Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge
Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge
The China-built BYD Seagull, a compact all-electric hatchback, starts at just 69,800 yuan (or less than $10,000).
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I absolutely hate Chinese car manufacturers, but they made it clear that western car makers don't want to create affordable EVs.
Well R&D costs a ton of money
The reason why Chinese ones are so cheap is that the government is subsidizing them
thats the correct thing to do if you want to transition away from oil fast.
I agree on that, there should be more incentive for people to get EVs
BYD also owns the entire supply chain, from lithium mines to battery manufacturing to car assembly to sales. Nobody else can do that right now.
And China has the overwhelming advantage in lithium supply to the rest of the world.
IIRC it’s not R&D that is the main cost of EVs these days, but the cost of the batteries themselves is still absurdly high. It’s down to $139/kWh as of Nov 2023, but keep that in perspective of an EV: a 72 kWh battery is $10k in raw material costs alone. I think I remember seeing a quote that affordable EVs (unsubsidized) can’t become a realistic goal until lithium prices break the $100 threshold.
That and the fact that a lot of auto makers in the US only want to make luxury EVs.
It's almost like the US has spent billions developing electric cars that the Chinese manufacturers don't have to spend on.
🤔
Hate why?
Generally don't trust their build quality.
Literally almost everything you own or purchase was manufactured in China, and has been for 30+ years. They’ve risen most of their population out of poverty and have been stringently educating their youth as well. “Ghost cities” are becoming populated urban centers, as they planned.
They have the manpower, infrastructure, and smarts to absolutely beat us at our own game, and our rich, Republican billionaire elites fucking sold it to them for the chance to lower labor costs and keep more of the profit themselves.
And you’re still like “hurrr durr Chinese shit cheap” like dude you’re typing on a device made in china, even the most top of the line shit. You’re already IN China, my man.
https://electrek.co/2020/08/03/tesla-made-in-china-cars-lead-market-quality/
Considering even Tesla's cars in China is of higher quality then the same model build in the US. I am inclined to doubt the quality of electric vehicles not built in China.
K.
Based on what though? Any hard facts or is it just like racism or xenophobia or something?
Dunno about cars but generally this is outdated. So many times I have bought all sorts of things from china that end up being the exact same as the local stuff minus the brand name for like 2% of the cost. A lot of things end up being at best "assembled in the USA" with china parts and sub assemblies too.
China have become very good at manufacturing, thanks to all the western companies outsourcing over the years. Nowadays Made in china means reasonable quality at a good price, they are amazing at hiting certain privepoints with as high of a quality you could expect. Give them a high quality pricepoint and they outdo any western company. I think that is what is happening here
Chinesiun usage, mostly.
Chinese companies see lots of funding from their government in specific fields.
Same from any nation really, but don't think the ticket price isn't reduced from those subsidies / donations / how ever you want to paint it.
I believe the EU are planning to tax Chinese made vehicles based on how much support they are receiving from their government.
https://fortune.com/2024/03/07/eu-nears-hitting-chinese-evs-with-additional-tariffs/