At the beginning of 2021 tesla model 3 lost its leadership among the best-selling electric vehicles

 in the world in this ranking it had to give way to the small chinese hatchback wuling hongwang

 mini ev which in just a few months managed to gather a whole army of loyal fans in its

 homeland now how did that happen we will tell you in this review

 sales began in july 2020 and within the first 20 days the mini ev manufacturer received

  15000 orders for six months this number increased eight fold and amounted to 120000 cars

 and according to the results during the first two months of 2021 the chinese baby became the

 best-selling electric car in the world leaving behind the permanent leader tesla model 3.

 such impressive sales dynamics were made possible by the unprecedentedly low price of this

 electric car just over four thousand two hundred dollars in the basic version and about 5.5 000 in

the improved configuration for comparison the price of the tesla model 3 in the domestic car

 market in china is about 42000 which is 10 times more expensive than the mini ev but did the

 price only provoke explosive interest in the mini ev in the middle kingdom in fact there are

 several reasons first because the chinese had the opportunity to buy either expensive models of

 electric cars or super cheap electro capsules at a price of about one thousand to fifteen

 hundred dollars they did not need a driver's license the budget niche of electric cars was not

 represented by anything worthy and the mini ev was finally offered not surprisingly middle-

income chinese and young people started buying this car in masses secondly for more than 10

 years in china there has been an active campaign to popularize electric vehicles since 2010 the

 government has provided subsidies to buyers of green vehicles although the program has

 gradually phased out over the years the chinese have already accepted that electric cars are not

 exotic but convenient as well as economical thus in the country there are state benefits for the

 purchase of electric vehicles on credit  discounts are being actively introduced  for the payment

 of parking lots and road tolls the mini ev falls under all of these programs thirdly residents of

 chinese megalopolises have long shown a demand for a cheap electric car which gives an

 opportunity to comfortably move through city traffic jams and park in a minimal area the mini ev

 was finally able to satisfy the needs of the motorists who do not care about high speed and

 special comfort but need maneuverability compactness and a sense of their own space in the city

 traffic of people and cars and yet how exactly did the mini ev maker managed to get into the

 heart of chinese motorists so deftly the angular if not clumsy appearance of this kid reminiscent

 of japanese k cars with a characteristic cubic design played with a length of 2.9 meters and a

 width of 1.5 meters the mini ev really looks like a cube from a children's construction set

 to which miniature wheels are attached the technical equipment is quite consistent with this

 appearance the 13 kilowatt electric motor produces only 17.4 horsepower and provides a

 maximum speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour very modest but in busy chinese metropolises

 it is not often possible to accelerate even to 50.

 Despite its apparent simplicity the mini ev can hardly be called a primitive mini car the

 manufacturer did not equip the electric car with steering wheel adjustments a glove compartment

 or rear seats with head restraints the trunk of a car is more like a mini safe nevertheless the car is

 equipped with such useful options as abs wheel pressure sensors rear parking sensor power

 windows a stereo system and even air conditioning albeit very very weak the most technological

 element of the mini ev is the intelligent control system and preheating of the battery at low

 temperatures the manufacturer made sure that the battery status can be monitored in a special

 mobile application from a smartphone it is important to note that the battery itself is very low

 power the charge is designed for a distance of up to 120 kilometers in the basic version and up to

 170 kilometers in the top end configuration however in the mode of urban operation it is no

 longer necessary especially when you consider that the electric car can be charged from an

 outlet in your own garage or at one of the charging stations that are ubiquitous in chinese cities

it is interesting to know that it took only 12 months from the development of the concept to mass 

production of the mini ev the success of this best seller in such a short time is due to the efficient 

operation of the joint venture sake motor liu xiaowuling motors and general motors the global auto 

giant's involvement has allowed chinese manufacturers to keep pace with world leaders like tesla in 

electrification and has helped accelerate vehicle production with proven technology

this partly allowed the price to be drastically reduced in fact the mini ev used the same

developments that general motors has long and successfully applied in its main lineup if you add to this 

the cheap labor the simplest finishing materials the lack of complex electronic filling

and the chinese government subsidies to the manufacturers of electric vehicles then the ncredibly low 

cost of the mini ev becomes quite natural despite booming sales in china the mini ev is unlikely to be 

seen on american and european roads limited top speed low speed low power and an unusual japanese

style will become the main obstacle of this car for resale in europe and america in china where 

thousands of queues lined up behind this mini car from the first day

 the mini ev will certainly continue to break records china already accounts for 50 percent of

all electric vehicle sales globally and by 2035 the government expects electric and hybrid vehicles to 

account for half of its new vehicle fleet all in all it looks like the mini ev inchina has a great future 

would you dare to buy such an electric car for city trips .