The recent surge in fuel prices due to the war in Iran has spurred demand for electric vehicles around the world, and Chinese car makers are making the most of the opportunity.

    • el_muerte@lemmy.ca
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      4 days ago

      Cheeto Benito inadvertently doing more to drive renewables and electric cars than any previous incentives definitely isn’t something i had on my bingo card.

  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    The whole world is starting to find out that they can thrive without the usa, now that they have to (unless they kiss the ring). Fuck, it’s just like Stephen King’s novel “The Stand”.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Yes. But as an American I want to thrive with byd here!

    They’re just better electric cars than what we can get…

  • nyan@lemmy.cafe
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    5 days ago

    Pretty sure they’ve been doing fine without the US market for years.

    (It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when BYD sets up dealerships just north of the border, since Canada has given them the okay to import a certain number of vehicles per year.)

    • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      (It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when BYD sets up dealerships just north of the border, since Canada has given them the okay to import a certain number of vehicles per year.)

      Better to look at Australia. Low tariffs only apply to 50,000 cars made in China, which include Volvo and Teslerrr. This means the cars they import will be expensive.

      But Canada tried an experiment with BYD buses, they set up an assembly plant near Toronto in 2019 and the buses were so bad, no one ordered them because they broke in testing. Toronto ordered 25 and sued to get their money back, and by 2023, BYD Bus Canada was shut down after building a whopping 10 buses.

      Buying a new model from established car makers is a bad idea. The reality is there is no long term data on these Chinese EVs.

      • thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe
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        5 days ago

        London (UK) has been successfully running BYD EV buses for years with no major issues. They’re cheaper than the diesels to run and quieter. Not sure why Canada had so much trouble.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          I was curious about that so tried googling ….

          Canadian buses were

          • earlier models - I see years like 2018
          • at least some were built in a new plant in Canada
          • part of the blame was lack of spare parts
          • part of the blame was limited range, especially in winter

          London buses

          • newer. I see years like 2024
          • no real winter
          • I see articles about a new larger battery to fix range issues
          • appeared to have similar problems, including a major recall for fire risk

          Maybe London benefitted from newer models and doesn’t get as cold as canada

  • sbbq@lemmy.zip
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    6 days ago

    Sure wish rich dicks weren’t holding back innovation in my country!

    • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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      4 days ago

      You guys either already have them or will very soon. I haven’t checked the progress lately, but it’s certainly moving forward.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I haven’t gotten to the point of actually finding where to get them, but my research so far has told me that the number of cars being imported is limited at least to start, so I’m expecting them to be somewhat hard to get. Makes me wonder if allowing them was more about leverage for deals with the US rather than truly trying to distance ourselves from US reliance.

        • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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          4 days ago

          Yeah, could just be a political move to try and show the US you can do shit without them. Still, good move. I hope you can get one. My wife and I have BYDs, have had them for 3 years, no complaints whatsoever.

  • Allero@lemmy.today
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    5 days ago

    A huge domestic market is a strong advantage for Chinese manufacturers.

    Even if every single country stops buying Chinese cars, they’ll still have a base of 1.5 billion potential customers.

    With more countries actively partnering with China, this number goes up considerably.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      This is the reality of the situation. They are an absolute juggernaut with a tremendous amount of inertia. It seems like it would be a good long term strategy to partner with them, or emulate them at least.

    • Gonzako@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Tho, maybe it’s because the Chinese don’t deal with these huge margins they have on cars now. A new car now costs tenfold what a new car would cost a few decades ago

      • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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        5 days ago

        A new car now costs tenfold what a new car would cost a few decades ago

        Average car price 20 years ago in Canada, $32,700. That $52,000 corrected to inflation.

        Average price of new car in Canada 2026 is $63000, but average is a stupid measure, the median is much lower.

        I can’t find the actual median price but it is estimated by one site at $45K.

        The big difference between today and a few decades ago is people leasing cars they cannot afford, which drives up prices.

        • one_old_coder@piefed.social
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          4 days ago

          I can confirm the price of new cars in France, it seems to be everywhere. Also, “thanks to” leasing, you would think most people can afford BMWs and brand new big cars at a very high price. It’s really irresponsible when you know that they don’t earn enough for those cars, and they will lose thousands of dollars in the process.

        • sparkyshocks@lemmy.zip
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          4 days ago

          Average new car price has gone up a lot because the average new car has been purchased by rich people who demand high performance and luxury features. And rich people have been doing great the last 50 years, so the top of the market has totally run away with high prices.

          If you actually dig into specific models and what they go for, you see that the most basic cars have only gone up slightly in price, but are also much higher performing (0-60 times, quarter mile times, braking distance), more efficient (better highway/city gas mileage), more reliable (more miles/years to failure), and have a lot more standard features that used to be expensive add-ons (automatic transmissions, power windows/locks, power steering), and are generally better constructed (smaller panel gaps, better sound proofing/vibrations), and much, much safer by pretty much every measure.

