Awesomely Weird Alibaba EV of the Week: Adult-sized off-road go-kart!

So many of the fun electric go-karts I’ve found while window-shopping on Alibaba have been of the child-sized variety. To be fair, I’m not opposed to folding my body in ways it shouldn’t in service of a good time, but it’d be nice to get the same experience while maintaining full blood flow to the extremities.

That’s where today’s find comes in, as a full-size electric go-kart that adults can enjoy, too! It’s both awesome and weird, but perhaps for once, this week’s honoree of the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week is more of the former and less of the latter!

I know everyone wants to see it in action, so I’ve embedded a video of the kart at the end of this article. But before you make it all the way down there, let me hit you with the specs.

If the product page is to be believed, this four-wheeled wonder can hit a maximum speed of 30 km/h (18.8 mph) with two-wheel drive, and it rolls on 16-inch tires.

At 1.8 meters long, the go-kart is just a hair under 6 feet—compact enough to stay nimble but spacious enough that adult riders won’t have to fold themselves up like an intense game of Twister. I’m all for getting bent into shape in the name of fun, but I usually save that for Saturday nights.

Powering the buggy is a 60V and 20Ah lead acid battery. At 60V, they aren’t skimping on some low-end power drill electrical system. You’re definitely going to get some peppy performance out of this thing. That’s the same voltage my smallest electric tractor uses.

The lead acid batteries are likely a bit heavy, helping contribute to that 190 kg (420 lb) curb weight. However, I don’t think anyone is going to try to take the checkered flag at Le Mans in this thing. For something that most people would use for tooling around in their backyard or local trail network, I’m sure it’s adequate.

For bumps, it looks like we’ve got independent front suspension and rear swingarm suspension. The entire battery weight appears to sit above the rear axle, so I don’t think this is going to offer a buttery smooth ride, but it’s better than shaking your teeth out on a fully-rigid kart. And there’s also a lap belt to help hold you into the seat and prevent a major bump from launching you into the stratosphere.

By now, I’m sure you’re pretty much sold on this thing, though you shouldn’t be. Like all of my Alibaba articles, these are fun finds but I don’t recommend anyone actually try to buy one.

If you do sidestep my advice though, you may be surprised to learn that the fun little kart is priced at a somewhat steep US $2,200, and that there’s a minimum order quantity of 2 units. That’s fine by me, though, as who would ever want just one of these? It’s not a two-seater, so to bring a friend you’ll need a second vehicle instead of just compacting their vertebrae in the passenger seat. There does appear to be a two-seater version available (seen below), but why not race your friends instead of torturing them next to you?

And finally, as promised, I’ll finish things off with a video of the go-kart in action.

I’m not sure why it occasionally looks like some of the wheels don’t know what the others are doing, but it still seems like it’d be a lot of fun in the right setting – which is probably not a course slightly larger than a slot-car track at the factory’s showroom.