Over the past few years, I’ve had a lot of fun diving into Alibaba’s online electric car catalog, finding some weird and futuristic electric car gems for this weekly column. But never before have we seen something as elegant looking as this replica of the early automotive era, complete with all the bells and whistles you could want in a Chinese knockoff. And that makes it the perfect choice for this week Amazingly Awesome Alibaba Electric Car of the Week!

This vintage electric car rolled out of a 100-year-old time capsule straight into my heart.

For a reasonable $10,000 (at least compared to the most electric car prices these days), it can roll into your heart and driveway too!

It won’t get there very quickly, at least not at its top speed of 30 km/h (18 mph).

But if you have a car like this, you’ll want to drive slowly to make sure everyone has a good view. This is a car for cruising around Sunday morning parades, not picking up rose petals on a Saturday night.

alibaba roadster car

You might want to count those few miles too, as an old-fashioned lead-acid battery takes 8 hours to fully charge after 80 km (50 miles) of range is used up.

Hey, the options are fast, beautiful, and cheap. Choose two.

Speaking of options, I’m not sure it comes with many in the traditional sense, but it still seems like it arrives nicely dressed. This five-seater Monopoly car comes fully equipped for a great fun ride, even if it’s a slower ride.

Your $10,000 bank transfer gets you white wall tires on wire wheels, hydraulic brakes, enough headlights to blind a deer forever, a vintage horn, fenders for days, a leather interior that looks pretty comfortable (but also feels , which can protect your feet on a hot summer day), a folding Bimini top and more! The color option is even listed as “car color” so you know it’s good.

I just don’t think you can find a nicer set of wheels in all of China for this price!

I often joke about the design choices and build quality of many of these Alibaba EVs, but this one actually pleasantly surprised me.

They seem to have outdone themselves with the attention to detail of this fun little classic electric car.

It might not be super fast or powerful, but it sure looks like a million bucks despite costing only ten grand.

That being said, you shouldn’t expect this reliable subcompact to be in your driveway in just ten years. I bought my electric mini truck from China last yearit came with several thousand dollars in additional import duties, taxes, and shipping costs.

Speaking of shipping, it looks like the Alibaba supplier has it well thought out, based on images of the shipments shared on product page. They’re ready to take it apart a bit, box it up, and ship this awesome little electric roadster.

And lest you think for a minute that the supplier isn’t serious about this little Alibaba electric roadster, they’ve put those issues to rest.

Just check out the video of the car in action below! Unless they took a video of it going down, then it looks functional to me!

What do you think? Could a classic Alibaba EV be in your future? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

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https://electrek.co/2022/10/15/weird-alibaba-chinese-electric-car-roadster/