Europe is looking to fight the flood of Chinese electric vehicles. But Europeans love them - eviltoast
    • Tetsuo@jlai.lu
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      104
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Exactly.

      Europeans like Chinese electric vehicles because they are affordable.

      Meanwhile European manufacturers are probably pushing behind the scene to restrict the Asian competitors on the market so they can decide what price is right.

      In the next months in France they will reduce the subsidies for Electric Vehicle with a poor CO2 bill like imported Chinese cars.

      So even less people will get to afford EVs.

      I don’t think this is just about cheap Chinese labor importing cheap Chinese cars to Europe. It’s also about Europe ignoring the importance of battery tech and manufacturing for decades and suddenly acting all surprised that we are not competitive.

      • Hoomod@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        How VW, one of/the largest car manufacturers in the world, turns out the overpriced shit EVs it does, yeah… No wonder people are looking elsewhere

        Covid also really did a number on the car market (like so many others), probably take another 2-4 years before the used market gets anywhere back to normal.

        • tankplanker@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          VWs recent EVs were shit as well. Paywall locking the biggest battery behind the most expensive high performance model when people who are looking to adopt are chasing the max range as possible due to range anxiety. A shit infotainment system that controls everything but regularly crashes or lags out. Crap charging rates, crap regen and efficiency. Killing off their more popular entry level trim that was actually priced competitively to drive up margins.

          Its just another example of a market dominator trying to abuse their position in a new space and coming unstuck. They had to cut back on shifts and staff at their EV plants they fucked up that hard.

      • Obi@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        I thought this was a new brand of cars I never heard of but no, you used the name of the corporate group instead of Citroen, confusing! Looks nice though, modern Citroen are really nice.

        • Darkhoof@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yes, sorry. I used to follow FCA news a lot and I’m used to use the Corp name instead of the brand.

  • elouboub@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    75
    arrow-down
    23
    ·
    1 year ago

    Lol, a car industry that hasn’t innovated in years is suddenly threatened by innovation. Still, fuck cars. We should make them nigh obsolete with better public transport.

      • vivavideri@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        25
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I love cars. Fixing them is a pain in the ass but a fun challenge. Driving them can be fun, too. But, I think I’d love some kickass, efficient, abundant, affordable public transportation even more.

        God. We could have had it by now. It’d be so rad. But no.

        • the_third@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          18
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          That’s a bit of a nuanced take. This is Lemmy, please choose one side and stick to it, no matter what.

          • Moneo@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Cars are fascinating from an engineering perspective, can be a neat hobby, and are useful in many scenarios. None of this makes me feel any better when I’m walking home from the bus stop, choking on exhaust and feeling unsafe as I quadruple check both ways before stepping on to the street.

            Cars can be cool, but they are mostly fucking awful in pretty much every way imaginable.

            Also my original comment was obviously a joke and not an attempt at a serious discussion about the pros and cars of cars.

      • Sarcastik@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        19
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Chinese affordable EVs with an infotainment system that represents tech from the last 5 years.

          • elouboub@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 year ago

            Car batteries you can swap by hand in a few minutes without going to the shop, reverse charging (a car battery can power your home for a while), face scanning tech to ensure you aren’t distracted by your phone, capacitive door handles, resistive car doors that limit how far you can open them if there’s an obstacle in order no to scratch the doors, intercar communication, and that’s what I picked up from watching a video for a few minutes.

            BYD added a few thousand patents since 2011 and that’s just one of the car companies. They have played around with designs, materials, and much more. IINM they are also working on solid state batteries.

            And of course modernising the supply chains and making it possible even produce a car cheaply, quickly, and better quality than a Tesla. If that isn’t innovation for you, then I don’t know what is.

            • David_Eight@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              1 year ago

              Those are all things that I’ve seen on Western made cars, are you claiming that they where invented by Chinese car manufacturer? Like swappable ev batteries had been around since 2000, the reason most manufacturers don’t offer this feature is because they weigh 1000+ lbs. You’re not swapping that by hand in a couple of minutes. Can you please leave the link to the video you watched?

              Where did BYD file these patients, in China? Are these patients that came from BYDs partnership with Mercedes that started in 2010?

