Electrek: Awesomely Weird EV of the Week

Make it a tad bigger with a wider back seat, and you’ve answsered the dreams of tuk tuk drivers everywhere. (Would need a bigger engine and lithium battery for tuk tuk fares, probably.) This could help cut down on 2-stroke engine pollution - both noise & fumes - as well.

(One thing I noticed in quiet Key West yesterday: the 2-stroke scooters are now like dinosaurs crying in the tar pits. Few and far between. The no. 1 replacement, hands down, are the EV bicycles for locals. But as I said a week ago, people are driving these EV bicycles on sidewalks at top speeds which pass by traffic on the roads.)

Anyway, yeah, one of these would be perfect for local pizza deliveries which still rely on 2-stroke engine scooters with thermal boxes mounted on the rear. This would most definitely help with entrance/egress for delivery drivers as well.

Charge one at the store. Put one on the narrow roads of Key West. Win/win/win for everyone at night as no more “rat-a-tat-tat-tat” scooter engines disturbing sleeping neighborhoods where deliveries are being made at night:

Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week: World’s smallest taco truck
Micah Toll

- Jul. 30th 2022 4:20 am PT

@MicahToll

https://electrek.co/2022/07/30/alibaba-tiny-taco-truck-elect…

It’s not powerful, but it sure has heart! The small motor only boasts 800 watts, yet each and every one of them is dedicated to getting you the Mexican spread you ordered in as little time as possible.

Even though I’ll be limited to my mere 28 mph (45 km/h) of maximum speed, I’ll keep the pedal down the entire way. Or rather, I’ll keep a full twist of the wrist, as this thing has motorcycle handlebars and throttle control instead of a typical steering wheel and pedals.

And it’s even got enough range to go all day thanks to a 4,176 Wh battery pack. It’s a lead acid battery bank, which isn’t exactly top of the line. But I could always replace that with some cheap swap-in lithium iron phosphate batteries once I get it stateside.

The vendor says that the battery pack is enough for 100 km of range, or 62 miles in freedom digits for the Americans out there. I don’t think I’d need to go farther than that per day, that’s a lot of tacos. But just in case, I could always slap a solar panel on top of the truck to squeeze in a few more taco runs each day.

p.s. One of these is cheaper than a top of the line Yamaha or Honda scooters once sold in Key West, or, which used to be sold in Key West. The Yamaha scooter/motorcycle shop is now a freaking bank. The largest scooter rental biz downtown leveled it’s old gas station store, the parcel is up for sale, and other Scooter rentals are gravitating toward all EV rentals. There are just a few gas powered scooter rental shops in Key West that I could find yesterday. Hence, the town during during a very slow tourist day was extremely quiet and peaceful. The occasional gas/oil powered scooter engines made very rare appearances in sparse traffic or passing by me in the opposite direction. I’d say 10 EV bikes for every 1 scooter now. Anyway, check out this price:

https://electrek.co/2022/07/30/alibaba-tiny-taco-truck-elect…

The truck is incredibly affordable at just $2,000 (and I seem to remember another popular $2,000 Chinese truck recently). But despite the cheap price, this isn’t some cheap truck.