This Chinese EV is a Tesla clone, and it starts at just $26,000
- The Shenlan SL03 is a Chinese electric car that copied Tesla Model 3's design and infotainment display user interface.
Chinese automakers have infamously earned the attention of the global auto industry by copying famous designs of other car brands. The latest victim of design copying is the Tesla Model 3. Chinese automaker Changan Automobile has launched a new electric vehicle that strongly resembles the Tesla Model 3, but its price starts at just $26,000, which is nearly half of the original Tesla Model 3 RWD price.
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Interestingly, this is not the first time a Chinese automaker has cloned Tesla's design. Previously as well, the US electric vehicle major has had some issues with Chinese companies getting inspired by its designs. Those vehicles are often referred to as Tesla clones.
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82kWh
555 km
2487.0 cc
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China's Xpeng previously copied the design of Tesla's vehicle user interface. Surprisingly, Xpeng even copied the Tesla website as well at some point. The US auto manufacturer even sued a former employee who the company claims stolen information about its Autopilot for Xpeng. Now, again Tesla is facing competition from another automaker (Changan Automobile), which seems to have taken inspiration from the Elon Musk-led car brand.
Speaking about the Tesla-influenced car, China's state-owned carmaker recently launched the Shenlan SL03, which is a small electric sedan. The front profile of the car, especially the point where the bonnet meets the front fascia, looks very similar to the Tesla Model 3. Dimensionally too, the car appears extremely similar to the Tesla Model 3. The Shenlan SL03 is just four-inch longer than the Tesla Model 3. It has the same wheelbase, width and height, though.
There are also a host of similarities not only on the exterior but inside the cabin. The cabin sports a minimalist approach and features a large horizontal touchscreen infotainment system, just like the Tesla Model 3. The user interface of the display too mirrors as Tesla Model 3's display, claims Electrek.
On the specification front as well, the base variant of the Shenlan SL03 comes with a 515 km range. There is a more powerful variant of the sedan that offers a 705 km range.
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