              How did they modernise the supply chain exactly? Is the lower price not just a reflection of cheaper labor and worse quality cars. What review said the quality is better than Tesla? Also idk if you’re aware but Tesla has the worst quality of any Western car manufacturer, literally dead last, so that claim isn’t even very impressive lol.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    48
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    They have an electric suv under $20k usd

    Sure, it’s probably gonna last like a mid-90’s Kia, but for the price it’s pretty nice.

    • agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      28
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      At the rate of industrial investment into this tech coupled with some places punishing gas cars, a cheap car that spans the gap from now until affoedable and better EVs is the perfect prescription, not to mention we havent stopepd having some form or financial crises since covid.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I think it’s debatable. Is it really good if all the energy that went into making the vehicle goes to waste because it only lasts 50k miles? At that point you’re basically building disposable vehicles.

        I think the sweet spot for this period is in hybrids that allow people to run on electricity around town but also have the ICE as a fallback for long/extended trips. The main hesitancy with EVs is range anxiety (ignoring high prices) and hybrids solve that issue while still retaining a lot of the benefits of an EV.

        • Addv4@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          The problem with that is that phevs are surprising expensive/heavy/complicated. It’s why Chevy discontinued the volt over the bolt. And why chevy had to cut a lot of costs on the volt to get it down to a semi-acceptable price (the volt didn’t even have power seats except on the Premier, and only on the drivers side).

          • Satelllliiiiiiiteeee@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            ·
            1 year ago

            Honestly, I prefer not to have power seats. It’s faster to adjust manual seats in my experience and there’s both fewer things to break and less weight.

            • Blastasaurus@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Agreed. Although having seat settings linked to individual fobs is nice. If you share a vehicle you don’t have to mess around with all the settings every time. Moot point though.

            • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              I’ve found I can never get a manual seat just right myself, they’re either slightly too far forward, or slightly too far back.

              Electric let’s you get it just right

        • bluGill@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          A large port of cars are recycled, so I’m not sure the energy costs are a big deal.

          • GiveMemes@jlai.lu
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            A huge amount of the overall CO2 output of EVs is from the manufacturing process though. It doesn’t matter if you can recycle the aluminum, for example, bc you still need to heat it to be recast and we’re not exactly using nuclear or solar to power our forges.

            • bluGill@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              1 year ago

              Mining is responsible for more CO2 than the rest of manufacturing. We also do use renewables for aluminum - there is enough energy required that energy cost is a big deal and so production is done in areas where energy is cheap - generally meaning geothermo.

      • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        If I was in the market for a new car, I’d strongly consider them because of the cost even knowing the quality may be low. It’s still an EV and would hold its value for now. It’s a good alternative to the slim-pickings we have here in the states

      • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        The solid state batteries that seem to be clearly on the verge of mass production within the next few years are going to make everything they’re making now horribly obsolete. I’ve been considering a EV for my next vehicle and will definitely be waiting now.

        • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          1 year ago

          People have been saying that for years. They could well still be 10 years out since we’ve only recently gotten them working on test benches. I’m not going to keep burning gas in the meantime.

        • the_third@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’ve been considering a EV for my next vehicle and will definitely be waiting now.

          Looking at how most of the news about that are coming from Toyota at the moment and Toyota happens to have a horrible line up of EVs but a very profitable lineup of ICE cars I’m sceptical. I think they are just trying to get people to buy another round of oil burners.

          I’ve got two compact electric cars since 2020, while everyone’s waiting for the next big thing I’ve already been driving around mainly using electricity from my roof 🤷

        • agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          While researching Chinese EVs I came across articles about abandoned EVs, the article claimed it was because they were made obsolete (they have roughly 100 mile range or less) so they were abandoned for the newer cheaper models with 3-5x that range, that problem is probably gong to be a bigger one to tackle than Chinese EV longevity, which supposedly aims for roughly 200,000km lifecycle which is 125k miles (average ice car has a lifespan of 130k miles). It also showed me how close to production those batteries you are talking about are, there’s a bold claim that the battery could be good for 2 million kilometers, if it’s even on the same order of magnitude of that, it would make so many EVs ‘obsolete’.

        • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’ve seen so much EV vapourware come and go over the years, I’m extremely sceptical about any new technology like this.

