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Next Carsharing Advance: Electric Cars From a Vending Machine

Posted by timothy on from the plus-you-get-a-nickel-deposit dept.

cartechboy writes "When you're in a waiting room and get hungry, what do you do? You hit the vending machine for a candy bar or some salty snack food. Now, if you're in China and you need to borrow an electric car from the local car-sharing service, you can do exactly the same thing: go and get one from the vending machine. Just like the Smart-car dispensers seen across Europe, the Kandi car-sharing service dispenses two-seat electric cars with a 75-mile range from a big tower that looks like a huge vending machine full of candy, errrrr, cars. It costs $3.25 an hour to rent one, and China hopes it'll help cut emissions from transportation. So the next time you're in China, and you need a car, just hit up the biggest vending machine you can find."

15 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like by Krojack · · Score: 2

    Borderlands game play to me.

  2. sounds familiar by roc97007 · · Score: 2

    I think I read that novel.

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    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  3. Interesting, but... by egcagrac0 · · Score: 2

    If this is the sole purpose of your visit, you might want to wait a while.

    They've only built two of the car-vending machines so far (although they're working on more).

    1. Re:Interesting, but... by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      You do for every country that doesn't recognize international drives licenses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Driving_Permit#Countries_Recognizing_IDP

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      Learn to love Alaska
    2. Re:Interesting, but... by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      And I've read where it explicitly states that foreign licenses are not valid in China. Did you ever get pulled over? By your logic, driving without any license at all is legal, so long as nobody finds out.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
  4. In plain english by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A "car vending machine" is an automated garages, only instead of giving you your own car back when you insert your credit card in the slot, it gives you a rental car.

    Not really an earth-shattering concept...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  5. Re:Will they try to pull the ding and dent scam th by Krojack · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anyone else get a headache trying to read this?

  6. Fine, until one gets jammed in the dispenser... by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can see the headlines now:

    Twelve Dead, Dozens Missing After Disgruntled Customer Tips Vending Machine

    1. Re:Fine, until one gets jammed in the dispenser... by egcagrac0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Some people will go to any length to try and get free Kandi.

  7. Re:Will they try to pull the ding and dent scam th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Slightly, but I'm skilled in the linguistics of potato. Let me try and translate:

    As I understand it, this guy's insisting that car rental places are running a scam whereby they bill you for pre-existing damage to the car, and believes with a giant Chinese car vending machine in place, you'd just automagically get billed for damage to the car, without any human involvement.

    As someone who rents cars all the time, I've yet to ever receive any sort of bill for pre-existing damage, superficial or not. I'm kind of curious if he's full of shit (aka, taking a car back with massive new dents from, say, throwing potatoes at it) or if there's a specific rental outfit I should continue to avoid.

  8. Driving in China by kwerle · · Score: 2

    OMG. Do not do it.

    Got back from three weeks vacation out there. Driving is insane.

    *ALL* driving rules are optional. And you might be thinking 'yeah, I sometimes break the driving laws.' No. It's not like that.

    Do you routinely cut off oncoming traffic to make a left?
    Do you routinely stop in the middle of the street and get out of your car (for whatever reason)?
    Do you routinely drive down the emergency lane on freeways?
    Do you routinely drive on the wrong side of the road?

    These are all things that happen *all the time*. Not just sometimes. Insanity.

    1. Re:Driving in China by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Informative

      You complain about the driving, but did you drive?

      I've driven in many places, and the chaos from the backseat seems less from the front. Unless you are just a bad driver.

      I opened this article to point out that the summary is likely impossible. China is one of the few countries that didn't join the International Driving Convention. So, unlike most of the world, it's not legal to get an international license and drive there. You *must* get a local license. So the summary of "So the next time you're in China, and you need a car, just hit up the biggest vending machine you can find." is bad (and likely illegal) advice. When I was there, I looked at getting a license, and it was explained to me that the tests are only given in Chinese, so it'd be hard for a foreigner to pass, but there are services advertised that state they will be a translation service (but sound like you pay someone to take your test for you). I didn't want a license that bad, so I just let it go.

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      Learn to love Alaska
  9. Re:Japan already did that by Njovich · · Score: 2

    Assuming you are American: you have none of those. (and neither does my own country)

  10. Re:Will they try to pull the ding and dent scam th by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

    Who prevents you to walk once around the car and photograph it from all sides (with your cell phone)?

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    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  11. Re:Why have a separate machine? by fisted · · Score: 2

    Because insert rock into car, or insert car into truck, is more difficult that way

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