Hey, Europeans: You Can Now Import Your Own Chinese EV

An exporter named EV Marketplace says they'll help import and homologate EVs for individual European customers.

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

By: Kevin Williams

Aug 21, at 2:13pm ET

Comment

EV Marketplace says it'll help European customers import and homologate cars directly from China.
The minimum order is one car.
Imports will be subject to shipping, import tariff fees (up to 35.5%), and any other local fees necessary for roadworthiness.

It’s fun to read, write, and even experience the forbidden fruit that is a Chinese EV, but let’s face it, the probability of them ever leaving China is getting lower and lower. Even in some markets that do get Chinese cars, some of the more feature-packed models are left back home. Like, Xpeng will happily sell a G6 crossover, but the Tesla Model 3-sized Mona sedan is left back home.

Well, that may be a thing of the past, at least, if you’re in Europe. An exporting company named EV Marketplace just announced that it’s changed its operating procedure, and it’ll work directly with individual buyers. On its face, that doesn’t sound all that revolutionary, but keep in mind that usually large exporters tend to only work with big, important clients who need to order lots of items at once.

EV Marketplace's minimum order is one car. They will also help you get it homologated in your own country. So, if you’re in Europe and want a Xiaomi SU7 sedan and don’t want to wait until 2027, well, it looks like you’re able to import it right away now. Or, perhaps you’re not all that smitten with the BYD Dolphin Surf or Hyundai Inster—no matter, just import a Geely Xingyuan, which is about half the cost to buy. The exporter says that they work with trusted dealerships in China, which means you’d get China pricing. They advertise EU homologation for an extra $2,500 (plus an extra $400 for PHEV models)

GAC Aion Y

This sounds great. If I lived in Europe, I’d probably consider looking into it just to feel cool and have something different on the roads. But, do keep in mind that super low Chinese pricing will likely not transfer over. For starters, there’s still the cost of shipping; It's not easy bringing a two or three-ton vehicle to Europe. Secondly, (and arguably, most pertinently) these cars will be subject to the EU’s new tariffs on EVs from China. These tariffs aren’t cheap; the Geely Xingyuan posted earlier may be only about $9,000, but it’s subject to a 28.8% tariff. Add in shipping, homologation costs, and that cheap car might not be so cheap by the end of the day.

Also, the cars have no market localizations, either. The plugs will be China’s GB/T standard, not CCS 1 or CCS 2. The infotainment will likely be in all Chinese, and in my experience, may not have a translation into English. Even the more sophisticated ones that are translatable to English likely will use onboard apps that connect to China’s internet, not the rest of the world. Like, when I drove the Xiaomi YU7 and played with its Apple Music integration, my own Apple Music account did not work since the car could only connect to Apple Music’s Chinese servers. Oh, and there’s no warranty or after-sales service, so if something goes wrong, you’re on your own.

Xiaomi YU7 infotainment in Chinese

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

Still, I can’t help but think this still somewhat of a compelling, novel idea. Lots of these companies are entering European markets, but not all of them will, nor will they bring every model on sale in China to Europe. For some markets, this is kind of how seemingly strange one-off models end up in say, Latin American or African countries; many of them are shipped to big dealerships and buyers in markets that may not have direct support from the brand itself yet.

Could this be a sign of a slowing Chinese EV market? Perhaps, typically, big EV exporters don’t do one-on-one sales for a reason, since it’s typically just not worth their time to establish a relationship for so few units. But on the bright side, this sounds like a very user-friendly way for Europeans to have complete choice in their market, and straight up buy cars from another place, if they so desire. I’m glad I don’t have access to a large sum of money, nor do I live in Europe, because I’d probably go bankrupt with all of the weird Chinese EVs I would have at my house.

Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@insideevs.com