China-made tricycles help Cubans navigate fuel shortages and blackouts

Cuba's vintage cars have vanished, replaced by Chinese-made electric tricycles as the main transport for thousands amid a fuel crisis. The three-wheelers are a far cry from the old-timers that only a year ago cruised the streets spewing clouds of black smoke. The tricycles, with a cost between $2,000 and $4,000, are used to transport goods and serve fixed routes once covered by buses. These are no ordinary electric tricycles — many Cubans have outfitted them with solar panels, allowing the vehicles to recharge without relying on the island nation’s strained power grid. While their price is out of reach for most Cubans, many have sold their older gasoline-powered cars to buy the tricycles. Others got them from relatives abroad, where they are generally cheaper, and some small-business owners even used their profits to invest in them, expecting to recoup the cost. Cuba has been experiencing an economic and fuel crisis for the past five years due to US sanctions, but since January the situation has spiralled out of control. In January, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, which produces only about 40% of the fuel it needs. Since then, just a single oil tanker has arrived on the island, in late March — down from about eight a month previously. __________________ ShanghaiEye focuses on producing top-quality contents. Nobody knows SHANGHAI better than us. Please subscribe to us ☻☻☻ __________________ For more stories, please click ■ What's up today in Shanghai, the most updated news of the city    • Playlist   ■ Amazing Shanghai, exploring the unknown corners of the city, learning the people, food and stories behind them    • Amazing Shanghai and China 淘宝魔都玩转中国   ■ What Chinese people's lives are like during the post COVID-19 period    • COVID-19 新冠疫情   ■ Views of foreign scholars on China and its affairs    • Voices, Let's Listen! 听她他说   ■ Foreign faces in Shanghai, people living in this city sharing their true feelings    • Playlist   ■ Mini-docs showing why China is the country it is today    • Stories & Documentary 奇闻逸事记录中国   __________________ ☎Leave us messages if you have any suggestions or questions! Thank you!