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Chinese carmakers steal Tesla’s thunder at Shanghai Auto Show with compact EVs, 1,000km-range models
- SAIC-GM-Wuling’s two-seater convertible, and NIO’s luxury EV that can go as far as 1,000km (620 miles) on one charge wow visitors
- Protest by woman who jumped on Tesla’s Model 3 embarrasses US carmaker
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Domestic smart carmakers enhanced their reputation at the Shanghai Auto Show with their display of technology and models, showing consumers and industry observers that they have the capability to take on Tesla in their backyard.
Chinese carmakers and suppliers, from Tesla challengers such as Xpeng Motor and mainland’s largest home-grown automotive group SAIC Motor to telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies, showcased dozens of new models as well as technology such as lidar sensors and self-parking capabilities.
SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Mini EV Cabrio, a two-seater convertible seen as a potential game-changer in the fast-growing electric vehicle market, and ET7, a luxury EV developed by NIO that can go as far as 1,000km (620 miles) on a single charge, drew rave reviews from the 810,000 visitors to the show, which ended on Wednesday.
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Tesla, however, was in the spotlight on the first day of the show when a woman jumped on a Model 3 to protest against its “brake malfunction”, an incident which caused it much embarrassment.
“We have not seen anything close to Tesla on the Chinese market yet,” said David Zhang, an analyst with the research centre for automobile industry innovation at the North China University of Technology.
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