My regular readers will know that I’ve got quite a thing for golf carts. They’ll also know that I write a regular weekly column finding the coolest (and sometimes weirdest) electric vehicles in the massive online shopping catalog that is Alibaba. So when those things collide, well, that’s what we call serendipity, folks! And that’s exactly what happened this week with the discovery of this fun Jeep-like electric golf cart!
It’s not the weirdest thing we’ve ever seen in the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column, but it certainly does look like something that would turn heads in your neighborhood.
That’s because, unlike the Club Car golf carts at the local gated retirement village, this bad boy looks more like a mini-Jeep or even a Moke-style vehicle.
It may have a bit of a comical countenance but don’t judge this buggy by its face. What’s under the hood is actually fairly impressive.
This mini-Jeep thing is powered by a 5 kW continuous-rated electric motor, which is actually more powerful than my 3 kW electric mini-truck that I use to tow my five-seater boat. That 5 kW motor even enables regenerative braking, making this golf cart extra efficient.
The battery is big enough, though that efficiency might not be that important. Under the front seat sits an utterly massive 9.2 kWh battery. The company says it is enough for a claimed 100 km (62 miles) of range, but I suspect that the range could be even higher. Considering the top speed is only 50 km/h (31 mph), you’re just not going to be draining that battery very quickly.
And to make things even sweeter, that battery is a LiFePO4 unit, meaning it will last more than twice as long as most other Li-ion batteries. It also has the added benefit of being essentially fireproof.
Speaking of imperviousness to the elements of nature, the powerful charger is listed as waterproof. On the face of things, that sounds a bit odd. It’s not like my first thought when the rain starts coming down is “Oh goodness, I better run out in this downpour with an extension cord in my hand to plug in my electric golf cart!”
But hey, I’m not going to complain about parts being overly ruggedized or waterproofed!
Plus, the electric golf cart even comes with a “humanized” electric instrument panel and three-point seat belts. I only know what one of those two things is, but I’ll take ’em both!
And all of this is available for just a measly $9,998 – which, now that I think about it, isn’t really that cheap since most golf carts in the US cost that much anyway.
But of course, then you’ll have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars in import taxes, tariffs, arrival charges, broker fees, customs fees, and sea freight to literally bring it over on the slow boat from China. So you’ll want to factor that into the price.
If you’re worrying about shipping – perhaps thinking, “How could they possibly send this to me halfway around the world without scratching the paint?” – then don’t worry. This isn’t their first rodeo, and they’ve got things covered – literally. The vehicle comes with its very own sheet of foam wrapping, so you can rest assured that your new pride of a buggy will arrive with its shiny paint job intact.
Some real talk about Alibaba
As usual, let me add a little disclaimer here: It’s fun to window shop for all of these fun and weird vehicles online, but I don’t recommend anyone actually try to order one. Sure, I’ve done it myself several times. And a few people have followed in my footsteps. But it’s a major risk, and you never know if you’re going to get ripped off, either on purpose or on accident.
While most of my purchases have gone well, I finally had my own horror story occur on a recent major purchase (which just happened to be my most expensive Alibaba purchase to date). The long story short is that what showed up in the 2,300-pound shipping crate is most certainly not what I paid a large sum of money for, but that’s another story coming for another day.
Suffice it to say that we should all enjoy looking at these fun and weird things, but I’m not suggesting anyone actually open their wallet.
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