deliveries are slated for late 2026." [2] Price in the US$20K range, they claim. Claimed range is 150m with the base model battery. A larger battery is available. It's America's answer to the kei car. If it ships and keeps shipping. Detroit got way too much into the "more car per car" thing. Chevrolet once had the slogan "basic transportation". They lost sight of that market. The giant pickups are just silly. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano [2] https://www.slate.auto/en https://www.slate.auto/en
- SpicyLemonZest 5mo agoThis vehicle is what most Americans would call a "golf cart". If it doesn't have safety features and can't be driven on highways, it's not really competing with normal cars, so I'm not quite sure the article's analysis makes sense.
- GFischer 4mo agoIt makes 100% sense for a Mexican commute, or in other parts of South America. I live in Uruguay and one of the best selling cars here is pretty similar, a friend has it and it's great for the daily commute: https://bawauto.com/pony/ https://bawauto.com/pony/ The best sellers are BYD models, which are a bit larger but still tiny by US standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Seagull https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Seagull EVs have displaced ICE cars in Uruguay, and we usually are ahead of the trends, so I expect that to be the case in Europe and other places in coming years.
- SpicyLemonZest 4mo agoBoth of these other cars are capable of driving at highway speeds, even if only barely in the Pony's case. The Olinia Uno is limited to 50km/h, and my understanding (I've had trouble finding clear details, although my Spanish isn't great) is that it's also going to lack safety features that a faster car would be required to have.
- elgertam 5mo agoMy first thought when looking at it is that I doubt the vehicle could pass US safety regulations. Maybe I'm wrong.
- Symbiote 5mo agoBased on similar vehicles in Europe, it's probably not a car but some sort of motorcycle.
- stevenwoo 5mo agoMotorcycle licensing is a bit specific( at least in California ) even if one has an automobile license, I only looked at it casually, have to buy special clothes for the training class and pass before getting learners permit to get practice for taking state test, but most of the skills learned in the training class are not applicable to this vehicle AFAIK. I would speculate it's closer to a Japanese small form factor Kei truck which are importable under certain restrictions - which must be 25 years old or older, not legal for public road use in many(most?) places due to bumper/crash testing/airbag requirements, though I've seen a couple in California in suburban/rural areas. Also see tourists driving essentially golf carts in places like San Diego on downtown streets. It seems murky to me.
- rawgabbit 5mo agoIn Europe these kinds of vehicles are treated as micro vehicles. You don’t even need a driver licenses. https://insideevs.com/news/401218/citroen-ami-deliveries-june/ https://insideevs.com/news/401218/citroen-ami-deliveries-jun...
- avocadoking 5mo agoHopefully they can also find a good balance between using cheap parts to actually being safe and comfy. The cheap EVs on the market normally lack in one of these. I have not yet found any interior shots online, did any of you?
- timbit42 5mo agoThere are a couple of partial interior shots on their home page: https://www.olinia.auto/ https://www.olinia.auto/
- petcat 5mo ago31 MPH and needs to be re-charged after only 77 miles. This thing is not a car. It's usefulness in USA would be like shuttling around a mall parking lot or between airport terminals. Even the $8,500 pricetag seems crazy for something with very little actual utility.
- rockooooo 5mo agoThese are usually called LSVs; the number of these is low but growing because in dense urban areas or planned developments (golf courses, parks, senior communities) they're far more cost effective.
- toddmorey 5mo agocounterpoint: I have an EV that I never drive more than 77 miles a day and I paid over $70k for it. Top speed would definitely be a limiting factor, but I do think there's a huge gap in the mobility market between e-bike and a traditional (and expensive!) car.
- loloquwowndueo 5mo agoLuckily it was not designed to be used in the US.
- petcat 5mo agoWell I'll be surprised if it's ever actually used anywhere.
- loloquwowndueo 5mo agoDunno man, once you’ve seen a family of four plus cargo riding a moped you’ll realize people will use anything that gets them where they need to go.
- downut 5mo agoFor the people who don't believe this, spend some time watching urban traffic in a place like Oaxaca. 4 is a bit of a stretch unless it's a couple of small kids (that happens) and the moto is not really a moped, but not much more powerful. There's occasional bulky cargo. I am also reminded of the multiple times we were riding in a bus in Cairo Egypt and passed a donkey cart in the left lane of a 6 lane-ish "free"way. One of the first things I thought when I first saw this thing is, oh, there will be mods.
- lentil_soup 5mo agoI think people are misunderstanding. This is a car for Mexico, nothing to do with the US. On the website it says it's a car "designed in Mexico for Mexico" https://www.olinia.auto/ https://www.olinia.auto/
- gogasca 5mo ago[dead]
- rdtsc 5mo agoHow big is the charging infrastructure in Mexico? Or is this mainly geared for a daily commutes and charging at home?
- timbit42 5mo agoIt's top speed is 50 kph so it's not for travelling very far or on highways.
- istjohn 5mo ago"The car is designed for urban settings and has a top speed of 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour."
- martinbfine 5mo ago[dead]
- timbit42 5mo agoThat doesn't matter very much when the top speed is 50 kph.
- drnick1 5mo ago> The car is designed for urban settings and has a top speed of 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour. Stopped reading here. For all intents and purposes this is not a real car, it's a golf cart. The title is complete clickbait.
- thelastgallon 5mo agoHow foreign competition helps domestic firms: https://capx.co/how-foreign-competition-helps-domestic-firms https://capx.co/how-foreign-competition-helps-domestic-firms
- initramfs 5mo ago"The car’s unvieling comes as some countries around the world continue to push EV adoption with better and more affordable options. The U.S., however, has taken the opposite track." Lol, so true. I honestly don't mind waiting for an electric car since I hope to get more mileage out of my current one. If it lasts 10 more years, all the better. The cars available then should be far better (other than new things I might not want- e.g. more automation).
- 725686 5mo agoThere is no way Olina will make it to market. It is another of the demagogic populist government's projects.
- derelicta 5mo agoPersonally, I'm very happy about the increasingly competitive EV market. Hopefully they will start exporting those to the British market. Don't we all love cheap things?
- moffkalast 5mo agoThe amount of power used to keep a car going at highways speeds is 60% air drag. With how much people value range in EVs, why is it that almost every manufacturer designs theirs as literal boxes on wheels with some lights and doors? Cars in the 1920 almost had better aero and they had no idea what it even was.
- 4748488484 5mo agoIf they ever make more than 50 of these at twice that cost I'll become a monk
- downut 5mo agoHave you ever paid attention to what's on the road in Mexico? I've driven there for 30 years and I've seen it all. Then, there's the idea that Mexicans might not be able to manufacture a quality vehicle. My 2001 Toyota Tundra was manufactured in Mexico and I will drive it until I die. Basically a grail vehicle. Places like Monterrey have multistory quite modern BYD dealerships. You might start shopping for monasteries ;-)
- gcanyon 5mo ago> Ford CEO I wonder how this compares to the late '60s and through the '70s, when small, higher-mileage imports were eating the US car manufacturers' lunch. It feels more existential, but maybe not?