Here's some text from the NHTSA website. Don't know if anyone has ever done this, but importing an EV from China for its electrical parts might be possible, with some arduous work:
A disassembled vehicle that is shipped without an engine and transmission is treated for importation purposes not as a motor vehicle, but instead as an assemblage of motor vehicle equipment items. Such an assemblage can lawfully be imported into the U.S., provided any equipment included in the assemblage that is subject to FMVSS, but was not originally manufactured to comply with that FMVSS or was not so certified by its original manufacturer, is removed from the assemblage prior to entry into the U.S. Equipment items that are subject to the FMVSS include tires, rims, brake hoses, brake fluid, seat belt assemblies, glazing materials, and lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. Bill Send On Fri, 26 Apr, 2024 at 10:38 AM, Lee Hart via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: To: electric vehicle discussion list Cc: leeah...@earthlink.net Peri Hartman via EV wrote: > If anyone figures out how to import an EV, please let me know. There may be other loopholes as well. I bought my ComutaVan as scrap from a junkyard. I got it inspected and re-titled it as an "assembled electric vehicle". It was fully roadworthy; not an NEV. The only issue the inspector had was the regulation that it "must have an exhaust system". I satisfied him by bolting a (useless) tailpipe onto it. Another way is to import it as scrap or parts, and assemble it yourself. Several companies have done this. Zap, Wemo, and Zenn seem to have gone this route. There is a company near me in Minnesota that brought in some disassembled Russian cars, re-assembled, and sold them. Another is currently bringing in Chinese EVs the same way (though I think they are selling them as NEVs).Then some are simply driven in from Mexico or Canada, and then re-registered in the US (perhaps by careless DMV clerks.There may also be a loophole if you are moving into the US and want to bring your car. Didn't Mercedes have a program where they let you buy one in Europe and bring it with you back to the US? Lee -- Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James -- Lee A. Hart https://www.sunrise-ev.com _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org<mailto:ev@lists.evdl.org> No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20240426/bade5c61/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/