Geely have an ace up their sleeve. They’re one of the largest global automakers. However, they have a new electric car which is insanely cheap. In fact, it will be one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest electric car in the world, available in multiple countries within the next 24 months. In fact, I predict this will be one of the best selling cars in the world. But most people are not even aware of it. However, more than likely, they will be very, very soon.
The GeelyPanda EV. It is incredibly, incredibly cool. I think it is. A lot of people will think it’s ridiculous. They’ll say, pickup truck in America will just drive over it and crush it. Now, pick up trucks in America, just drive over. People are walking on the side of the street, or people running their bicycles, running their scooters, their skateboards, their electric, whatever it is, electric mobility. Yeah, I mean, traffic accidents happen. But it’s actually not that bad. I think this would be much safer than riding a bicycle, an electric bike, an electric scooter, an electric motorbike, a motorbike, a three-wheeler. In fact, I don’t think it is. It definitely is. Now, Geely have a big advantage here. They already have Volvo and Polestar. They already have dealerships around the world, in the United States, in Canada, in Central and South America, in Europe, in Australia, in China, in Japan, and in many, many places around the world, they have existing dealerships and that’s the biggest challenge for companies like Neo, Xpeng, et cetera, et cetera. For these Chinese automakers, BYD, to get into a market, they have to find a local distributor. They therefore pay that distributor extra cost. These are costs that Tesla doesn’t really have currently. That’s Tesla’s advantage versus some of these Chinese automakers. They sell directly, whereas these Chinese automakers are actually approaching existing dealership networks in these countries, paying them a premium to sell their vehicles.
I’ve actually know the numbers. Some of you guys have sent me, dealers that are working in Europe have sent me this data. So therefore, that is a bit of a disadvantage. However, this Geelyvehicle can simply and will be simply sold alongside.
Zeekr and other electric car brands from the Geely umbrella, Volvo and Polestar dealerships. Meaning, more than likely, yes, it will go on sale in multiple markets. Now, this vehicle costs $5,880 USD, meaning it’s cheaper than many electric bicycles. So the thing is China is tough. There is insane competition in China, especially in this car market. This car market is massive. The mini car market is enormous. And competition is heating up in China. It’s a tough place to sell EVs at the moment, even though there’s massive demand for them. It’s still challenging. But there’s a new competitor, the Geely Panda Mini, and it has a big ace up its sleeve, and that’s what I just mentioned. However, this is a 2 + 2 seat city car. It’s got a very low price, and I think it looks kind of funky. It’s a competitor to the General Motors Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, which is part made by GM, parts made by Willing. It’s a tri-venture between SAIC, Wuling, and General Motors. That one sells for now $5,500 USD, pretty similar price to this. Then there’s the Cherry QQ ice cream, one of the best-selling EVs in China. Then there’s the Chang’an Lumin Corn. I did a video on the Lumin Corn. I love that.
It’s probably my favorite mini EV. Then there’s the BAW Yoon Bail. These cars are primarily aimed at ladies, says CarNews China. I’m not sure if that’s true. However, that’s why the design of this car looks kind of cute and pink. Now, the Geely Panda Mini was originally called the Geometry M2, says CarNews China. The geometry is another brand under the Geely Group, meaning affordable EVs. However, the company decided to switch it to the Geely brand,
and I believe the reason for this is because many people around the world know the Geely brand. They don’t know geometry. And I think, from what I’ve been hearing lately, that Geely plans to sell Zeekr-branded EVs and Geely-branded EVs outside of China. So, they don’t have to compete with all these incredibly impressive Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers who are selling cars at nearly cost price, or in some cases, below cost price. One of the cool things about this EV is it’s actually rear wheel drive. The motor sits on the rear axle. The battery pack is located in the middle of the car at the bottom, giving it probably pretty good handling based on its actual diminutive size as well. It only has 27 horsepower and 85 Nm torque. It’s got an electric motor with a 9.6 kilowatt-hour battery pack. Top speed is 100 kilometers an hour, ranges 120 kilometers.
The top-spec variant, 41 horsepower, 110 Nm is quite a lot of torque for a car this size. It’ll have more than enough power, I believe, for the Western market. That version comes with a 17-kilowatt hour battery pack. Top speed is 100 kilometers an hour. However, that model will give you 200 kilometers of range, more than enough. And in fact, it’s a lot more than the Mazda, Mazda MX-30 electric car, which costs what? $30,000, US dollars in Australia cost $65,000 ridiculous dollars.
This car is what? It’s cheap, $5,800 US dollars. How big is it? Well, the panda mini is pretty damn small. It’s three meters long, well, 3,065 millimeters, 1,522 millimeters tall and 1,600 millimeters wide. It’s got a wheelbase of two meters or 2015 millimeters, meaning the wheelbase takes up primarily pretty much all the car. However, it’s very light. It only weighs 715 kilos. That’s, well, less than a third the weight of the 3 series BMW electric car. But the interior space, I’m pretty sure, is not one third the size of the 3 series. I think this is actually incredibly good for the money. And if you look at the interior, for the price, you’ve got to say it’s, I don’t know how they can do this. It’s insane. How on earth can they actually put together a car like this? It’s an entire car, you know, with an actual legit size battery pack. How can they do this? A big touch green, 13-inch touch green, a digital touch screen for the driver and sell it at these price. I don’t know how they can do it, but this will sell incredibly well.
Now, if you look at that interior, it really does look like the design has been thought through. It’s quite nice. It’s simple. It’s pretty stylish. The rear seats, can you fit an adult in them? No, you can’t. They’re just big enough for kids, but probably most people just actually put those rear seats down so they can have a bigger boot to carry things around. I think that would make a lot of sense. And one of the things I like about this EV is it has a mechanical handbrake, which is, I believe, a cool feature. So the 27 horsepower version with 120 km of range, that’s $5,800 US dollars, the better version with more range, 200 km of range, and 40 horsepower. That costs $7,300 US dollars. This is going to become one of the best selling EVs in the world because it’s made by Geely. It’s affordable.
They have a global distribution network and everyone knows that Geely do make pretty good cars, they have Volvo, they have Polstar. They’re basically utilizing that same technology.
Now, will this become a global bestseller? I really don’t know, but I hope it does because frankly, many people don’t need a massive electric car. This would suit many millions of people. I’m looking forward to seeing these on the road. You know what though? Even better than this, you could ride an electric skateboard around, that’s what I’ve been doing with my kids. It’s been a lot of fun.
So one of the things I recommend to people who buy a second car is, maybe you don’t need that second car. Maybe instead of that, you can get an electric bike, an electric scooter, or an electric skateboard.
