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Post by Jim Hare on Sept 23, 2012 19:55:22 GMT 11
Interesting story from a friend of mine. As you may know, BLADE have stopped trading for the moment. blade.id.au/A friend of mine is about to buy one second hand. Apparently the government bought like 50 of them but then realised their own policy for fleet cars prohibited buying a car that can't be serviced by their appointed company. Bottom line is there are bunch of BLADES now on the market for 1/2 price and down. So my friend might score one for under $25k. Apparently Hyundai will still handle any servicing it may need, which as we know is generally none or close to it. Apparently, beyond the supply issues that caused BLADE to falter, having a bunch of their own cars competing with them at half price was the last nail in the coffin... If it's accurate, it's quite a story don't you think?
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Post by Brian on Sept 23, 2012 22:25:08 GMT 11
Tragic for Blade, and for an Australian home grown business.
The silver lining for EVs in Australia could be that at those prices many more people will be able to afford to enjoy the benefits that all-electric driving provides.
This should lead to grater public awareness of, and interest in, EVs, which should benefit us all ( and the planet ).
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Post by Jim Hare on Sept 24, 2012 11:40:52 GMT 11
Agree. Hopefully Blade will be back in the future.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2013 10:49:01 GMT 11
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Post by Jim Hare on Oct 6, 2013 12:20:42 GMT 11
Look like they achieved their goal and donations are closed.
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Post by Jim Hare on Oct 6, 2013 12:24:13 GMT 11
I think when the Leaf was over $50k and there was no Tesla, the market for the Blade was a bit clearer.
Not much room in the sub-$35k world for Blade.
My friend has one and it's really bare bones and raw compared to the elegance and complete package the LEAF offers.
His Blade is basically a $16,000 car with an EV motor jammed in it. Is pretty quirky and a bit of a "nutty professor" feel about it.
Still, I applaud what they're doing and wish them all the success in the world moving forward.
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