this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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Futurology
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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.
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.
Current cars are not scrap because of the moving parts. It is rust on the body that kills them.
For those who dont know:
If the quote sounds very cyberpunk (techno futuristic corporate dystopia) it is because William Gibson is the father of the cyberpunk genre.
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
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.
Sounds like a good way to make cars more available and balancing the cost with the rich.
The whole industry lives off subsidies, regardless of the type or where they are manufactured.
In a funny way this sounds like prescription drugs, cheaper for the world due to US tax payers.
The secret ingredient is ~~crime~~ slave labor.
Sent from my iphone.
hired by the west in droves
No, the way this usually goes is that a Western firm will order parts from a company in China, which then subcontracts to a firm that uses slave labor. This obfuscation isn't always easy to find out about, especially if you don't have knowledgeable people on the ground.
if you are telling me they use slaves, then its pretty naive to think they don't know.
could have been you know, not outsourcing their shit to bangladesh or other east asian places known for their sweatshops, thats always an option.
We in the US would never provide a corporation with state aid!!!
RHEEEE
Whataboutism isn't an answer.
But restricting competition is?
To benefit price gouging US companies?
They aren't price gouging, they have to pay actual living wages, have higher energy costs (China uses almost entirely cheap coal) and can't as easily use slave labor as Chinese automakers.
I trust u bro
GM has negative margins on EVs:
https://apnews.com/article/general-motors-path-to-electric-vehicle-profitability-bba3a9cbbd2aad0953cbc113e53d041c
As does Ford:
https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/23/ford-expects-ev-business-unit-to-lose-3b-this-year-hit-profitability-in-2026/?guccounter=1
This takes seconds to research.
yeah they are pricing gouging on trucks and SUVs while designing shiti products that's expensive/hard to repair.
also tesla seems to be doing fine. GM should git gud.
If you think the repairability of American cars is bad, you're in for a rough awakening with Chinese cars.
Is there any evidence for this?
It's very public knowledge. China doesn't hide it.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/china-announces-extension-purchase-tax-break-nevs-until-2027-2023-06-21/
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/18/1225653773/china-electric-vehicles-byd-nio-geely-vw-europe
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-launches-anti-subsidy-investigation-into-chinese-electric-vehicles-2023-09-13/