There’s something fun about trademark infringement reproducing retro-looking vehicles in an electric form factor. You get all of the exciting, old school design vibes that today’s automotive culture is sorely lacking, yet in a modern vehicle that doesn’t require two hours of wrenching for every hour of driving.
And this awesome-looking reproduction of a 60’s VW bus is a perfect example. Well, except for the fact that Alibaba’s finest EV engineers seem to have given the bus a feature that I don’t think came standard back in the day.
In addition to be a working, drivable electric van, this reproduction VW-styled EV also seems to do double duty as an electric food truck.
It’s designed with a pop top that opens up for extra head room (for adults) and a drop down bar that turns into a serving counter.
The interior is mostly bare, allowing proprietors to fill it with whatever kitchen equipment they want. It could be a taco truck, a 60’s malt shop on wheels, or as our graphics guy seems to believe, a mobile dog food restaurant.
I’m not sure how he expects me to collect payment from these pooches, but I’m not tossing out the business plan just yet.
And the kicker is that the awesome little electric bus only costs a mere $2,000! For that price, how can you afford not to start your own ice cream/dog food truck?
If you’re thinking this is too good to be true, then think again. The vendors were surely aware that our western audience here might be suspicious of whether or not this e-VW was the real deal, and so they made sure to include a video of it in action.
The listing doesn’t come with a top speed, but the video doesn’t make it look like thing moves very fast. I’ve seen pedal-powered coffee carts move faster.
But then again, a food truck this good looking shouldn’t scoot along too fast or people won’t be able to enjoy the view!
I can’t exactly vouch for the quality of this thing, but it certainly is comforting to see the spec sheet list included features such as “4 road wheels” and “long service life”.
The one-year warranty doesn’t exude confidence, nor does fact that the warranty only covers “core components”.
I guess if the motor falls off then you’re covered, but if a mirror falls off then that’s on you.
To be fair, this thing looks like it’s designed to spend 99% of its service life parked, which should be pretty easy on the components. As long as you can push, pull, shove or tow it into place, it’s going to look pretty awesome at its destination.
Something tells me it isn’t going to be street-legal on US streets though, and so that towing option might be a good one to keep in your back pocket.
But if you ever wanted to get started with your own food truck or coffee cart, this would at least be a pretty eye-catching way to do it. I can’t recommend free dog food as a business model, but I hear hipsters and instagrammers pay top dollar for unique coffee experiences these days. It’s hard to be more unique than this!
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