{"id":31764,"date":"2023-11-27T16:48:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T20:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=31764"},"modified":"2023-11-27T16:48:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T20:48:17","slug":"payne-hammer-down-in-the-chinese-made-all-electric-mullen-gt-sportscar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/payne-hammer-down-in-the-chinese-made-all-electric-mullen-gt-sportscar","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Hammer down in the Chinese-made, all-electric Mullen GT sportscar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pasadena, Calif<\/em>. \u2014 The electric Qiantu K50 lives.<\/p>\n

In the parking lot of Santa Anita Park horse track. On an autocross course. On a Tuesday afternoon. Like a thoroughbred from a starting gate, I exploded out from under a pop-up tent into a tunnel of pylons. ZOT! I was in top of the first turn in an instant.<\/p>\n

Boy, wish I had this kind of torque when I autocrossed go-karts in West Virginia parking lots as an 11-year-old.<\/p>\n

The last time I saw the Qiantu (pronounced Shan-too) was in the lobby of the 2019 New York Auto Show. Heady times. The electric supercar was one of a wave of Chinese autos that were due to the U.S. market in 2020, including the BYD shown at that year\u2019s Detroit auto show and the Byton M-Byte displayed at the Los Angeles show. None of them made it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But the Qiantu was striking, turning heads in the Big Apple with its sleek lines, unique black lamb chops, and low nose. Mullen Automotive, the car\u2019s U.S. distributor, still believes and has rebadged it the Mullen GT \u2014 a halo car for its electric stable of EVs that includes the Bollinger B1 pickup and B2 pickup, Mullen One (rebadged Class One cargo van made by China\u2019s Wuling Motors), Mullen Three (rebadged Class 3 vehicle made by China’s largest automaker, SAIC Motor), and the home-brewed Mullen 5 and 5RS SUVs. Think of Mullen as the Island of Misfit Electric Toys.<\/p>\n