Autobayng News Team
A woman shows off her new electric vehicle from China. The only question that remains is: Can you get this in the United States?
TikTok user @mellowmelodies08 showed off an IM Motors L7 in a video posted last week. The video shows the TikToker navigating through traffic holding the L7’s YAT Semi-rim steering and wheel. The L7’s dual displays show traffic, the weather, and blind spots.
A third display on the console manages the AI-controlled parking and side parking, escape in case of emergencies, and traceback. The traceback feature, as described by Asia361, is “the ability to reverse up to 50 meters along your previous driving path.”
Viewers React to the EV from China
In the comments, viewers reacted to the L7 and expressed shock at how much the displays dominate the driving experience.
“Driving iPads,” wrote one person. Now Trending
A second person agreed, “That is too much. It’s so distracting.”
Another person used this as an opportunity to bemoan the evolution of technology. “We used to drive cars; now we drive phones on tires,” they wrote. “We used to make calls with phones; now we make calls with cameras.”
A division of Chinese car manufacturer SAIC Motors, the IM brand is associated with a massive $1.1 billion investment in new car technology. Last year, the company announced it would begin exploring overseas markets, in particular Europe.
Can You Buy a Chinese EV as an American?
What does that mean for U.S. citizens? It doesn’t take an eagle-eyed observer to notice the lack of Chinese auto brands on American roads. And that’s by design. Back in the late 1980s, the U.S. passed the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act, which restricted the import of foreign vehicles that don’t conform to its safety standards. Today, foreign-made cars can generally only be imported if they are 25 years old or older.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, if the car you’re looking to import doesn’t have a comparable model to an already U.S.-certified vehicle, you’ll have to prove that its safety features comply with—or can at least be altered to comply with—all federal motor vehicle safety standards. And yes, that means the full battery of crash safety tests, so good luck there.
There are a few loopholes to this, though, including when people from other countries move here and want to temporarily bring a car with them. An Oklahoma City man who imported a Wuling Hongguang Mini EV Macaron got around the rules by promising to use it like an electric bike or golf cart, as detailed by Wired.
Reddit users discussed this issue in a thread posted to r/chinacars two years ago. In response to a question about how to purchase a car from China, one commenter said basically to forget about it. “You cannot,” they wrote. “Not like you’re thinking of doing: It wouldn’t be road-registerable.”
That’s not to say the current situation will last forever. Autoweek reports that Chinese brands believe they’ll be selling in the U.S. in the next five years. And it certainly seems like there’s burgeoning interest from American consumers, who aren’t known for waiting patiently when they want to buy something.
InsideEVs contacted @mellowmelodies08 via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
