My childhood in China involved me riding on my dad's bicycle. He sometimes carried a family of 4 by pedaling. On two separate occasions at age 3 and 5, my foot got caught in the front wheel and we all flipped over and my ankles got twisted badly. So while I love my $48K truck, I have to say that these little cars are luxury for the developing world. We can't compare these cheap cars to big fancy cars. They're meant to replace bicycles, mopeds, or cheap scooters for people working their way up. They're finally protected from weather and far more protected from small collisions.

CNN/BBC: .... but at what cost?

You can't even get a bicycle for $800 in North America, this keeps you dry and that is what it's intended purpose is !

This is why I keep telling my folks and friends in the States that I felt liberated in China immediately after only a few days of stay. It's a different kind of freedom that brings me back there repeatedly. It's not "lawlessness"as quoted here, it's a structured randomness called stochastics achievable only in Chinese culture and society.

So much fun to watch. Also: that mini Smart #1 looks fantastically cartoonish. 😂

Every income group should have ways in which to live dignified lives.

I believe these are legally classified as electric quadracycles, not cars

i'm glad you show the cultural aspect and context behind these vehicles, not just joking about it like the typical western media

Grand Tour should make a special with these cars😂

I absolutely LOVE these kind of interesting vehicles, maybe you should do chinnese farm trucks and farm tricycles next time

This is one of thr best videos I have ever seen made in China. It shows true soul of this place. So optimistic and about having joy in horrible world. Amazing.

It's amazing in value and a godsend to old folks in rural areas who are not looking for things you are looking for.

Eliot as always love all your hosted show, especially the one you did to northern border with an EV, eyes opener!

safer than a bike , better than a 2 cycle eng. no exhaust . for short trips perfect .... low cost and stay dry

Amazing presentation. Greetings from Tunisia.

Basically evolution of the tuktuk, rikshaw, kei cars etc.

this is hillarious! i want one! for farm use only

Those wheels look about 6 inches diameter. Very enjoyable video, thanks. 👍🏼

north america could never. love this channel

Idk man...$800 bucks? For that kind of mobility? It would make sense depending on where I needed to go and where I lived, especially for when I was young and didn't have money. Also you have protection from the elements..shoot I have a Onewheel that costs more than this thing and I'd probably get about the same speed but more protection.

I'm enjoying the new Elliot Richards on Lao Tou Le channel!

This is like a classic Top Gear cheap car challenge. God I wish we had classic TG back

This bringes back Top Gear memories from the Golden age 😅 Super content… you are unique 👍

These would be great for "contained communities" like golf resorts where the speed limits are usually less than 30 mph (more like 15 to 20mph). Kind of like a super deluxe golf cart. But for regular driving on roads with big cars and trucks it could potentially be very dangerous, especially considering their almost total lack of safety features... But small cars like this, in general, are a good idea for saving money for the consumer, assuming it had added safety features like GOOD brakes, seatbelts and slightly stronger construction.

Stan had the right of it when he said that the government should set a basic set of safety standards. Surely it would not cost that much more for manufacturers to make these very basic vehicles safe. Kind of surprising that the authorities turn something of a blind eye. Will be interesting to see if indeed they do ban them from 2026 onwards. Allowing for cultural differences, people are pretty much people wherever you go in the world. Given how popular laotoule are in parts of China, add in the relevant proper safety features, if you sold these or even set up pay as you go by the hour, ½ or 1 day service, I rather suspect they might be a runaway hit in crowded Asian and so-called 1st world countries. If you give people the choice of having something that just fits their needs rather than what has always been marketed to them as what's a 'minimum' & is in fact far more than that, suddenly they'll go, 'hang on a minute, maybe I'll try one of these instead', & suddenly they realise they have something that they just never knew they needed; landline telephones for mobile telephones after all are a great example. We've given up our landline as we found that we couldn't even remember when we last used it to make a call & almost never received any incoming calls on it anyway. After watching & listening to Fully Charged Show & yourself for many years, I've become much much more conscious of car size and I find myself taking a REALLY good look at what's on the local roads. Even in Swansea, a city that could hardly be considered 'crowded', lately I've noticed a phenomenal amount of really small 4 seater ICE, not much bigger or near to, the same size of a Wuling Mini. So it's not that much of a stretch to think that Laotoule would do well here, in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere outside of China.

My dad drives a $3000 lao tou le and it's awesome for in-town trips

omg, i love your quality content mate, you earned a subscriber here!

I'd buy half a dozen to display in my garden. So cute 🥰

This is the funest, the scariest, and the freest driving I have ever seen! If they ever sell one here even if it'll never be public road legal, I'll drop the money then and there!

is it really bad that i like the lao tou le "car"

As being said in the video, the vehicle is called “Lao tou le” - means “joy of old/stubborn/disabled old man”. These vehicles are not forbidden in many Chinese cities as they (or the drivers) don’t follow the traffic rules and thus caused too many accidents.

Absolutely brilliant!

Excellent insight into the real China

Isn't the Chang Li basically the same thing as these cars. A lot of car KZfaqrs are importing them and doing videos on them.

