About Lutom
Lutom (路通) was the brand, and Chaowei (超微) was the model name. The manufacturer was Shandong Guangming Machinery Manufacturing Corporation (GMCC)(山东光明机器制造有限公司), based in Taian.
Sadly, the company is out of business now. Back in the late 2010s, Lutom made a wide range of 4 and 3-wheel LSEVs. It was quite a well-known brand. The photo shows the 4-wheel lineup in 2018.
From the company’s old website, showing a green Chaowei with birds.
LSEV
The Chaowei is a low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV). The LSEV segment is booming in China, with interesting engineering solutions and cool designs. Shandong is an LSEV hotbed; many manufacturers are based there, LSEV shops are on every street, and the LSEV traffic rules are purposely relaxed.
The design is fairly typical for this kind of vehicle, but with a bit of added coolness. It has bright orange paint, a black roof, a black grille, wide wheel arches, racy decals, and sporty eight-spoke alloy wheels. The headlights are pretty nice too. It has a super long single windshield wiper.
The characters on the red sign behind the window: 学专用生车, xuéshēng zhuānyòng shēng chē, student car. That is not a car for teaching folks how to drive, but in China, it means a vehicle for ferrying students to school, like a school bus. In some smaller cities, LSEVs are indeed used for that purpose, but those are usually larger with more seats, like this one.
The roof rack
The red ribbons tied around the mirrors are for good luck. The further you get into smaller cities and the countryside, the more such ribbons you will see. The Chaowei is a two-seat car with a bubble-style cabin. The shiny door handles are a nice touch. It has a small boot at the back. But, for the owner, that boot wasn’t high enough.
The shop in the background fitted these roofs on any LSEV for 200 yuan, or at least that’s what they quoted me. The metal platform is about 1 meter by 80 centimeters, with a 100 kg max load capacity. It looked all right, nicely done, almost professional. The rack is removable, but the four standards are not.
Interior
The interior is fancy for the segment, with red trim and beige faux-leather seats. It has an infotainment screen with a USB port for playing video and music. The drive selector is under the screen. The steering wheel is large with a thick rim and red stitching. It even has power windows!
Specifications
The Chaowei has a single-motor rear-wheel drive power train with a 3 kW output. The top speed is 40 km/h. It has an old-school 120-130 Ah 12V lead-acid battery for a range of 160 kilometers. A full charge on 220V took 8 hours. Size: 2330/1280/1350, wheelbase is 1060, and weight is 630 kilos.
In 2018, the Lutom Chaowei cost about 10.000 yuan, but today, this kind of vehicle is even cheaper, usually around the 7000 mark ($970). Note the other LSEVs on the right side. All on sale. Just pay the price and off you go. No need to order, no need to wait. Shandong is great.