Chinese EV Maker's Latest Clone Takes on Range Rover

9 years ago - 31 March 2015, Autoblog
Chinese EV Maker's Latest Clone Takes on Range Rover
This is the incredible Longer Yuelang X1, a new low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV) from China, seen last week on the Shandong EV Expo in Jinan City.

Whenever we get the inevitable reboot of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, if Disney wants to include a Range Rover but not break the bank on the real English thing, it can give Chinese car maker Longer a call. Longer are the purveyors of this Yuelang X1 EV, a low-speed electric vehicle packing a three kilowatt electric motor and a lead-acid battery. Yes, a lead-acid battery.

The Yueling X1 EV comes shortly after the appearance of the Landwind X7, which was a much better but just-as-shameless clone of the Range Rover Evoque. Land Rover lodged a complaint with Chinese authorities over Landwind's artistic license, and we'd say the Yueling X1 doesn't deserve acknowledgement except it uses the Range Rover font front and back, has a Land Rover badge on the tailgate, and BMW badges on the wheel center caps. Yes, BMW badges.

The interior is every bit the freakshow you'd expect, the Audi-inspired analog dash gauges proving that Yueling is liberal with its copycat love. There's a red button on the center console just ahead of the gearshift that's said to be a panic button, but we're not sure if it's meant to rescue someone from panic or incite it. Head over to Car New China for more pictures of Exhibit X1 in IP infringement travesties.