Alt Cat Expo 2007: OKA, the cheap, inexpensive, not pricey NEV
The OKA NEV booth at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo caught people's attention for one simple reason: a price tag of $7,500. The OKA neighborhood electric vehicle is an interesting little car - seriously unhip, cheap and ready for you today. The details are not that great - 20 mile range, 25 mph top speed - but there's reason to believe that Miro Kefurt is on to something here. Make is simple and sell it today. He tells it best, so watch the video to hear the history of how this successor to the Yugo ended up as a zero-emission vehicle in the U.S. There's more information on the car here.
UPDATE: Thanks to reader jg3, I've added a video of the Lada OKA's crash test after the jump.
Gallery: OKA NEV
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kardax 9:11PM (10/24/2007)
I kinda like this guy. He's funny, intelligent, and has clearly spent a lot of time here based on his excellent English.
The product still suffers from the usual NEV problems (not cost competitive versus used cars, I can't legally leave my driveway with one, etc)
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Sebastian Blanco 10:39PM (10/24/2007)
I liked him, too. I just turned the camera on and he launched into this spiel. Very entertaining. More videos from Santa Monica coming in the next day or two...
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Phil L. 7:45AM (10/25/2007)
While an NEV doesn't help me at the moment - I like this car. It doesn't have the "tarted up golf cart" feel to it, and the price tag doesn't scare people off.
I hope they find a good market for this car!
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dv 9:37AM (10/25/2007)
This is very interesting. The YUGO is baaaaack. If you look at their web site, particularly their "products" page:
http://www.okaauto.com/products.htm
You'll see they seem to want to sell the "Yugo" shell anyway they can - they have a tuned Rally vehicle with an traditional ICE. They even spin SUV to mean Small Universal Vehicle. An a-la-carte options menu too . . . very interesting.
I'm not sure what to think. It seems to be a whole new approach to selling a car - on one hand it seems desperate (lets sell this thing no matter how we can reimagin it) and on the other hand it demonstrates some economies of scale (here one shape/form, lets put and EV or ICE in there, then cut out the back a little and add a box).
The only real issue I think I see is the fact that the car itself is still 10 to 15 years old in design. I know as an NEV its not subject to crash testing and all that, but it still an old design. Are they going to revisit the structure of the vehicle to improve it or are they sticking with the designs they bought from Yugo?
It will be interesting to see where this goes - it has the potential to remain a cheap desperate excuse for a new car, yet it has the potential of getting the foot in the door and moving forward.
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Tush 11:26AM (10/25/2007)
How hard would it be to modify NEV's to go a bit faster? I'd be more comfortable with a vehicle that could top out at 35-40mph
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Phil L. 12:30PM (10/25/2007)
Tush -
Modifying the car isn't the problem: It's the legalities of the situation. Faster vehicles need to comply with safety regulations (crash testing, airbags, crumple zones, etc.) that NEVs generally can't meet.
If you modify your NEV to go 40 - and don't get caught (or have an accident) - good for you. But if a bunch of people do it, there will quickly be a crackdown. So NEV makers have been careful to include speed controllers in their designs.
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jg3 3:15PM (10/25/2007)
I used to work in Russia and these little cars were all over. Dirt cheap and still not a good deal. The gas models were known to last only 50-60,000 kilometers before the thing fell apart. They were the Dollar Store disposable razor of the Russian auto scene.
And about as safe as letting your infant suck on Chinese toys.
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jg3 3:25PM (10/25/2007)
Here's a crash test. (In Russian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UaLXp0iDuU
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Sebastian 4:49PM (10/25/2007)
jg3 -
thanks for finding that video. I've added it to the main post.
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