US man bought cheap electric pickup truck from China on Alibaba and this is what turned up
- A man in Florida bought a cheap truck from Alibaba
- He paid less than $2,000 for the pickup truck
- The truck is small and agile, but it isn’t street-legal
Published on Nov 07, 2024 at 1:19 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Nov 22, 2024 at 8:01 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
This Florida man bought a super cheap electric truck from China on Alibaba.
Let’s start with the good news because there is some.
The ‘package’ did arrive, and it did have a truck in it and not a pile of rocks.
The bad news is that the truck wasn’t street-legal.
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What $2,000 buys you on Alibaba
The truck in question is the Chang Li Explorer, and it is currently available from Alibaba for just $1,974.
For that price, you get a funky-looking truck with two seats, and A/C that works (sort of).
Micah Toll, the man behind the purchase and the EbikeSchool.com YouTube channel, said the truck was actually ideal.
In the clip, he explained that he bought the electric truck to use it as “a buggy” around his parents’ property in Florida, because they’ve got so much land you can’t possibly walk everywhere.
He said the small truck was perfect for that because it was agile and lightweight.
When buying sight unseen from China goes wrong
Things turned out just fine for this guy because he knew what he was buying, and he received the item exactly as described.
But that’s not always the case.
Another YouTuber actually spent $31,000 on an electric supercar from China but received a kei car instead.
For reference, kei car is more or less industry jargon used to describe cars like the one you see in the picture above, which is the smallest available type of passenger car.
They’re very popular in densely populated countries where the roads are busy and narrow.
There’s nothing wrong with a kei car, but there is something wrong if you order a supercar and receive one of those instead.
Fortunately for him, he did eventually get a refund.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
