Chinese EVs... may be better than we think

[Danface]

The best engines AMC had were the 327 (from Chevy) and the 390 (from Ford). Ugliest vehicle in US was a toss up between the Gremlin and the Pacer.

I liked Pacer. It was fun to drive. If the Pacer was the ugliest then looking at a Cybertruck should turn you to stone.

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[Tony Burgh]

I liked Pacer. It was fun to drive. If the Pacer was the ugliest then looking at a Cybertruck should turn you to stone.

The term for the looks of the CT is fugly.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

I think they started 16 years ago with the 2008 Beijing Olympics when the China air was so bad. In 2006 we read the "Inconvenient Truth", but generally ignored it.

Today they have terrific electric bullet trains, as well as high quality electric cars, as well as really cheap electric cars. We are trying to fence them out as we struggle to catch up.

Before we start lauding China as being ahead of us as a green nation...

 

[mq019]

We can argue all day, both sides of whether or not they are more advanced and never settle the issue.

I have a few observations though (I'll try to keep the politics out of it, but it is inherently a political issue)....

1 - they may be superior at manufacturing batteries, but its not because we CANT do it here, but because we WONT do it here. Our EPA wont let us. Also, our government doesnt provide a large enough subsidy to make it worthwhile, and we pay folks in our manufacturing sector too much for it to ever be profitable. Tariffs (or I guess war) are the only possible response to a government that subsidizes an industry, and allows slave wages to a point that it has major negative national security and economic impacts on other countries.

2 - their "green" credentials are virtually non existent. They make a ton of EV's - doesnt make them "green". They are powering them with fossil fuels, and planning to burn more and more fossil fuels to generate the energy to manufacture and run those EV's. Also, they are essentially making disposable EV's from what I've seen - so cheap that its easier/cheaper to throw them away and get a new one when they get old/break. There are already stories of piles of NEW EV's sitting at ports that they cant move - just wait for the stories of piles of OLD EV's sitting around because it was more economical to replace them than fix them.

3 - Are their EV's really "better"? I have yet to see any safety or reliability studies on their vehicles. Maybe I've just missed them, but China doesnt have a great track record of building safe, reliable equipment. They still have yet to prove this. I'd love to see the NHTSA do reviews of some of these Chinese cars we keep hearing so much about. Reliability will be another thing that only time will tell. I've seen some nice looking electronics come from China that were absolutely worthless - software was terrible, components physically broke or failed after single or just a few uses, audio/video quality was terrible, etc etc. ad-nauseum. How will support be? Who's gonna fix that cheap EV when it has a problem? They have absolutely no infrastructure in place here to support their product, and we all know how great support will be if it involves calling China.

4 - Privacy - China is not known for their privacy. Aww hell, lets be real - there is no privacy. In a high tech vehicle with so so many cameras, mics, and other sensors, would you feel secure that your data isnt going to end up in the CCP massive database? That those cameras and mics wouldnt be abused? If you do, you're very very wrong. I have reservations about how much data our own automakers have or could have about us, what they do with it, and how they protect it. These Chinese companies are essentially owned by the CCP - I know exactly where it would end up, and it would absolutely be a national security threat. Think about China being able to, on demand, disable your EV if they dont like an American policy - you could become a tool of the CCP to put pressure on your own government so that you dont lose access to your vehicle. Nevermind the CCP having access to all of those cameras, mics, and gps logs - if you cant see the threat there, then




And a thought - how about using their own system against them. IF they are really so much more advanced than we are, instead of tariffs, require that they build their vehicles and batteries here, in the US, and that they do it via partnerships with a local automaker and cant own more than 50% of the company.



Ok - I'm done - go ahead and crucify me!

 

[F150ROD]

Let’s just move on to flying cars

 

[DesertEV]

Let’s just move on to flying cars

Yes, deposit down today on a 2029 F-150 Stealth with SkyCruise…

 

[TaxmanHog]

Exploded Mercedes EV had battery from China's Farasis Energy, gov't says

In an Aug. 5 update, Korea JoongAng Daily reported the electric vehicle contained batteries made by a Chinese firm.

They can keep that c graded garbage in asia.

 

[DesertEV]

Exploded Mercedes EV had battery from China's Farasis Energy, gov't says

In an Aug. 5 update, Korea JoongAng Daily reported the electric vehicle contained batteries made by a Chinese firm.

They can keep that c graded garbage in asia.

How prone are our Lightnings to catch fire like this from our battery?

 

[Hammick]

Tesla needs to step their game up. I still see a collar between Ford and Tesla.

IMHO Telsa is doomed until they get rid of their lunatic.

 

[TaxmanHog]

How prone are our Lightnings to catch fire like this from our battery?

I'm only aware of the one truck that had an incident at the Rouge early 2023, so hopefully less likely.

 

[3rdgenfan]

100% tariffs were an interesting choice, but I feel the 'takeover' of lower priced, well made EVs should be a wake up call to the US manufacturers. We're constantly getting bombarded by $75k+ trucks or $150k+ cars and then when sales fall flat they call the whole thing off.

We need a new Bolt. I loved mine, it was cheap and went twice as far as the VW eGolf I was originally shopping. If they aren't going to make one here, then let us buy them from somewhere else.

Unfortunately the EV mindset for others will always be tarnished by the goal posts that move weekly regarding how far a car should go on one charge. Years ago it was "300 miles" now it's "650 miles and charge in 4 minutes"

 

[climateguy]

We need a new Bolt.

Chevrolet says they are going to bring a new Bolt out, maybe for 2025.

 

[Scorpio3d]

4 - Privacy - China is not known for their privacy. Aww hell, lets be real - there is no privacy. In a high tech vehicle with so so many cameras, mics, and other sensors, would you feel secure that your data isnt going to end up in the CCP massive database? That those cameras and mics wouldnt be abused? If you do, you're very very wrong. I have reservations about how much data our own automakers have or could have about us, what they do with it, and how they protect it. These Chinese companies are essentially owned by the CCP - I know exactly where it would end up, and it would absolutely be a national security threat. Think about China being able to, on demand, disable your EV if they dont like an American policy - you could become a tool of the CCP to put pressure on your own government so that you dont lose access to your vehicle. Nevermind the CCP having access to all of those cameras, mics, and gps logs - if you cant see the threat there, then




And a thought - how about using their own system against them. IF they are really so much more advanced than we are, instead of tariffs, require that they build their vehicles and batteries here, in the US, and that they do it via partnerships with a local automaker and cant own more than 50% of the company.



Ok - I'm done - go ahead and crucify me!

Speaking of data privacy!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/13/busi...s-driver-data?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_msn

 

[Warren]

How prone are our Lightnings to catch fire like this from our battery?

So tired of this myth. The latest research shows that electric cars are 10 to 20 times LESS LIKELY to catch fire than an ICE car.

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