Okay maybe a little background is in order for our regular readers. The teenage girl in the photo is Kendra Kramer. She is the daughter of former professional basketball player Doug Kramer, and ’90s crush ng bayan Cheska Garcia. The Kramers, Doug, Cheska and their children, are popular endorsers in the country, and are collectively known as Team Kramer.
Team Kramer is the newest endorser of new Chinese brand Jetour. Jetour is one of the several Chinese marques that entered our market this year. The Kramers were introduced as brand ambassadors during the Manila International Auto Show last month. During the press conference Doug Kramer said they would be receiving a black Jetour X70. But at the same presscon Kendra said she was enamored with one of the cars she saw at the Jetour booth, although it was unclear which model she was referring to. Well now we know.
In a social media post the teenager revealed that she has received a new Jetour car, and an electric vehicle (EV) at that. The model in her post is a Jetour Ice Cream, and it’s the sort of thing you expect to see in a Blackpink video. The Ice Cream is a small EV with a motor putting out 20hp and 85Nm of torque. That’s supposedly enough for it to reach speeds of about 100kph.
This cute EV retails for P699,000 and has a listed range of 170km. Of course as with all EVs, range may vary depending on usage and vehicle load. The Ice Cream can seat four people, so if you load it up expect range to suffer.
We’ve also wondered who the market is for a colorful EV that also costs as much as a Toyota Wigo or a base Honda Brio. We now realize it’s ideal as a first car for the younger crowd who value looks and eco-friendliness over anything else.
But as enthusiastic as Kendra may be about her cute first car, she is only 13 years old. She’s too young to have a student’s permit, let alone a real driver’s license (and good luck getting that too). What will a girl who can’t legally drive do with a brand new car?
For one thing we expect that a properly licensed driver will do the driving for her. Manong will bring her to school, the mall, the neighborhood Starbucks, and her friends’ houses. And it will be her car, not a family MPV. Even if she can’t drive it yet, it will reflect the personality of the owner.
She can also load it with her things. We’ve seen women use their car like a big handbag, filling their rides with extra clothes, shoes, and bins full of mysterious items. We don’t know if Kendra is the athletic type, but she can leave sports equipment and essentials in her Ice Cream for added convenience.
In the end the happiness on her face is the joy we all felt as teenagers when we got our first car—brand new or hand-me-down. It represents freedom, responsibility, and one exciting step to the next phase in life. Congratulations, Kendra!
