Youxia Electric Tesla Clone From China: So Bad It Makes Us Laugh

Chinese carmakers have acquired a reputation for making blatantly obvious copies of existing designs from other countries.

The results are usually worth a few chuckles--provided you don't work for the car company whose vehicle has been plagiarized.

Now, it seems the Tesla Model S is the latest victim of that trend.

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Witness the Youxia X, an electric car that debuted this past weekend, according to Car News China (via Motor Authority).

As if the patently copied Tesla styling isn't bad enough, it turns out this car is channeling a bit of KITT--the talking Pontiac Trans Am from the television show Knight Rider.

It's hard to say who will be more unhappy about this: Tesla, or the owner of the copyright for that 1980s artifact.

The prominent, Tesla-like black grille that leads off the Youxia is actually a programmable screen, complete with sliding red strobe light.

Or, it can display emojis, if you prefer. Of course.

It's a form of smartphone connectivity no one likely anticipated--and there's a good reason for that.

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