          I do sincerely hope it comes through though, range and charging speed are very much the limiting factors for EV tech right now.

  • febra@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The political class trying to protect the interests of the billionaire class. You grow up under this capitalist system and all you hear is “competition is driving innovation” but the moment true competition comes knocking on your door, you lock yourself into a room.

    • luciferofastora@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Government trying to steer a herd of impulsive and selfish citizens into doing what makes sense for the collective (or what they believe makes sense (or what they’re trying to convince us they believe makes sense))

      • Username@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        deeper nested brackets Or what the car lobby tells them they should try to convince they believe makes sense

        • Aceticon@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          1 year ago

          Not a single head of any of the car makers who participated in the rigging of diesel car emissions testing went to jail.

          Diesel car emssions are thought to kill around 10000 people per year in Europe (not all of which the excess emissions resulting from the rigging, but part of it).

          Not even human lives are more important than the wishes of the car lobby for european politicians.

          • Dizzy Devil Ducky@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            1 year ago

            If there’s money to be made, large companies regardless of nationality will gladly slaughter the mass for a profit increase.

            • Aceticon@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              The really shocking bit, however, is how our supposed representatives will help them out.

        • luciferofastora@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          To be fair, stuff like the GDPR is probably not in the lobby’s best interests, so they do bring good regulation too

            • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              I think ruining things is just their whole identity, but tbh, of all the things they’ve ruined, triple brackets is pretty low on the list.

              RIP to all your apparent Internet communications that people have taken as weirdly out of place anti-semitism though

  • qooqie@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m not entirely sure why they want to fight low prices? The article doesn’t say why EU and others shouldn’t be able to afford e-vehicles

    • lorez@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      45
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      They undercut the sales of European vehicles which cost more.

        • Wogi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          35
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          “Capitalism breeds innovation and drivers prices down!”

          Capitalism: no not like that

              • barsoap@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                10
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Of course they are, subsidies are one of capital’s favourite methods to siphon money out of the populace. Or were you under the impression that greedy people like playing fair on fair markets?

            • elouboub@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              20
              arrow-down
              4
              ·
              1 year ago

              US government shoving millions up the asses of the their industries: capitalism

              China shoving millions into their industries: communism

              Yours faithfully, the brainwashed USAian

            • chaogomu@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              8
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Every country does some level of industry subsidy. So it’s kind of baked into capitalism now. And, technically, has been since the beginning.

            • Vilian@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              yes, it is, USA also do that, and others countries with fossil fuel

              • bioemerl@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                7
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                Yes, and the EU largely responds in the sectors of US subsidy. Food imports are restricted. Airbus and Boeing are constant sources of trade spats, etc.

                Chinese subsidy makes American subsidy look like childs play. Their response to China should match that discrepancy.

              • Peaty@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                They are talking about car subsidies which China does and not all countries do in all markets.

        • Pringles@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          19
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          It’s not that simple. Caricatures are easy, but the fact remains that the Chinese auto makers are heavily subsidized and it’s that government support that allows them (partially at least) to undercut the European auto makers.

          That being said, the European auto makers really deserve to be hurt for their arrogance. And that’s coming from someone whose income is directly related to how well they do.

        • bluGill@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          In the US they would, unless they get an exception (which generally means they are not cars and cannot be used on roads, though there are other ways to get an exception: none would apply to anything mass market)

          I don’t know what EU rules are.

          • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            I think generally, if the car is a make and model that has previously passed inspections, they don’t need to be re-inspected? For instance, you don’t generally run into a situation where your ford focus is inspected, because that make and model is already “well known” so to speak.

      • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        The Chinese cars by Chinese manufacturer are generally getting excellent safety rating. Most of them get 5 stars on NCAP crash test.

        On the other hand the Renault Zoe, one of the best selling European car by a european manufacturer got a 0 star on the same crash test. It’s not an isolated case, the e-c3 got a 0 star on the latin american test, I’m waiting to see what will be the score in Europe.

        I’m not saying that Chinese car are better but the bad reputation is not justified anymore. Europeans automakers should get their shit together if they want to survive.

    • bioemerl@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      low prices

      They’re fighting Chinese market manipulation that is specifically designed to make the world dependent on them and lowers wages across the world by creating massive market imbalances. Every nation with two brain cells should ban the import of all Chinese vehicles and eventually all Chinese industry entirely.

