YOUXIA X
// new electric super
sedan from china
This is the incredible Youxia X electric super sedan,
unveiled yesterday evening in China and set to compete against the upcoming
Tesla Model 3. Power comes from an electric motor with 348 Hp and 440 Nm, and
range is 460 kilometer. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2016 by a new Shanghai-based
company called Youxia Motors.
As for the car; the Youxia X is by far the most beautiful
vehicle we have seen coming out of China, ever and period. Rear light units are
superb, and so is the subtle rear wing integrated in the boot lit. Profile is
sleek and sporty, the wheels are huge and fitted with shiny silver multispoke
alloys.
A bit of Tesla up front, but certainly not too much. The
grille is a work of art, more on that below. The name of the car and company,
‘Youxia’ (æ¸¸ä¾ ), comes from the Chinese
name for the American ‘Knight Rider‘ television series (éœ¹é›³æ¸¸ä¾ ), starring a car called KITT and a man called David
Hasselhoff.
The Youxia X is the brainchild of the 28-year old Knight
Rider fan Huang Xiuyuan, who claims he first saw the X in a dream he had back
in 2014. He then assembled a team of 50 engineers and designers that eventually
developed the Youxia X. Production is scheduled to start in 2016 and deliveries
will begin in early 2017, if everything goes according to plan.
Price will range from 200.000 to 300.000 yuan (US$ 32.000 –
48.000). Surprisingly cheap for such a big car but the amount includes the
entire 90.000 yuan green-car subsidy of the Chinese government. Youxia says
this price will set up the X for competition with the upcoming Tesla Model 3.
The Youxia X will be powered by an electric motor with a
peak power of 348 Hp and 440 Nm, mated to a 40 kWh, a 60 kWh, or a 85 kWh
battery.
Range with the latter is claimed to be 460 kilometer, with a
0-100 acceleration of 5.6 seconds. Range with the 60 kWh stands at 330
kilometer and range with the 40 kWh at 220 kilometer.
Charging of the 85 kWh battery takes half an hour on a
supercharger for a 270 kilometer range. No other claims on charging announced.
The vehicle unveiled had an interior but photos were not
allowed, likely because it wasn’t completely finished yet. Happily, Youxia has
a bunch of pics on its website, showing a very impressive high tech interior
with an almost unbelievable 17.3 inch vertically positioned touch screen in the
center console.
The operating system is called… no kidding… ‘KITT OS’. It is
based on another operating system which is called ‘Youxia OS’, which is based
on Google Android 5.0 (other company sources say 5.1). The system promises full
connectivity with Android and Apple devices, including Apple Watch. It is fully
inter-connected, has an in-build wifi hotspot, comes with television, and with
a function allowing full remote control of the vehicle, similar to the BYD Su
Rui.
The system can pipe the sound of your favorite car into the
cabin for that racy electric feeling. The list includes the brand new Ferrari
488 GTB, the ultra-rare Ferrari Sergio, the Ferrari LaFerrari dubbed the
Ferrari Sergio, and the Jaguar F-Type. No Tesla Model S..?
The eye catching grille is actually holographic display,
inspired by the Knight Industries KIT 2000 and 3000, the vehicle used in the
Knight Rider television show. The screen can display the typical KITT red
running lights, or the Youxia logo, or anything else you might like.
We are truly impressed by the Youxia X and by the plans the
company has for the future. They seem well-funded and obviously employ talented
designers and developers. However, taking the vehicle to production will cost a
lot of money and effort more, much more indeed than a mere 50 men can handle.
Source : carnewschina
