Miles XS 500: the $30000 all-electric sedan?

While a number of fancier all-electric automobiles have still not yet hit the streets en masse, quite a few companies are already looking at the prospects of bringing plug-in cars to a wider range of individuals. One of those folks would be Miles Rubin, who apparently hopes that his "$30,000 Miles XS 500" can deliver the gas-shunning attributes we crave sans the outrageous price tag. Reportedly, the sedan would sport a "top speed of 80 miles-per-hour and a range of 120-miles at 60 miles-per-hour," and the costs would seemingly be kept down thanks to low Chinese manufacturing costs. Of course, Rubin has yet to utter a date in which he expects these Chinese-constructed motorcars to pass our inspections (and earn our trust), and while a low-cost electric whip sounds enticing in theory, we're going to need a bit more evidence that this thing can survive some form of collision before we remove our skepticism caps.

[Via AutoblogGreen, thanks Nick]

[Twitchy @ Aug 16th 2007 7:19AM]

Soooo enticing - all you need then is some (unfortunately expensive) whisper quiet tyres and you can sneak up on cyclists/horses/secret agents in their Aston Martin combustion powered (read: state of the Arch) spy-mobile.

[bombastinator @ Aug 16th 2007 7:22AM]

Ah. "low labor costs". I suppose that upholstery looks tighter when it's stitched by tiny tiny hands.

[flamezheath @ Aug 20th 2007 12:39PM]

WTF is with the racism?

[bombastinator @ Aug 20th 2007 1:03PM]

um.. do you read the news?

Child slave labor is a recurrent problem in China. There have been several arrests, Which means there is a great deal more. The Chinese government has openly admitted that their enforcement programs are unacceptably lax.

[PJK @ Aug 16th 2007 7:22AM]

A chinese constructed all electric car? Are you out of your mind, I wouldn't want to be within 50 square miles of one.

[steve @ Aug 16th 2007 10:06AM]

yes, driving around with a trunk full of lithium-ion batteries could be considered an act of terrorism. It sure does scare me.

[Miles Pulsford @ Aug 16th 2007 7:25AM]

If this passes inspections, I bet it doesn't fare very well. That 120 mile range is a bummer. It would still have its uses, but I bet it doesn't turn out to be very popular.

Those plug-in hybrids in the CNN article will steal the show. Same idea, only it can be recharged by gasoline.

[Gil @ Aug 16th 2007 7:39AM]

Really I think these would be wildly popular in Europe where people live in big cities rather than the US. Only urban america might buy it and rural america will mock it not understanding what it's for

[Ak @ Aug 16th 2007 7:37AM]

does this car come with or without lead paint?

[boycott cheena @ Sep 7th 2007 1:51PM]

junk, like everything else from cheena

[fox @ Aug 16th 2007 9:25AM]

you gonna lick it or drive it??

[Fubar @ Aug 16th 2007 8:13AM]

Doesn't this thing look like a Ford with electrical tape over the grill insignia?

[Trevor @ Aug 16th 2007 8:46AM]

I just can't get excited about this if I try. There are too many hurdles to overcome before getting an all electric car out into production. Battery shipment and safety requirements, Chinese manufacturing (reliability), crash tests and lead paint (seems to be a problem over there, hehe), etc etc etc.

I just watched a two hour presentation by Martin Eberhard about the startup of his Tesla Motors. The trials and tribulation he and his co-workers had to overcome just to keep the project above water are astounding. Though I don't have much hope for Miles' car, I surely wouldn't be disapointed if he succeeds. His would be another nameplate to eventually replace the more stubborn petrol manufacturers...

[Kimosabi @ Aug 16th 2007 8:51AM]

To add to AK, lead paint, fully body crumple zones, exploding batteries, faulty tires/tyers... just to name a few. When it comes to Chinese products, cheap doesn't just mean price.

[fox @ Aug 16th 2007 9:39AM]

dont know abt the ford. but we have a car called the INDICA here in INdia that has the same smiling grill and very similar headlights!! Globalization!!

[johnzilla @ Aug 16th 2007 9:54AM]

If it was easy to do, one of the existing car companies would have already done it (American, Japanese, German, Korean, whatever).

Contrary to popular myth, big companies (even big car companies) are not stupid, they're just slow. If this kind of car could be produced and sold for $30K and would actually be bought by enough people to make it worthwhile to produce, it would be on the market already.

Car companies want to make money. They really do. Nobody's proven there's a market for these cars, though, and few companies or people are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars and 2-3 years on a gamble. Remember...Toyota just spent $1 billion to build a brand new plant in America to build big trucks, not the Prius. I'm not saying big trucks are good and the Prius is bad, I'm pointing out that media hype != actual market.

Anyone who thinks it is easy to mass produce a safe, reliable car that people will buy and the government will let you sell, regardless of powertrain, is welcome to jump in and try. And that's not even acknowledging the customization aspect of mass production...every vehicle coming off the line is different than the one before it and the one after it. Tour a major automotive assembly plant (for any manufacturer) if you don't agree.

[feckineejit @ Aug 16th 2007 10:19AM]

We really need to stop making everything in China. If we got a real american made electric car we may get some *shock* pride from it.

[Channer @ Aug 16th 2007 10:44AM]

Has anyone else seen how poorly these cheap Chinese cars fare in crash tests? You'd be better off tweaking an electric golf cart than commuting in their death-traps. The electric running gear can only be so cheap...where do you think they cut corners?

I'm all for an all electric, plug-in ride...but not at the expense of safety.

[-Tj- @ Aug 16th 2007 5:06PM]

I just watched at least 3 videos last night of Chinese automobiles in offset front crash tests. They both failed. Miserably. So much so that the driver of the car would probably be dead [in a 40mph crash]. I don't care if this car was $3000, I wouldn't step foot in it.

[JBo @ Aug 16th 2007 11:10AM]

Crash tests and cheapo construction aside, I won't buy a car made in China because they are a brutal, human rights nightmare. Does anyone give a crap about that? We've farmed out our entire manufacturing base to an unethical, immoral government so that we can get cheap crap at the Wal-Mart. All the while spewing tons of pollution into the environment and destroying our own economy. I have no issue with buying goods made in other countries, as long as those countries are democratic, and have well defined and regulated labor laws.

Have you noticed how difficult it is to buy things that aren't made in China? It's an embarassment.

[the_mikehall @ Aug 16th 2007 11:49AM]

So... no one remembers the EV-1?

[Total Recall @ Aug 16th 2007 12:23PM]

2007 Alone:

http://xtimeline.com/business/Recent-History-of-Chinese-Product-Recalls

They can't handle manufacturing fans, battery packs for childrens' toy vehicles, lamps, extension cords, remote controls, bicycles, boom boxes, folding chairs, or tires. Sounds like a lot of car parts to me.

(Not to mention the easy stuff like Dog-food, toothpaste, candles, and stools. You know, pouring melted parafin into a mold can be pretty tricky.)

[Bee Hatch @ Aug 16th 2007 2:15PM]

I'm sure it's oil companies that have prevented the progression of electric cars in the past.

[Rick @ Aug 18th 2007 12:27PM]

Let's not forget in the 60's this is what was said of cars coming from Japan.

[aron @ Aug 20th 2007 11:31AM]

Everyone likes to bring up the stuff that have been recalled from China, but how about things that AREN'T recalled, like all your IPODS? Or how the massive Juniper routers? Or how about your Xboxes, and your playstations? Oh yeah, I forgot. There's also masses of Chinese made and designed American cars done by their Chinese divisions (such as Buick) which are generally accepted to be "not crap". There's definitely problems, but at least look at both sides of the coin.