Viral Chinese EV Clips Stoke US Interest in Cars They Can’t Own

Richard Benoit flew to Alaska a little more than a year ago to test-drive a slate of China’s newest electric vehicles, shipped onto US soil to dazzle online car influencers like him. Sitting in the driver’s seat of a sky-blue Chery iCar 03, Benoit marveled at the SUV’s roomy interior, widescreen digital display with built-in karaoke and jaw-dropping price tag: $24,000. “Now I understand why they don’t want these to come to America,” he said in a video he posted on YouTube. “This is insane.”

Illustration: Joel Plosz for Bloomberg Businessweek

Titled “I drove the cheap Chinese cars that are illegal in the USA. Now ...