    • paintbucketholder@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      Chinese electric car makers get absolutely massive state subsidies. There are companies like Nio that have never made a single dollar of profit. Nio has been losing money on every single car they sell, to the point where they’ve been losing almost a billion dollars in the last quarter alone.

      However, China doesn’t care. The state keeps financing these companies, because if they can undermine European and American auto makers to the point where they’re simply unable to compete and maybe even completely collapse, then Chinese car makers will be the only ones left in the market, and they’ll be able to charge any price they want.

      And realistically, which American or European car maker will be able to compete with a multitude of Chinese competitors that all can afford to lose billions and billions every year without batting an eye?

      So that’s why they want to fight “low prices.”

    • zout@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      As long as safety and environmental regulations in China are lower than in Europe, it will always be cheaper to produce there.

    • BassTurd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      58
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      If it’s because you hate Asians, then yes. If it’s because you believe China makes bad products or because of their unethical practices, then no.

      • snooggums@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        It could be all three since racists tend to think China makes bad products and have unethical practices because they are Chinese due to conflating race and culture.

      • DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I am kinda Asian LOL.

        It’s just that most non-electronic Chinese manufactured stuff is just terrible build quality.

    • Peaty@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Only if it had something to do with race. If it’s because you don’t think their manufacturing standards are high enough to feel safe that wouldn’t be racist per se.

    • Gsus4@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Electric cars are so much simpler than ICEs…they’re almost “phones with wheels”…so IF you happen to “trust” “buy” their phones, it’s not a huge jump to cars…but it’s a jump 😅 , just not on principle.

      • DrDr@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        1 year ago

        I get your point but choosing Chinese phones as a trust example is hilarious. Every Chinese phone has a backdoor straight to China.

        • Troy@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Your Apple or Android have a high probability of having all or part made in China.

        • Gsus4@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I know, maybe trust was not the right expression. The issue is that we still buy them, even if we know they’re pumped full of spyware from a country that is not an ally.

    • JasSmith@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      No. Chinese cars have been a thing in New Zealand for decades now and they are HORRIFIC. They import the good version for safety testing then promptly switch out the steel for cheaper “Chinesium,” and airbags for cheaper versions. No one should ever buy one until long term reliability studies are conducted. I will eat my hat if they’re anything other than terrible.

      • DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah the “great wall” Ute’s et cetera have a terrible reputation here. They’re bottom tier fleet vehicles.

        Campers & trailers are the same. Too thin to be repaired.

  • bioemerl@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    1 year ago

    State literally calls itself communist. (Operates more like a fascist state than a communist one)

    Conducts ever more of its industry through the state and strictly controls the banks and loans.

    Exercises huge subsidies across the entire economy which is visible through their massive and growing imbalance between their internal consumption and export.

    “You only say it’s not capitalist because they aren’t white”

    No I say they aren’t capitalist because they aren’t capitalist.

    • Peaty@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      27
      ·
      1 year ago

      China is closer to neo-mercantilism due to the level if direct state involvement in private business.

      • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        As a nationalist economic policy, neo-mercantilism integrates well with the fascist economic model, particularly in this age when the masses are so accustomed to foreign goods that they might find the explicit notion of autarky alienating.

        • Peaty@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yes but ideologically China is not aligned with fascism at all. They are on paper still pretending to be Marxists. Fascism is opposed to Marxism.

      • bioemerl@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        And what do you call an authoritarian ethnic state that has co opted capital to ensure and spread state control over public and private life?

    • febra@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      And why should I, a European consumer, care if China has a communist economy or not?

      Same shit to me. You live your entire life under capitalism being lied to about how “competition drives innovation” and suddenly when competition knocks on your door, you lock yourself in.

      • bioemerl@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Because China achieves it’s goals though large scale industrial subsidy and directly suppresses global wages as a result result, impacting your paycheck.

        • febra@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I’m sorry, but why aren’t we doing anything about all the subsidies and forgiveable loans (including the ones these companies are using as tax deductible to pay 0 euros taxes while banking billions) my government is handing out to banks, property management companies, car manufacturers, petroleum product producers then?