          Today’s cars, even the cheapest ones, are much better than the cars from the 90’s, much less the cars from the 70’s (5-digit odometers because getting past 100,000 miles wasn’t necessarily expected, bodies that rusted within a decade of normal use).

          So if a first generation Honda Civic in 1974 cost $3000 in 1974 dollars (inflation adjusted to $21,000 today), we should compare what that car was, compared to what a Honda Civic is today (starting at around $25,000 for the barebones model, $30,000 for a few nicer features). Compare torque/horsepower specs, actual performance at 0-60/quarter mile, gas mileage, all of that. I’m not entirely convinced that the people of 1974 were getting a better bargain on their cars than today’s new economy car buyer.

          I hate that cars have gotten so big, and that the SUV is basically the American default at this point. But I don’t think that car prices have actually gone up that high in the 30 years I’ve been driving. And cars from before I was driving just…sucked.

        • phx@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Are you sure on the TPMS date? I’ve got a vehicle that’s much newer than 2007 that doesn’t have it

            • phx@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Canada, and still not mandatory here apparently. Which is weird because a lot of our automotive requirements do tend to follow the US due to common production lines and other such factors

      • Allero@lemmy.today
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        5 days ago

        Indeed, environmental regulations have played a pivotal role in the development of Chinese EV market, no doubt here.

        In some cities, ICE cars are borderline unusable since you can’t even drive them at will any day you want - assuming you can even get a license plate in the first place.

        What I meant was that international pressure on the demand side is not as scary for Chinese companies as it is for many other places.

  • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 days ago

    “thriving car company not selling in the U.S. says it exists”

    Well yeah, we know it’s doing well and it isn’t here… Why would the title even need to be stated?

  • PushButton@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Isn’t there another post where it shows the cars in the USA are spying on you, triggering an alarm when it detects that you are tired and what not “technological advancements” they put in them?

    Hey China, you are welcome to sell me your clean cheap car!

    • 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 days ago

      Hey China, you are welcome to sell me your clean cheap car!

      Sure, but they’ll be spying on you too.

      • dovahking@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        What’s better? To be spied by your government that can use your data against you or the foreign government who can’t.

        In an ideal world there’d be no spying, but we don’t live in one.

        • NekoKoneko@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          I mean, I agree we don’t want spying, but: a foreign government absolutely can use your data against you. Whether its creating a profile on you that could later be used against you when you enter that country, using it for statistical or targeted data for influence campaigns…there are a lot of ways.

          China in particular has repeatedly deployed extra-territorial “police service stations” in at least the UK, Canada and the US to punish or harass those it’s identified as “Chinese” dissidents or sympathizers in other countries.

          • lechekaflan@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            a foreign government absolutely can use your data against you

            They would like to know which individual have specific skill sets they want. Things such as being able to fly a fighter plane, operate a nuclear plant, or design hypersonic missiles. And they don’t even have to touch that individual, just listen and watch, and get the information they need.

          • Trail@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            On the other hand, it is very unlikely that I would willingly enter either China or US, so there is that.

            • Tim@lemmy.snowgoons.ro
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              5 days ago

              Honestly, China is amazing, and well worth visiting (not just Shanghai though, which is far too westernized.) Fantastic people, too.

              You wouldn’t get me in the US again at gunpoint, though.

    • thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe
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      5 days ago

      BYD doesnt sell cars in the US according to the article so no, I don’t think BYD is spying on you.

      However that other post you’re thinking of was possibly the one about the US manufacturers being forced to build in the spyware by the US govt…

      Kinda the opposite to your direction of travel in tge post it seems to me ?

      • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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        5 days ago

        They’ll be selling BYD’s in Canada very soon. I wonder how that will work if there is still a Canadian that needs to cross the border into the usa and ends up in donald trump’s america? Will they let them pass? Will they confiscate the car?

    • Tja@programming.dev
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      5 days ago

      Not only do Chinese (and Korean) cars beep at you when they think you’re tired, they are louder, more annoying and more difficult to mute than other brands.

      Plus most of them have a screen with the face of an AI assistant on the dashboard, it seems to be almost standard in China.

  • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 days ago

    By doubling down on ICE and ultra expensive penis replacement “trucks” the Auto Industry and it’s paid up politicians there are basically committing suicide, so sooner or later there will be plenty of room in that market for auto makers with friendly priced electric cars.

  • chilltrek97@kbin.earth
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    4 days ago

    Losing the US market would have hurt if they were on it in the first place. The only things they made and sold iirc were electric buses and maybe some short distance electric trucks meant for use in ports or other such use cases.