Anybody Hear about these guys?

The link says buy it now. Says made in Europe. I think if this was real we'd have heard of it. Long-range EVs available in Europe today? Nope. I suspect a scam. There's nothing about them in the current issue of CurrentEVents. Nothing at any of the recent auto shows.

But there's a toll-free number on their web site. Phone them and see how they sound. Ask when you could take delivery. Tell them you'd pay cash on the line but you want a test drive before you give them any money. Might be amusing.

 

They didn't say where in Europe. Could it be East Germany (think Trebant) or Czechoslovakia (think Yugo). If I was spending the money, I'd want to know the actual factory location.

 

I'd also want to know if the car actually existed, or was a pure scam: send them your money and get nothing but an email that says "Thanks, sucker!"

 

Electric Motor Cars Offer Electric Two-seat Pickups - Auto News - Truck Trend

and a bit more:
http://www.dacianews.com/

 

A French designed vehicle built by Romanian workers? Interesting.

 

The Yugo was of course made in Yugoslavia.

 

Is that different than Czechoslovakia? :madgrin:

 

here's the skinny: I am romanian and had one of the dacias during communism when i lived there...
it is a piece of crap built under license in romania starting in the 70's based on the Renault12... they still make them, with cosmetic changes and add-ons that don't work such as a/c and power locks, today, and they sell them for 4-5k euro to romanians nostalgic for communism, to iran, mexico and some south american countries.
you can see them on the streets of tehran in any anti-government demonstration videos; they do burn well when used as barricades though.
the latest EV inncarnation seems to be another one of those experiments after they tried loading them with VW, Renault, Opel diesel and other powertrains, they tried a cross-country beefed up suspension version - that was worse than the sedan, etc.

the romanian govt had been trying to export to the US since communism; they had some ARO (suv) dealerships (that turned out to be scams and money-laundering fronts for the CIA/KGB/Securitate types) and now they're paying hard money to greedy journalists in order to get some favorable press in car magazines in europe and even here.

note (for entertainement value) that one of the models in the late 80's was the Dacia CN1, named after the now-executed dictator, Ceausescu Nicolae

stay away at all costs!

 

From the link:

A typical 220-volt dryer circuit in the U.S. is breakered at 30 amps. 220 v X 30 a = 6.6 kW. In 3 hours you'd get just under 20 kWh of charge if there was no charging loss. At 4 miles per kWh (which would be very good) you'd have a range of 80 miles.

No way is this car going to fill up a 260-mile charge in 3 hours on a normal U.S. home 220-volt circuit.

At 4 mi/kWh a 260-mile range would require 65 kWh, which would take ten hours on an American 220-v dryer circuit. I'd have no problem with that, but the article is offering disinformation. And FWIW, at 120 volts, where the typical U.S. home circuit is breakered at 20 amps, you get 2.4 kW, so 65 kWh would take 27 hours, not the 8 hours the article claims!

 

It's a french car even if made in the East European country.
DACIA is a cheap RENAULT.
DACIA = Think big, Pay little

 

Hello

a lot has changed in many decades with multiple car companies. In fact the chasis for the electric motor car is one of the most affordable and robust vehicles on the road in Europe. Also the 7 passenger wagon is one of the top selling wagons in France and Germany. These are very nice vehicles as gas, diesel, or electric. Also they are way ahead on their emissions on the ice versions.

These vehicles successfully passed crash tests in the US and the electric 7 passenger station wagon passed the first spec 4 electric vehicle crash test in America.

Theses vehicles do indeed provide a solid quality platform for an affordable family of all electric vehicles.

The smaller car companies like envision are the ones pushing alternative transportation because they have less red tape than the large automakers and are driven to think more about niche markets instead of selling millions of cars.

Make no mistake, I've personally driven this family of electric motor cars, they are here and they are real, and they will shake up the game.

=nawlinsprius;1089898]here's the skinny: I am romanian and had one of the dacias during communism when i lived there...
it is a piece of crap built under license in romania starting in the 70's based on the Renault12... they still make them, with cosmetic changes and add-ons that don't work such as a/c and power locks, today, and they sell them for 4-5k euro to romanians nostalgic for communism, to iran, mexico and some south american countries.
you can see them on the streets of tehran in any anti-government demonstration videos; they do burn well when used as barricades though.
the latest EV inncarnation seems to be another one of those experiments after they tried loading them with VW, Renault, Opel diesel and other powertrains, they tried a cross-country beefed up suspension version - that was worse than the sedan, etc.

the romanian govt had been trying to export to the US since communism; they had some ARO (suv) dealerships (that turned out to be scams and money-laundering fronts for the CIA/KGB/Securitate types) and now they're paying hard money to greedy journalists in order to get some favorable press in car magazines in europe and even here.

note (for entertainement value) that one of the models in the late 80's was the Dacia CN1, named after the now-executed dictator, Ceausescu Nicolae

stay away at all costs![/QUOTE]

 

Ilikeevs,

:welcome: to PRIUSchat.

By chance, are you associated with Envision, or anyone else connected
with the manufacture, importing, or sales of these vehicles in any way
what so ever?

If so, it would be best to say so up front, and folks will welcome your
input.

If something like this were to come out later, posters tend to be rather
scathing in their criticism/scorn.

If not, how is it you know so much about these little-known vehicles?

 

Do you really want us to believe that a Romanian car that none of us (except someone from Romania) has ever heard of, is "one of the most affordable and robust vehicles on the road in Europe"??????

I have nothing against Romania. And unlike our Romanian friend, I have nothing against communism.

HOWEVER

Romania is not known as a producer of quality automobiles, and the claims being made for these vehicles are so great, that nobody who knows anything about EVs is going to believe them without independent testing. 260 miles is greater than the Tesla Roadster, and that car is nearly all batteries. And the claimed charging times for the Romanian car violate the laws of physics.

How about these guys loan one of their cars to a reputable car magazine for testing? Oh, and while you're at it, please post a link to the crash test results from a recognized authority.

And as Rokeby said, if you're affiliated with these guys, welcome to Prius Chat, and maybe you can give us some hard information. But I warn you, we want documentation, not just empty claims.

 

Romanians are known to do that; I am one of them :usa2:

 

Glad to see this is a friendly forum. Believe what you want. I just wanted to give some information.
Sorry.
Good bye.

 

Hmmm...

Turn tail and run.
That I didn't expect.

Daniel,

You're such a big bully!

You need a new avatar.
May I suggest:




Or perhaps:

 

I would suggest that "affordable" and "robust" usually occupy different ends of the spectrum when applied to consumer products.

 

Any way I can get that antenna mod done for my Prius?