Midpack
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They've taken over many industries already, could cars be yet another? I am just watching development (not predicting anything yet), but we've seen this movie before with Japanese cars - once laughed at in the USA.
There are several articles, excerpts from just one.
There are several articles, excerpts from just one.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesm...er-the-world--if-we-let-them/?sh=3eeea7056a12A few years ago, the cars coming out of China were the object of derision. But times have changed, and as with most other areas of technology, China has caught up with the West’s automotive design abilities and even overtaken, with one area of particular note: electric vehicles. By 2019, there were already 2.58 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in China, compared to just 0.97 million in Europe, and 0.88 million in the USA, according to the International Energy Agency. China also has more home and work chargers than any other part of the world, more public slow chargers than the rest of the world put together, and 82% of the global fast charger installations.
Take the Xpeng P7, for example. This looks like an affordable Tesla TSLA +2.4% Model 3 alternative. The P7 boasts 0-62mph acceleration in just 4.3 seconds and a NEDC driving range of up to 440 miles. It even looks quite nice, and some versions have NVIDIA NVDA -0.1%’s Drive AGX Xavier autonomous driving platform built in. Yet it’s expected to cost a mere $36,000.
BYD Auto, which is 25% owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B -0.5%, produces lots of different electric vehicles but the one receiving the most interest currently is the Han, a luxury sedan. The long-range version has a Tesla Model S-rivalling 376-mile range while the high-performance option can hit 62mph in 3.9 seconds – not as fast as a Model S Performance but still highly commendable. Prices will range from $32,800-$40,000.
Chinese cars didn’t feel like competition for European and American brands when they couldn’t compete on quality, but many of these examples have a specification and design that’s close enough, at a much lower price – much like when Japanese cars took the world by storm in the 1970s and 80s. China has some major advantages that have put it ahead in the EV supply game. China is the world’s largest producer of lithium, reaching over 60% of the world’s supply in April 2019, and still controlled 51% of global chemical lithium at beginning of 2020. In contrast, the US contributes just 2% of the world lithium supply. China also controls 62% of global chemical cobalt and 100% of spherical graphite. These are all the main component elements in the lithium-ion battery technology that dominates EVs as their power source.
If it was a pure free market based on value for money, Chinese electric cars would be giving European and American manufacturers sleepless nights already. But it’s likely that politics and economic protectionism will keep them at bay for a while. How long it will be before the dam breaks and Chinese EVs flood in is uncertain, but it probably won’t be possible to hold them back forever.