Technology

Cannot wait until EV replaces the noisy crotch rocket bikes .

I just got back from a business trip to China also. The high proportion of EVs, particularly in the southern cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen really stood out to me, and many of them (particularly from BYD) looked really, really nice. They seemed less prominent in the more northern part of the country (e.g. Shenyang, Beijing), but even there I'd say they're more common than in the UK.

It was a real eye opener

Do you have pictures? I would love to see.

Would be interesting to see. The Chinese EVs being pushed on the market here (Europe) are the typical ugly huge American SUV style.

What I love about Chinese electric car manufacturers is that they’ve fully embraced the cyberpunk aesthetic from the chassis design to the car sounds.

So, the Vaporwave color pallete?

I'd really like to see more of this. Do you know some of the names of these super cool manufacturers / designs?

Yup. Car and Driver Debunks Cold Weather EV Myts at most you get a 20% decrease in the efficiency of your charge. And EVs are actually better at staying warm while idle/off.

They're reliable. They just expend more energy in winter time so you get worse range.

And over 90% if you count PHEVs too. Norway demonstrates electric vehicles are completely viable.

The US has protectionist rules about EV grants - car must be assembled in the US to receive tax credits. It's why Teslas sold in the US are assembled in the US whereas Teslas sold in Canada are made in China. There are some comments that the Chinese manufactured cars are actually better quality. It probably also explains why Chinese brands like BYD are focussing more on other markets like Europe.

What are you going on about?

The US car makers (specifically GM and Ford) have been heavily pro-active on the switch to EVs. GM's Volt and Bolt were the first real entries into going electric-hybrid and then full EVs at a lower-cost mass-produced vehicles. Now GM's Ultium platform is easily one of the most advanced systems out there and will be the basis for future GM's full EV cars and trucks for the next few years. It is advanced enough where Honda/Acura are using it for their first real EVs (not counting the 1/2 hearted E which was so overpriced and limited in capabilities that it wasn't even brought to the US). Honda is so far behind, they had to have someone else design and build their upcoming EV Prolog and ZDX vehicles.

The Japanese carmakers are the ones dragging their feet.

The timeline doesn't add up. Chinese EV makers, including BYD, were building crazy momentum long before Musk set up shop in Shanghai (which was in 2018). It's only come to the attention of the outside world in the last couple of years when their EVs started to get exported at scale, but before they've been brewing this industry for a long time. BYD shipped its first compact EV domestically in 2009.

Tell me you know nothing about Chinese EVs without telling me you know nothing about Chinese EVs. BYD's best sellers are actually plug-in hybrids, which is in no way "stolen" from Tesla.