An Untapped Market: Youxia, the "Chinese Tesla," Launches

At a press conference at Sanlitun Taikooli on Tuesday, 27-year-old Huang Xiuyuan, in a black polo shirt, white jeans, and a pair of square-framed Harry Potter glasses on his face, paced onto the stage, smiled with a boyish grin, and began to pour out his corporate story in a TedTalk-like speech. His onstage style imitated that of the late Steve Jobs, Huang's business idol, in all manners just without quite the same showmanship and success.

An Apple-style Powerpoint presentation has become almost a ritual in recent years when it comes to a Chinese company launching its new product. First there was Xiaomi, and now we have Huang and his brand-new Youxia Model X, which, according to Huang, founder and CEO of Youxia Cars, was developed independently by his team, consisting of about twenty hot-blooded college graduates, in a year and four months.

Based on what we were told at the press conference, Youxia Model X is a rear-drive automobile charged by an electric motor that provides 270kw (360 horsepower) maximum power and 440 N*M maximum torque, which enables it to accelerate from 0 to 60mph (100km/h) in 5.6 seconds. Containing 8,000 lithium-ion modified Panasonic battery cells wired in series, the Model X can run for 460km with a single charge. In Huang's words, the car is "as good as a Tesla Model S in every fashion," but much cheaper.

Inside, the Model X is equipped with a 17-inch touchscreen to control most of the its functions via the unique "KITT OS" operation system powered by Android 5.1. One of the car's most unique, but ultimately gimmicky, features is its shining electric screen in the front, as shown in the picture below, which can showcase whichever logo of the driver's choice. Want a Batman sign? There you go.

According to Huang, the car will be off of the production line by 2017, and online orders start as early as next year.

News about Youxia Model X went viral on Chinese social media soon after the press conference aired. Chinese netizens first turned focus on the similarity, or the "sameness" between the "independently developed" Youxia Model X and Tesla's Model S. The two not only look exactly the same, but resemble each other in almost all technical abspects:
 

2012 Tesla Model S RWD 85kWh       360 horsepower, 441 N*M torque, 5.6s 0-60 mph, 426km range

Youxia Model X                                    360 horsepower, 440 N*M torque, 5.6s 0-60 mph, 460km range
 

Soon, further stories about Huang and his car company were uncovered. In an interview with Southern Weekly in January, Huang admitted that as an "IT person," he didn't know much about cars. He got his driver's license in mid-2013 when he bought his first car, a Honda Accord. At about the time Huang first heard about Tesla and electric cars, and he was immediately convinced that it would be an auspicious business prospect.

In March 2014, Huang founded his electric car company with a RMB 15 million investment from Huang Yimeng, founder and CEO of Shanghai-based online game developer Xindong Gaming. It remains unknown as to how the online gaming tycoon was convinced to make the investment. The Southern Weekly story only mentions that the two dined together twice.

Without no connection in the auto manufacture industry, Huang decided to recruit his crew via Weibo. He searched key words such as "car engineer," and sent out messages to whoever he found.

In May 2014, the team bought a RMB 50,000, used Hyundai Rohens. It took them two months to dissassemble the original engine and replace it with an electric motor. After a few trials, the car could finally run at 20mph (30km/h) from parts mainly purchased from Taobao or Alibaba.

Two months later, Huang decided to buy a Tesla Model S, which they also disassembled, and have been working on since.

According to China Business News, research and development of the car has cost no more than RMB 15 million (about 2.6 million USD), compared to the industry standard of RMB 50 million for an automobile manufacturer just to develop the battery.

While Youxia's business model appears to be a rip-off, its not surprising that a company like this received an angel investment – the past few years have been particularly easy for a company in China to receive a first-round investment, especially if you know how to sell a transformative, unique and inspiring experience to your audience, even better if it comes loaded with an "American dream" twist; "after all, it's all about making believe," netizens commented.

A handful of prospective investors continue to contact Huang for further investment. Let's see how he shapes up against the indefatigable Elon Musk.

Watch the full media release here. 

More stories by this author here.

Email: patrickli@thebeijinger.com
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photos: tech.sina.com, Southern Weekly, sina.com