Tractor disguised as a pickup truck: Kandi storms the US market with the new K32 model

Kandi America, the American subsidiary of the Chinese company Kandi Technologies with a scandalous reputation, announced in the United States the sale of the K32 electric truck, which is certified as agricultural equipment and has no access to public roads. Specifications are frankly weak, and the price bites: from $ 27,699 for a version with a power reserve of less than 100 km!

Kandy is still surprising: this Chinese company, we recall, entered the US market in August last year with two models – ugly small-capacity electric sedans K23 and K27, and in November of the same year became the hero of an investigation by Hindenburg Research. An American firm specializing in investment management, stock trading and forensic financial research. Analysts at Hindenburg Research found that Kandy has been repeatedly accused of fraud and fictitious sales, and few buyers of her “electric trains” recall with horror their disgusting quality.

After the publication of Hindenburg Research, Kandy's shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange fell by half and continue to fall in price to this day, but not so quickly. How many Kandi cars were sold in the US in the first three quarters of this year is unknown: they are missing from the US market statistics, local media reports that Kandi cars were not seen on the roads. Kandi has been absent from the domestic Chinese market since 2019, but since last fall, Kandi K27 sedans have been sold here as the Lingbao Box during the first three quarters of 2021, according to the CarSalesBase resource, 12,756 units were sold (Lingbao is a Chinese startup brand). Jemmell electric vehicles).

And this week, Kandi America issued a press release in which it is preparing to bring a third model to the US market: a K32 pickup truck certified as a UTV, that is, as a truck, that is, as an agricultural vehicle that does not have access to public roads. In fact, this is an electrical analogue of the Indian Mahindra Roxor, which, by the way, has just returned to the American market and about which we will make a separate note in the near future.

The Kandi K32 is a bit like a Ford Ranger with a double cab and is comparable in size: overall length – 5436 mm, width – 1869 mm, height – 2083 mm, wheelbase – 3099 mm. Empty weight – 1855 kg, carrying capacity – only 575 kg.

The powerplant for a car of this size is clearly fragile: the Kandi America website reports that the K32 has four-wheel drive and develops 21 kW (29 hp), while it is not clear how many electric motors the K32 has, and as a result, it is not clear what such power is the entire power plant or just an electric motor. Top speed 105 km/h.

The battery capacity depends on the version: for the Standard Base Range it is 20.7 kWh, for the Long Range version it is 50 kWh. The power reserve on one charge is 96 and 241 km, respectively. For the Standard Range version, the Chinese manufacturer asks for $27,699 (excluding subsidies to the authorities for the purchase of electric vehicles), for the Long Range version – $34,499. Both versions are equipped with ABS, dual front airbags, a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, and a rearview camera. A bit… In the photos, all Kandi K32s have a winch installed in the front bumper.

By comparison, let's say Ford is asking for its full-size, full-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck for $39,974.

The American counterparts genuinely don't understand what Kandy is up to with such a similarly priced product and are eagerly awaiting feedback from the early owners of the Chinese low speed UTV.