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.
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.
And did it by boldly having no understanding of computers at the time which is why all the tech is so different from a lot of other scifi. I recently got through my decade long Asimov kick and am slowly working through Gibson now
I’m an ev fan but I don’t agree that they have more longevity than ICE cars. The current battery chemistries simply don’t allow for it.
Either battery chemistries with 20 years of guaranteed performance would have to be developed, or battery replacement and refurbishment costs will need to come down to say the cost of replacing a head gasket.
This will eventually happen, but current generation of EVs are essentially a recyclable consumable compared to their ICE counterparts.
Thought i read somewhere that BYD or another manufacturer was looking to build manufacturing in Mexico to take advantage of the NAFTA agreement…. If that’s the case then it’s a question of them meeting US standards. I just remember the hilariously bad crash tests where that cars were the crumple zones.
I thought there were no standards for car manufacturing in the US (isn't that the reason Muskrat is able to sell the trucks without crash-testinh them ?)
I want an electric Subaru Outback or Forester. Something that can be driven off road to a campground, pull a trailer if needed, and has enough range to get me from Ann Arbor to the upper peninsula with minimal charging. Seats and trunk that I can hose out after a muddy dog park excursion would be great too.
It's going to be a little while before we get realistic options for outdoorsy uses of BEVs. If you want the range to get there AND get back (or even just to a charger) then they're too dang heavy for offroad use. If you want to pull a camper, then the range absolutely tanks.
Airstream is trying to address this by making a $120,000 (lol) camper that has its own battery and traction motors to assist the pulling vehicle. I think its a pretty good idea but of course they're going to lock it down in patents for 20 years and prevent anyone from offering something affordable.
Maybe we'll get lucky an a revolutionary battery technology like those frequently talked about glass batteries will come out and just outperform the status quo by every metric.
Do a search for "unexpected acceleration", there are some serious surprises in the gas/hybrid vehicles in both drive and reverse.
Edit: This is not to imply all gas/hybrid cars are vulnerable, but it may be well-worth the time to check the vehicle brand/model/year of interest. A more specific search term is: brand model year "sudden unexpected acceleration"
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.
Oh look, more cheap Chinese shit. Let’s stop manufacturing toilet paper and buy it from china anyway. Im sure it wont be carcinogen laced slave labour funded lowest quality crap,
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.
Given the rough relationship between the US and China and the potential national security risks, I highly doubt this will ever make its way into the US. May make its way to Europe though.
Tariffs on Chinese vehicles in the US are 25+%, but even with that, this would be a bargain. I'm sure there'd be even more costs added bringing it over, but if it can stay under $30k, I think it'd sell a lot, especially if it's closer to $25k or less.