For those of you who are wondering when China will start exporting vehicles to the United States, I've got an answer:

It already has.

There are thousands of Chinese-made electric vehicles rolling around U.S. golf courses, amusement parks and maintenance fleets. Some companies in the U.S. want to add tiny electric city cars to the mix, too.

I learned about this in early November as I wandered around EVS25, an international conference for electric vehicle makers and battery manufacturers. This year's show was held in the south China city of Shenzhen, home of car manufacturer BYD Auto Co.

Of course, the big automakers in China such as General Motors, FAW, Dongfeng, Brilliance, and others had displays. But so did a bunch of Chinese companies making low-speed electric vehicles, from golf carts to mini-trucks and minivans. 

Some told me they were already exporting to the United States; others told me they had vehicles awaiting approval for export.

Sokon Electric Auto - a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Group - exports mini-trucks to the United States and a dozen other countries, said a young woman whose English name card identified her only as "Lawyer."

Suzhou Eagle Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co. had a large display of golf carts and shuttle buses. Star EVs of Simpsonville, South Carolina, has imported Suzhou's electric vehicles since 2003, says marketing manager Jeff Moreau.

It's relatively easy to import Chinese-made mini-EVs because there are no emissions requirements to meet, says Bill Fisher, CEO of Amasia International Automotive LLC of Sarasota, Florida.

 


Amasia International has imported a few hundred of these mini electric vans produced at Liuzhou Wuling Motor Co., a partner of General Motors in China.

To meet U.S. safety rules, the windshields usually need to be replaced and seat belts must be added in addition to a few other tweaks, he says.

Originally Fisher aimed to import traditional cars, but U.S. homologation rules were a headache. "The timeline of waiting for the conventional vehicles is too much," he said. "I could go broke waiting for them."

Amasia has imported a few hundred microvans and mini-trucks produced by Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co. In China, Wuling's joint venture with GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Group is the leading manufacturer of commercial micro-vans.

The bodies of Amasia's mini-vehicles are produced by the joint venture, and an electric powertrain is installed by Wuling Special Vehicle Operations.

 


Bill Fisher of Amasia hopes there is a U.S. market for this low-speed EV produced by Liuzhou Wuling Motor Co. The tiny car can travel up to 30 miles on a charge.

Fisher says he also wants to import a low-speed neighborhood electric mini car called the Smile-E (which he admits is a "glorified golf cart") to the United States. The Smile-E can be driven at speeds up to 40 km (25 miles) per hour.

I first met Fisher in 2006 when I lived in Shanghai. Fisher was characteristically hopeful about the U.S. market for low-speed EVs. "I think this is going to skyrocket in the next few years," he says.

If that's true, there are other Chinese companies waiting in the wings for that trend to take off.