Baojun isn’t known by many, but it is one of GM’s multiple brands sold in China. Recently, though, the Baojun brand took the limelight with its $5,300 electric car: the E100.
We covered the car’s debut back in July, but recently it’s garnered quite a bit of attention with its affordable price tag and quirky styling. So, we’re back to ask if GM has any business building a super affordable electric car like this for the United States.
Foremost, that affordable price comes from some major differences in vehicle engineering. The Baojun E100 would almost certainly not pass more stringent U.S. safety regulations, though we’re simply inferring that. Selling a car for $5,300 means costs must be cut somewhere.
Additionally, the United States is a much more expansive place. Americans may be moving back to cities, but they still love to travel. The Baojun E100 boasts a 96-mile range before it needs to be recharged. That figure isn’t even enough to make the trek from east Michigan to the western side of the state.
But, it could be a game changer for inner-city transportation. As cars move to become more an on-demand kind of transportation service, the footprint of the Baojun E100 is preferable.
What say you? Would something like the Baojun E100 find success in the United States? Vote in our poll and discuss the matter in the comment section below.
Comments
It looks like a Smart For2 or a Toyota (Scion) IQ.
It is better than a NEV because it is a complete EV, but it must pass state laws on its safety features before allowed on state roads. Those who live in cities will benefit from ist small size and economy. At least someone may offer it as a Maven or a rental car.
I can imagine this being introduced as the Buick Encore Micro in the United States and at under $10K would be great for families would might want a second car to go grocery shopping or for those who work in the city.
This car could also be an autonomous loaner or taxi, slide a credit card to pay before telling the computer where you would like to go.
No because all these these small cars in America are set for failure.
Smart, IQ, Spark are all failures along with a long list of others here.
Second it is useless to city people until there is more convenient and accessible charging for people who have do Garage or driveway and that is not going to happen soon.
The EV car is more in the sights of suburban commuters till more charging is available.
“Useful for city people’ is one of two markets. imho the suburbs are much more important; other than commuting, 5-10 mile a day trips are unadvoidabe – there is no appreciable public transportation to get you to the grocery store or movies.
Tesla is successfully in selling all-electric cars for two reasons:
1. Elon Musk as CEO has the fame of a Silicon Valley wonder boy – whatever he touches, turns into gold.
2. The strategic choice to begin not with small cars, but with the luxury class: when all-electric cars are still significantly more expensive and with shorter autonomy range than petrol burning ones, let’s start with cars for people who are used to pay for a car which is useless for the daily commute, for a vacation trip with all the family, or to drive from NewYork to, say, Detroit. He who buys a Ferrari as second car may also invest in a luxury electric car as showcase some exotic property.
So what is your point? Would you prefer an import company did so?
1. We’re killing our planet. And so a simple answer is YUP.
2. Cars young people can afford on stagnant wages? YUP.
3. I know this will make motorcycle types cringe — but I believe bikes are simply too dangerous. My neighbor has three kids who will grow up without a dad because of a motorcycle. If bike highways existed, sure, but they have no business being anywhere near cars. These cars should replace bikes as affordable alternative transport and be considered ‘safe enough’ considering how unsafe bikes are. So YUP.
Not Sure . For cities like New York or Chicago or any metropolitan city most people rely on public transportation to get to work and parking a car is expensive in cities like Manhatten . And most of these people probably would pay more to even find someplace to park it than what the car is even worth .
Our infrastructure needs to be updated for these type of vehicles , and that process is a long way off . This is just a Chinese built mini-car that GM would have to re-badge for consumers to even look at it .
GM has to many vehicles that they build and with the competition as severe as it is needs to either start to dominate in certain segments or downsize as a car manufacturer .
well if you take the Chinese sales data into consideration then it would be a no-brainer for the US to adopt such a cheap alternative to combustion engines. Check out this article, it explains exactly how chinas middle class have already fallen in love with the E100 https://wattev2buy.com/gm-light-ev-industry-2018-baojun-e100/
I don’t think this would sell well In a country full of oversized, under used, and mostly empty SUVs and trucks…
Vehicles like these are perceived as unpractical for your average 50 mile round trip daily commute.
What if on my way I need to drive an extra 50 miles somewhere?
What if I need to take my kids school, or to daycare?
What about groceries?
Etcetera…
This probably wouldn’t get me very far on some winter days. Most of the time, the roads are fine, but sometimes the road crews just can’t keep up and you really need something more capable than this to get you were you are going. That is why I have a 4×4 jeep; it seats four and a half, and it has plenty of cargo room.
With that in mind, I would absolutely buy one of these…
The real value in vehicles like these are as a second or third vehicle. Nine times out of ten, my jeep has only one occupant (me), goes less than 50 miles per day, and is not in 4 wheel drive. In other words this $6,000 throwaway car would be more than adequate most of the time.
Realistically, I think most families would be quite well served by having two of these and a third well equipped people hauler.
Being enclosed it’s certainly more practical than two-wheeled transportation, and as a second car it takes up less parking space on streets and in driveways. If it’s offered at anything close to that $6,000 price, hell yes, I would seriously consider it!
An important question is, can it be driven on the freeway? If not, then it’s unlikely to work in US.
Does it need to? One could simply buy/use such a car only in the city… with no intention of taking it on the highway much.
“Much” is the key word. Most commuting is done by freeway. If not freeway legal, that would limit to “only in the city” as you say. Imho, few Americans would buy in that case.
Agreed. Much is indeed the key word.
These would be intended more for city use, much like smart cars. I’m sure one could take one on the highway… much like you could take a smart car on the highway. Whether doing so would result in a decent driving experience is a whole different story.
Yes because is the best