Given how expensive new cars are nowadays, cheap EVs sold in China are starting to look more and more appealing. But if the weird, GM-built Baojun Yep EV with its giant smartwatch for a tailgate doesn’t strike your fancy, you might feel differently about the open-top pickup version it just revealed.
These images of the Yep pickup (which I think they should call the Yup) were posted by Baojun to Chinese social media outlet Weibo, inviting followers to “come claim it!” The truck is pretty self-explanatory, with the Yep’s two-door SUV body style converted to a pickup with a small bed on the back. It’s like if a kei truck were mixed with a GMC Hummer EV, but with a Jeep Wrangler-style open roof.
Baojun Yep EV pickup. Baojun
Performance and capability of the Yep pickup likely mirrors that of the SUV, which was outlined on Twitter by Tycho de Feijter. The approximately Suzuki Jimny-sized EV will reportedly be powered by a 28.1-kilowatt-hour battery pack of safer, longer-lasting LFP chemistry, which can propel it an estimated 188 miles. It makes just 68 horsepower and 103 pound-feet of torque, and while drive wheels aren’t specified it’s hard to imagine this thing not having four-wheel drive. That said, its low expected price of around $13,200 leaves uncertain just how many off-road gizmos will be available. The similarly sized Mitsubishi Delica Mini, for example, lacks some of the tricks found in larger off-roaders.
Sadly, it’s unclear whether this little truck is any more than a concept, as a translation of the original post doesn’t promise it’ll be built. Regardless, it’s a truck that clearly has a place in the U.S. with growing interest in kei trucks in rural areas. Fortunately, GM seems to be aware of this unfilled niche, as it’s rumored to be fast-tracking a small electric pickup. Considering how much more feature-complete that truck could be, it’ll probably be a bigger hit with Americans anyway.
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