> reminds me of the old joke...

Despite the jokes, the 80s ladas weren't so bad.

My dad had a second-hand one in the 90s (almost certainly from mid 80s) and it was a pretty solid car. There was a degree of simplicity to the maintenance that was uncharacteristic of other cars at the time. I don't recall it needing any major work doing to it at any point.

It also had windscreen wipers on the headlights which I recall a strange fascination with because at night the blades would cast moving shadows across the road.

When he sold it, it was snapped up quick for the Russian market.

However, the power of the electric lada in the article does sound more worthy of the old jokes.

It still seems pretty ambitious for the day and certainly surpasses my expectations on range.