As Elon Musk steps away, yet again, from the idea of a $25,000 Tesla, let's take this opportunity to zoom out and appreciate what a truly affordable EV can be. For this we need to ignore the Nissan Leaf'currently the cheapest EV in the US at $29,280'and skip over Europe, home to the adorable but flawed $10,000 Citroen Ami, and head to China. But what if even that is too expensive' Then allow us to present the Zhidou Rainbow. This is a compact city EV priced from 31,900 yuan before subsidies'that's just $4,400. For a new electric car. WIRED literally recommends ebikes that cost more that this. The Rainbow has three doors and four seats, and an interior with a 5-inch digital driver display and a 9-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system. There's even a connected smartphone app, charge scheduling, and the promise of over-the-air (OTA) software updates. Splash out on the flagship Color Cloud Edition (which costs $5,800, or about half the price of Porsche's fanciest bicycle) and you...
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