The Chinese automaker BYD reminds me of the famous phrase attributed to the sci-fi writer William Gibson - “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”
Future EV cars will be cheap to own and run. Self-driving tech will lower insurance costs. You can charge them with your home solar setup if you want. They’ll last far longer with lower maintenance costs thanks to simple electric engines with few moving parts. As their construction gets more roboticized it will lower their costs further. The batteries that make up a huge chunk of their current costs are falling in price too. CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, is set to cut costs in half by mid 2024.
Some people still think gasoline and ICE cars have a long life ahead of them, and don’t realize the industries behind both are dead men walking.
If future means public subsidies, I’m all for it.
Chinese EVs are cheaper because they are prepaid by Chinese tax payers. That also includes taxes levied from our internet purchases for products made in China.
We in the US would never provide a corporation with state aid!!!
RHEEEE
If I can get easy replacement parts access and a Hayne’s manual for one of these, I’m all for it. I have both of those for my current car, along with a full toolbox for basic mechanic work.
Seeing EU and US auto maker get bent out of shape at the idea of having to compete on price… they want the state to step in to protect their captured market. clown capitalism for ya.
And before we start talking chinese state aid for their EV industry, let’s not forget that we also provide state aid to our daddies of the industry and they still punk us on price 🤡🤡🤡
Isn’t the staying power of Toyota vehicles their build quality and longevity, not their cheapness? Wouldn’t this be a Kia killer?
Definitely. I would be surprised if this car maker can compete toe to toe with Toyota on quality but they can slay when it comes to price.
If this makes it to American shores they will not be able to keep up with demand.
I do not think this will ever make it to the USA.
I’m curious how much a similar vehicle would be in North America. Could BYD import it directly?
It would be considerably more expensive. Safety standards are much higher in Western countries. Also, they still need to build up a sales and maintenance organisation there, that takes a lot of capital. It’ll be interesting to see where they land in their price points, though.
Aaaaand it’s on fire.
