Youxia Ranger X - Chinese knockoff of the Tesla Model S

[tomas]

Agreed. The more EV manufacturers the better. Many will fail, some will succeed.
Every new product draws on work done by others. Tesla drew on the work done by lithium ion cell designers, AC induction motor designers, touchscreen display designers, etc. etc. etc. and then combined it all into a new package that went beyond previous attempts, creating a very compelling product. This new Chinese company may or may not be taking things a step beyond Tesla, we will have to wait and see.

Yeah, it is funny... I had rare opportunity to use Xerox Star computer, and when the rip-off Apple Lisa came out, I was one of the first to see that. That was also a more or less identical "rip off", yet there are a couple of subsequent generations that see Apple as the big innovator. And they were/are. Not saying it will be these guys, but if someone builds upon and outdoes Tesla, that's overall a great thing. Guys like Elon will never run out of "change the world" challenges (hyper loop?)

 

[GregTexas]

More info here The Youxia X is a new Electric Super Sedan from China | CarNewsChina.com - China Auto News
28 year old running the show. The car design came to him in a dream. Wonder if Elon was in the dream.

 

[gavine]

I wonder if the 40kWh model will sell?

 

[GregTexas]

Looks like a crowd funding scheme 2015 Youxia Motors One | News, Performance, Pictures | Digital Trends
They originally planned on using the Hyundai Genesis.

 

[MartinAustin]

Great, build it! We need more EVs, not fewer. Something about accelerating the advent of sustainable transport. I believe Tesla has the engineering talent to stay a step or two ahead.

Indeed.

Only thing that comes to mind is that Elon said, back when he was releasing the company patents, that others could license patents for free, but if someone tried to copycat the Model S more or less completely, that would be an infringement and they would want to stop it.

However, China needs more electric cars, and it might be better to wait until this company actually produces cars (and they perform close to those announced figures) before Tesla would move against them.

Elon has also said that it's good to have the factory close to where the customers are, so there's not a lot of energy used transporting brand new cars all over the place. Obviously with one factory (Fremont), Tesla are spending a lot of energy to transport brand new cars around, and a China Tesla factory has been mooted. If one more Chinese company starts producing cars, at least it works towards that goal.

 

[JER]

I suspect that such close copying of the design language, general configuration and model structure of the Model S would be classed as a "bad faith" use of Tesla's technology patents, and that a court would back this assessment. They're supposed to be for making your own cars.

 

[techmaven]

Hyundai Genesis as a donor platform - the sourcing off the shelf motors and battery cells. I'm thinking if these people are able to pull it off, then why not? What is everyone else's excuse? But of course, it isn't that simple so Tesla doesn't need to worry. This isn't even that much of a rip off in terms of styling:

Range Rover Evoque clone:
Range Rover clone Landwind X7 gets a Price in China | CarNewsChina.com - China Auto News

Porsche Macan clone:
Zotye T700 | CarNewsChina.com - China Auto News

Those are intentional clones.

 

[Johan]

Wait, does it come with cup holders???

 

[steph280]

Omg, isn't this just very, very funny? The Chinese never seem to be able to come up with their own product. They are only capable of creating clones, rip-offs, etc.

Please don't stereotype all Chinese as copy cats. There are many innovative Chinese companies that has came up with class leading products, one example that comes to mind is DJI, which is currently the leader in aerial drones.

With that said, this is clearly a knock off of the model S. But just like other successful models which was copied, the similarity is only skin deep. Anybody can make a car look like another, drop in some Panasonic cells, and slap on a 17" iPad. But to have the same performance/reliability/SAFETY as the Tesla MS will be a feat difficult to achieve. I just hope when one gets burned to the ground, news reporters don't mistaken it as a Tesla

 

[Bangor Bob]

Hyundai Genesis as a donor platform - the sourcing off the shelf motors and battery cells. I'm thinking if these people are able to pull it off, then why not? What is everyone else's excuse?

Well first, you have to WANT to offer no-compromise electrics. Nissan wants to (but needs better & cheaper batteries). BYD wants to do it. GM is giving signs of wanting to by planning on producing more than "compliance" numbers for the Bolt. BMW has some serious PHEV plans but wants cheaper batteries. VW likewise. Everyone else is content to safely milk the existing ICE market, and lets face it, that's a huge market today compared to where electrics will be even 5 years from now.

Beyond 5 years the crystal ball starts getting murky.

 

[XxCyberHackerxX]

This is a knockoff lmao

 

[sandpiper]

This is a knockoff lmao

Sigh. The Chinese companies are utterly shameless. Anybody else would be embarrassed to do something this blatant.

 

[XxCyberHackerxX]

Sigh. The Chinese companies are utterly shameless. Anybody else would be embarrassed to do something this blatant.

I wonder if tesla could sue? Even though they released their patents

 

[ThosEM]

I am just wondering who will buy this car when it is the same price as the model 3. Who would people trust more, Tesla or Youxia ??

What's the source of price information? I see they are still trying to raise enough funding to build five of these, so it's got a ways to go for production quantities.

 

[taurusking]

The website says 17.3 inch screen and also holographics on the front nose cone.

Interesting...we will have to just wait and see how they do.

 

[doug]

I actually kinda like the more aggressive styling and the look is different enough, sorta.

However, this is the part that should raise eyebrows:

 

[thegruf]

Ooo - cancel my order with Tesla and get one of these!
They're bound to be a fair bit cheaper.

...okay maybe not.

The really sad thing is that we all buy cheap stuff from china, ... because well it's cheap.

Might not be cars today, but tomorrow who knows.

The reason it is cheap is primarily because the West allow China to abuse international exchange rates to their benefit and maintain an unreasonable cost advantage.
Our governments permit them to do this, so we can hardly complain.

 

[liuping]

The Google translated version of the site is pretty easy to read and navigate: Google Translate

 

[scottf200]

http://i.imgur.com/WqyxAx9.png

© 2014-2015 YOUXIA. All Rights Reserved. Shanghai ICP No. 14033115 -2​

 

[ecarfan]

I suspect that such close copying of the design language, general configuration and model structure of the Model S would be classed as a "bad faith" use of Tesla's technology patents, and that a court would back this assessment. They're supposed to be for making your own cars.

Good luck trying to get a Chinese court to rule in favor of an American company and against a Chinese company. The Chinese legal system is not as robust as the American system (which of course has its own issues).