Chinese car manufacturer Wuling has seen a massive success with their Hongguang MINI electric car that has been backed by General Motors. They have already received a staggering 50,000 orders for their pint sized car since its launch in July thanks to a starting price of just $4,100 (£3,125 /€3,465). It also became the first mini electric car to reach 10,000 orders in such a short period of time.
The Hongguang MINI comes with a 13 kWh battery pack and this small battery pack offers a range of up to 170 kilometres. As mentioned, this is a small car measuring just 2,917 mm long, 1,493mm wide and 1,621mm tall. It might appear tiny and only offer a meagre range compared to some electric cars, but when you consider the practicalities of having a such a small car in big cities, and such a low cost from new, it opens electric car ownership to a massive audience.
While smaller cars like this are already popular China, it will be good to see if the rest of the world wakes up to the practicalities of owning such a practical electric car that is so cheap to buy from new. It’s the ideal small car for shorter commuting trips and doing the shopping. Wuling say that the Hongguang MINI will be on available to foreign markets in the future.
