Youxia X: The Chinese Tesla Model S?

Youxia, a Chinese automaker, has created a response to the Tesla Model S. The Youxia X electric sedan is scheduled to hit the market in 2017. The company claims the all-electric vehicle will be equipped with a 348 horsepower electric motor. However, the standout stats are 285 miles of range and a cost of between $32,000 and $48,000 USD. The vehicle is scheduled for production in late 2016 and delivery in 2017. No word yet on sales outside of China, however, one has to wonder if U.S. consumers would be interested in this Chinese electric machine and whether they would be sold through a franchised dealership.

This vehicle may look somewhat like the Tesla Model S, but the Youxia X has it’s own quirks. Let’s start with the grill. It’s a hologram. Drivers can project anything in the grill from the vehicle logo to the moving red dashes of KITT, the knight rider TV show companion to David Hasselhoff. The knight rider feature comes because the company CEO, 28-year-old Huang Xiuyuan is a fan of the series.

As if an in-grill hologram wasn’t enough, things get even more unique with the sound system. Since electric vehicles are mostly silent, Youxia has seen fit to add a powerful vehicle sound to the car via sound system. On the vehicle touch screen, which strongly mimics the model S, consumers can pick which high performance sounds they want piped into their all-electric sedan.

While this vehicle has yet to be produced or sold, the concept that a Chinese company can come along and put together something that claims to look and act like a Tesla Model S for around 40 percent of the price is intriguing. On paper alone, the Youxia is a much less expensive Model S-type machine. It has as much purported range as the model S for less than half of the price. However, before Youxia can claim to compete with Tesla, the reliability of the X sedan has to be heavily tested to ensure the concept car has applicability in real life.

Could Youxia be strong competition for Tesla Motors, or do you think that the X sedan is simply a pipe dream? Aside from this Chinese company, do you think other automakers will try to create vehicles similar to the Model S?