15:36 An Aston Martin DB9 as a newborn.

this costs cheaper than many electric bikes in western countries. at $800, this good or upscaled alternative to e-tricycles/long golf carts that are getting popular in our country. Airconditioning and getting protected from the elements is a big plus of this cheap EV over anything in this price range.

These are not cars, they are luxury scooters.

Chinese culture is just crazy to us Europeans need to experience it once 😊😂

I have been fascinated with Chinese cars and how weird they can be (90's Guangdong illegal imports for example) and its nice to see a great video on these cars!

13:53 a driving food house，yes this exist in China, confirm as a Chinese.

Stan is epic 👍🏽💪🏾 very good presenter

Those are essentially golf carts.

There are some pretty looking ones,caught a few in ur camera pans

Easy point A to point B mini car

i remember when you could buy an old vw golf for 3800. Auto too. now it costs £950+ for an old manual fiat.

You should really try and do a race day in these. I bet it would be fun... well actually it would be terrifying.

I saw a house on wheels 😂 at 13:51.

Now this was hilarious ! If these can be had for $/€800 what does that say about the €6000 Citroën Ami 🧐 Coming from Ireland where much of the country is rural and isolation becomes a genuine problem seperated by dangerous roads, there would be a lot of demand for weather protected heavy quads if the price was right. I've seen one too many elderly people in their 4 wheel rascal scooters getting caught out in the rain and children sometimes without their parents diving into hedgerows to avoid the speeding VW crossover around a blind corner carrying that kid's schoolmates.

For that price, that is a bargain

Slow speed streets -- allow this freedom and human density....

14:37 The price of this Wuling license plate is many times that of the car.

Definitely wont be able to climb a 50m 12 degree incline I have to take everyday.... Bummer. In spite of this, I love it if it can jack up the safety to 2.5/5.0 !!

I want

Costs less than a decent bicycle, I wouldn't complain at all. It'd be a great alternative to scooters in India

You can probably drive this INTO Walmart in America. Probably fits between the aisles.

Its a motorbike with shell 😅

I like that your co-host wears pajamas

They are vehicles that do the job at an affordable price and much less pollution.

I love the big smiling face

Ridiculous but so much fun.

A cultural bridge

I like them but the issue with all small EV’s now is that they drive on the pedestrian side walk. You walk and suddenly someone blow the horn behind you.

This things are exported to the Philippines, the popular one is the 3 wheel version, and yes any age can drive them without license they drive in the fast lane and changing lanes like a psycho causing accidents.

Amazing 🤩 Truly shows that electric transport is by far the most affordable way of getting around ⚡🔋🚗🔌 Keep up the great work in bringing us these stories of cars few in the West have heard of!

This could bring mobility revolution to Africa. That itself is however a national security risk to the US.

By “illegal”, does he mean, not street legal?

Old can also afford and enjoy China Dream not just the Yuppie.

Why the Narrator sound like Kai W?

Give it 5 years...

Just imagine have an accident on one of those toys.

They would be more interesting if they had gas powered motorcycle engines.

I would have liked if you had share there contact I'm trying to get a enclosed mobility scoooter

I want to be Stan’s friend

Golf Cart

I would like a small car, but even these are just way too small...

Golf cart for the rich, and some thing for the poor, is fare.

Yeah.....HELL NO!

Still vastly safer than an electric scooter bike for about the same price.

Does it have AC? lol

There were a lot of jokes about Japanese cars when the began conquering the American market and you see the results

they don't need to be and shouldn't be regulated more than a bicycle would be.

Cart - Rickshaw - Moped - Mini EV. It's the natural progression. Only those backward Westerners would want massive SUVs.

Chinese way to deal with the aging population:

#theskydoesn'tlie These small EVs are so dangerous even the Chinese government is banning them

when (if)arrive in italy, from 800 at 8000. Democratic price!

If only doughnut could modify and race these.

Get rid of western impact safety mandateress and let those who want safe vehicles make the informed adult choice to pay for them as we do with motorbikes. The nanny state is too expensive and despite nonsense to the contrary all life dies so what is really in question is individual longevity. Evolutions relies on death and the reward for great old age is a slow nasty demise vs. quick and easy in many fatal crashes so let the owner of each life choose how much safety they wish to purchase or install (roll cages etc).

💞Thanks💞 🌀☸️☯️🕉️🌀 Sino sphere 💚🐉🇨🇳🐉💚 💙🌀🇷🇺🌀💙 💓🌟🇰🇵🌟💓 💚🌻🇧🇾🌻💚

Don't worry guy, poor americans will buy cheap Chinese EV. It's depend on your budget.

Just one complaint... wearing the hat while indoors seems very strange Mr Elliot,

What's the title supposed to mea3, before you test it, you are already bias.

Probably the worst cars ever built

They're Golf carts with a plastic body ! LoL How was the gutter oil BBQ ? 🤮

What utter dog 💩 motors 😅 #SKYDONTLIE

Its a golf cart. This would never legally be on a north American roads This is a Deathtrap and that fiid looks disgusting are they eating dog?

THIS IS CLICKBAIT! FREE COMMERCIAL FOR CHINEESE CAR RENTALS! GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Better than any American cars

It’s good for western food delivery men

Garbage cars.