Meet the Jinma JMW2200 electic vehicle. It is made in China and yes, it looks a lot like a BMW i3… only smaller and thinner.
Launched earlier at the Shandong EV Expo earlier this week, the is as faux an i3 as it gets, boasting none of the German’s sophisticated EV tech. Instead, it has a small 3 Kw electric motor mated to an old school lead-acid battery (they are aparently working on a lithium-ion version), giving it a pedestrian top speed of 50 km/h per hour and a range of 120 km. It takes seven hours to charge.
Inside it’s not very i3 at all and looks more something out of the 1990s. In China it will sell for 24 998 yuan or around R48 000.