[chrsw]

I agree that sounds hypocritical but I don't see a lot of people saying that. I don't even know if I can buy cheap Chinese EVs in the US, or when I'll be able to. It's not really an option that's on the table as far as I can tell.

I think the bottom line for many people is EVs are still not as cheap as ICE options and definitely not as convenient, yet. When that situation changes I don't know why most consumers would stick to ICE.

[bryanlarsen]

> when I'll be able to

You can go to Alibaba and buy a $5,000 EV and then spend a similar amount to import it. It's a lot of hassle, but makes for an entertaining Youtube video.

For the mainstream, likely about 18-24 months after BYD breaks ground on their Mexican factory, which could happen any day now.

And it depends on your definition of "cheap". BYD is obviously going to start with American sized vehicles. The Internet might want the subcompact $10,000 Seagull, but we're much more likely to get something like the $35,000 Atto 3 as the cheapest model to start.

[alephnerd]

> I don't even know if I can buy cheap Chinese EVs in the US

The only one you can is the EX30, but even that's more pricy than a Tesla Model 3.

The truly cheap EVs you see in Asia (eg. The lower end BYD, Zeekr, MGs) are aimed at developing markets, not developed.

And yes, plenty of Eastern European members of the EU (the ones where the cheaper end EV makers are targeting) are still developing/emerging markets - Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria still are developing (though might not be in 10-15 years).

Higher end Chinese EVs like Polestar and Volvo (Volvo has been Geely for almost 2 decades now) are aimed at developed countries, in order to manage the brand perception.

[ulfw]

Chinese EV brands and models are available all over Europe and the rest of the free world. US is an exception.

Many western brands are manufacturing in China and exporting globally (Tesla, Geely/Volvo/Polestar, BMW Mini, Mercedes smart, Renault etc. Hell even the Dacia EV is actually a Chinese car). Some of those are entering the US (Volvo, Polestar, Mini)

[alephnerd]

> Chinese EV brands and models

Not all of them. Most Chinese EVs in Europe are SAIC (MG Group) or Geely (Volvo, Polestar).

BYD hasn't entered the market yet, let alone the upcoming brands like Xiaomi, but is largely targeting Eastern Europe as their initial phase.

Also, Smart was only recently resurrected as a German-Chinese JV.

> even the Dacia EV is actually a Chinese car

It uses the CMF-A, which is a French-Japanese joint platform.

German automotive players tend to have JVs with China and targeted the Chinese and (before the war) Russian market. French automotive players tend to have JVs with Japanese players and targeted Europe, South America, Korea, and India.

> US is an exception

They are available in the US as well under the "Volvo" and "Polestar" logo, as both are subsidiaries of Geely.

> Many western brands are manufacturing in China and exporting globally

Absolutely! But for now they don't have significant marketshare YET. It's still Tesla, BMW Group, VW Group, and Daimler-Benz Group (which is going to start using a Chinese platform as they fell significantly behind).

In the US EV platforms need to be domestic in order to be cost competitive, but in the German automotive industry, they're going to start importing Chinese EV platforms (as German automotive brands were almost entirely dependent on China - the VW Jetta was China's Honda Civic).

In the next year, that kind of importation will most likely be banned and retroactive tariffs will be in place by June-July [0]

[0] - https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/eu-set...

[ulfw]

What you are saying is absolutely not true.

"BYD hasn't entered the market yet" https://electrek.co/2024/01/12/byd-slashes-ev-prices-germany... https://bydeurope.com/article/409

Plenty of Chinese brands are sold in Europe. Nio, BYD, Xpeng, Zeekr, GWM (Ora) etc etc they're all there. Xiaomi isn't outside of China yet as they have launched literally a week ago only.

https://electrek.co/2024/03/28/xpeng-xpev-launches-two-evs-g....

https://www.arenaev.com/first_units_of_zeekr_001_delivered_t....

https://www.carwow.co.uk/ora/funky-cat

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/07/1223355479/chinese-carmakers-....