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Next Carsharing Advance: Electric Cars From a Vending Machine
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."
I can see the headlines now:
Twelve Dead, Dozens Missing After Disgruntled Customer Tips Vending Machine
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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