Just how good are these cars we're banning? Good question because there's a whole thread of Chinese social media dedicated to Chinese EVs blowing up and, in many cases, frying the drivers and passengers inside. The Xiaomi SU7 has become a joke because of the problems people are experiencing, often on their first drive. Who could expect that? Well, maybe everyone. Building a car that can drive over 100 miles per hour isn't as easy as building a mobile phone, now is it? Even EVs are highly complicated pieces of machinery, it's stunning China allowed 900+ EV companies to pop up almost overnight. But, once again, China's the great long-term planner. Right... More like a great tosser of spaghetti on the wall. See what sticks.
"...there’s much less emphasis on absolute performance (e.g. 0-60 mph times) for competitively priced models."
The above descriptions of the wunderbar Chinese EVs are all about slick, shiny accoutrements. When I shop for a car, it's precisely performance (which is about more that "e.g. 0-60 mph" - how about handling, braking?) and "performance+" (sightlines, shocks, road noise, solid construction, durability, collision safety, reliability, and so on) that I'm interested in.
Any piece purporting to assess the viability of automotive entries in a market that elides these fundamental vehicle values is seriously deficient.
China, once again, proving it's not quite the long-term planner it thinks it is. Did they really think they could subsidize an entire EV market into existence and then dump these products on the Americans and Europeans? These EV cars have clearly being generously subsidized (Made in China 2025, anyone?) and are now being overproduced. Did China really think the West wasn't onto them after what they did with the solar industry a few years ago? Why should the US consumer be allowed to buy products that are clearly being sold for lower than they were produced? They shouldn't. Good on Biden.
"Therefore, the US has made the strategic decision to prioritize building a competitive EV industry at the expense of the American consumer in the short-term."
Agree with this and the overall analysis in the article. Disagree these tariffs build an EV industry that is anywhere near competitive outside of the US. Tesla aside, I can't see any EV startup or Detroit exporting EVs in any volumes. They will lose in nearly any market that does not impose similar tariffs on Chinese EVs, especially the (higher growth) emerging markets.
I would also note that the only area the US is ahead on is autonomy. Waymo's SF operations seem to have very few interventions, and at 50k / week run rate, they are doing a similar number of trips to Baidu's Apollo vehicles in China. However, based on reviews I've seen, Baidu's vehicles are more cautious, seem actually less capable, and work in smaller geofenced areas. Nio (Onvo L60), Xpeng, Xiaomi (SU7 base model) all offer vision only ADAS despite the rapid growth of LIDAR suppliers in China. Tesla's FSD, especially v12.3+ seems to be globally in the lead here.
The charging infrastructure in US is not prepared for a massive switch to EVs. If Chinese EV companies want to export all their idle capacity to US they will have to help build up the EV charging network. So it's not only tariffs.
Just how good are these cars we're banning? Good question because there's a whole thread of Chinese social media dedicated to Chinese EVs blowing up and, in many cases, frying the drivers and passengers inside. The Xiaomi SU7 has become a joke because of the problems people are experiencing, often on their first drive. Who could expect that? Well, maybe everyone. Building a car that can drive over 100 miles per hour isn't as easy as building a mobile phone, now is it? Even EVs are highly complicated pieces of machinery, it's stunning China allowed 900+ EV companies to pop up almost overnight. But, once again, China's the great long-term planner. Right... More like a great tosser of spaghetti on the wall. See what sticks.
"...there’s much less emphasis on absolute performance (e.g. 0-60 mph times) for competitively priced models."
The above descriptions of the wunderbar Chinese EVs are all about slick, shiny accoutrements. When I shop for a car, it's precisely performance (which is about more that "e.g. 0-60 mph" - how about handling, braking?) and "performance+" (sightlines, shocks, road noise, solid construction, durability, collision safety, reliability, and so on) that I'm interested in.
Any piece purporting to assess the viability of automotive entries in a market that elides these fundamental vehicle values is seriously deficient.
China, once again, proving it's not quite the long-term planner it thinks it is. Did they really think they could subsidize an entire EV market into existence and then dump these products on the Americans and Europeans? These EV cars have clearly being generously subsidized (Made in China 2025, anyone?) and are now being overproduced. Did China really think the West wasn't onto them after what they did with the solar industry a few years ago? Why should the US consumer be allowed to buy products that are clearly being sold for lower than they were produced? They shouldn't. Good on Biden.
"Therefore, the US has made the strategic decision to prioritize building a competitive EV industry at the expense of the American consumer in the short-term."
Agree with this and the overall analysis in the article. Disagree these tariffs build an EV industry that is anywhere near competitive outside of the US. Tesla aside, I can't see any EV startup or Detroit exporting EVs in any volumes. They will lose in nearly any market that does not impose similar tariffs on Chinese EVs, especially the (higher growth) emerging markets.
I would also note that the only area the US is ahead on is autonomy. Waymo's SF operations seem to have very few interventions, and at 50k / week run rate, they are doing a similar number of trips to Baidu's Apollo vehicles in China. However, based on reviews I've seen, Baidu's vehicles are more cautious, seem actually less capable, and work in smaller geofenced areas. Nio (Onvo L60), Xpeng, Xiaomi (SU7 base model) all offer vision only ADAS despite the rapid growth of LIDAR suppliers in China. Tesla's FSD, especially v12.3+ seems to be globally in the lead here.
The charging infrastructure in US is not prepared for a massive switch to EVs. If Chinese EV companies want to export all their idle capacity to US they will have to help build up the EV charging network. So it's not only tariffs.
Great overview! I linked it here today:
https://www.libertyrpf.com/p/499-microsoft-vs-openai-google-ux
Keep up the good work 💚 🥃