Man drives $8K Chinese micro EV to see how it fares with everyday city driving and delivers his verdict

Forget squeezing into a parking spot when you’re city driving- this tiny Chinese micro EV looks like it could practically fit in your living room.

YouTuber Everything Electric APAC took the Astraux AL7 Pro out for a spin in China to find out whether its adorable looks hide a genuinely useful city car.

The tiny two-seater is heading for Europe with the Citroën Ami in its sights, but it brings some surprisingly grown-up features along for the ride.

And after taking it out on the road, the YouTuber revealed what this little electric runabout can do.

The $8K Chinese micro EV packs a lot into a tiny package

The Astraux AL7 Pro is a ridiculously small micro EV, measuring just 2.3 meters long, or around 7.5 feet, and 1.29 meters wide.

That makes it the sort of car that could probably squeeze into parking spaces other cars wouldn’t even consider.

But the tiny dimensions don’t mean it has been stripped back to the bare essentials.

The AL7 Pro gets electric windows, multiple cameras, parking sensors, a touchscreen, USB and USB-C ports, storage compartments and even a double-layer glass roof.

And then there’s one particularly important feature for anyone living somewhere with hot summers: air conditioning comes as standard.

Everything Electric APAC was testing the car in temperatures of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so having AC was a pretty big deal.

The AL7 Pro uses a 10 kWh LFP battery and can reach around 56 mph, while the smaller 5 kWh version is limited to around 28 mph, depending on the version, the claimed range is around 56 to 112 miles.

That extra speed is important because it makes the faster version much more capable on urban and suburban roads than something like the 28-mph Citroën Ami.

It also has a welded metal structure rather than the Ami’s tube-frame setup, according to the video, giving the tiny EV a more substantial feel.

The tiny EV goes out for a tiny spin

Once behind the wheel, the Astraux apparently proved that it wasn’t just a cute car-show curiosity.

The steering was light and responsive, while the brakes felt perfectly adequate for a vehicle of this size.

The throttle response wasn’t perfect, with the YouTuber noting that it felt a little sloppy, but he was impressed by how easily the car picked up speed.

The AL7 Pro could get to around 37 mph without much effort, and he said it had enough performance to make joining a faster road considerably less terrifying than it would be in a vehicle restricted to 28 mph.

That could be one of its biggest advantages over the Ami.

The air conditioning also performed well despite the hot conditions, although Everything Electric APAC estimated that using it could reduce the range by around 10-15 percent.

The cabin isn’t exactly luxurious, with plenty of hard plastic and seats that are better suited to shorter journeys.

For city driving, the combination of its tiny footprint, useful technology, and surprisingly capable performance seems to make a lot of sense.

And that’s ultimately what makes the AL7 Pro so interesting because, rather than trying to turn a tiny EV into a miniature luxury car, Astraux has focused on making something genuinely useful for urban driving.

With the AL7 Pro expected to head to Europe, it could give the long-established Citroën Ami some very serious competition.

And if Everything Electric APAC’s first experience of city driving is anything to go by, this little Chinese micro EV could be one of the more interesting microcars to hit European roads.