A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling.

The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with craftsmanship that rivals U.S.-made electric vehicles that cost three times as much. A shorter-range version costs under $10,000.

Tariffs on imported Chinese vehicles probably will keep the Seagull away from America’s shores for now, and it likely would sell for more than 12 grand if imported.

But the rapid emergence of low-priced EVs from China could shake up the global auto industry in ways not seen since Japanese makers exploded on the scene during the oil crises of the 1970s. BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams,” could be a nightmare for the U.S. auto industry.

“Any car company that’s not paying attention to them as a competitor is going to be lost when they hit their market,” said Sam Fiorani, a vice president at AutoForecast Solutions near Philadelphia. “BYD’s entry into the U.S. market isn’t an if. It’s a when.”

  • blazera@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    a threat to US auto industry? You promise? Cus US auto industry is a climate killing powerhouse of gas guzzling SUV’s. Any politicians wanting to pretend to be capitalist, or to be in favor of the environment, let me buy this car.

    • interrobang@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      No one i know under 50 years old wants a giant truck or suv, and thats all they wanna sell us. My only friends with new car $ bought a small wagon, which is all I’d want myself.

      Those huge electric pickups are too heavy for our guardrails on top of everything else; it’s insane and dangerous to let the big three make car culture here even worse.

      • LowtierComputer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        I know so many boomers with fucking monster vehicles. Even my car nut friends daily drive sedans and small EV’s. We’re not idiots or rich.

        • Ozone6363@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          We’re not idiots or rich

          So poor people drive smaller, cheaper cars. Got it.

          You’re just in different circles, I suppose.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        No one i know under 50 years old wants a giant truck or suv

        Where could we even park them if we did? My garage barely fits the two sedans my wife and I need to get to work on opposite sides of town, in a city with functionally no mass transit.

        I might not mind owning a single SUV if I used it exclusively for long trips and as a make-shift camping van. But I simply do not have the acreage in my postage-stamp lot size of a three-story walk-up to host more than that. Not that some of my neighbors don’t try, clogging all the sidewalks and curb spaces with their monster trucks.

      • Ozone6363@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Lmfao where do you live?

        What the fuck are you talking about man?

        Light-duty pickup truck sales in the U.S. by age group 2018-2021. Buyers between 35 and 44 years old acquired the most light-duty pickup trucks in 2021, followed closely by buyers within the 55 to 64 age group.

        Source: Google it you fucking dope. There are all kinds of different categories and demographics data.

        The place I work at is literally filled to the brim with young people buying trucks.

        Whats it like inside that bubble?

      • zeekaran@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Then you just don’t know many people. Or live in a bubble. I see people in their twenties driving trucks in the richest city in my state known for being a hyper liberal college town.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      How do you, an average American, purchase an anti-worker product created by an adversary government? Simple, you move to China along with the rest of the American CEOs.

      • Tacoma@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        I always was under the impression that america is similarly anti-worker, esp. hearing news about tesla strikes. Probably not as extreme as China though if you compare safety standards. When I look at car companies, there is honestly no good option that I would happily support by buying from. What do you mean about CEOs moving to China, is this a thing?

      • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Anti worker. Riiight.

        That’s just you speaking the Big Three’s mantra. If they’d gotten off their rich asses and developed the tech for cheap, well-built EVs sooner they wouldn’t need Big Brother to run to their aid.

        This is no different than what happened in the 70’s, so obviously they never learned their lesson then. This round, it’s time they did.

        • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          This isn’t about technology at all. It’s about labor costs. UAW labor costs more because its workers are paid well and they don’t get maimed by robots much. If in doubt, check the profit margins of the Big Three. The shareholder class is still making disproportionately more than workers but this is one of the North American examples where there’s much more balance between them and workers.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            UAW labor costs more because its workers are paid well

            UAW labor doesn’t cost more because its workers are paid well. UAW labor costs more because of our private health care system dumping workers into an extractive for-profit insurance system and the pensions system has been defrauded for decades. And even then, the margins on these vehicles are such that labor costs are negligible, particularly with the enormous amount of automation that goes into line work now.

            That’s before you get into how many auto plants have been de-unionized, either by moving them south of the Mason-Dixon Line or by setting up two-tiered contracts that phase out older union workers for younger scabs.

            People in NA can’t work for Chinese wages and survive.

            That’s because they don’t have access to Chinese state benefits. No state pensions. No state health care. Stripped down public education. Crappy old roads instead of public rail. 90% of the population owning their homes rather than renting. Medicare and SS benefit cuts forcing folks to work into their 70s and 80s, rather than retiring comfortably at the age of 54

            That’s why Chinese labor is cheaper.

            Honda and Toyota posed the same problem and they were forced to create factories here in order to eliminate the labor cost disparity that would have destroyed the lives of UAW members.

            Toyota plants aren’t unionized. We just saw an effort to unionize a plant in Troy, Michigan this year and its been fought tooth and nail by the industry.

            • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              1 year ago

              “paid well” only has meaning in the context of standard of living, or cost of living. You provided that context. Within it they’re paid relatively well. They’re not getting state pensions or healthcare anytime soon so we work within the context.

                • shiftymccool@programming.dev
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  This exposé is a bit suspect, or at least this part is which makes me question the integrity as a whole:

                  He was forced to walk 21 miles daily, one way, to his job

                  Average human walks 3mph. This dude apparently never sleeps.

                  The whole thing reads like a corporate “uNioNS BaD” article

          • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            This is no different than the 70s tho, when the oil crisis and subsequent importation of compact vehicles forced the Big Three to mothball the ‘boats’.

            BYD would likely want to gauge support in America before committing to building factories, especially in a nation where land prices have skyrocketed.

          • davel@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            and they don’t get maimed by robots much

            ???

            • Is there evidence that Chinese workers have high high rates of this?
            • People are getting maimed at Tesla plants all the time.
            • The US created the neoliberal WTO to crush labor rights worldwide, worker safety among them. The only reason the US is sabotaging the WTO now is because that system no longer favors it.

            .

            Honda and Toyota posed the same problem and they were forced to create factories here in order to eliminate the labor cost disparity that would have destroyed the lives of UAW members.

            I don’t understand. Were Honda & Toyota forced to, or did they do it out of the kindness of their hearts?

          • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            @Buelldozer is right, he’s just being extra spicy about it.

            You’re darn right I’m being extra spicy. This is a re-run of what I watched happen with textiles, steel, and other manufacturing businesses here in the United States and especially industries that were heavily unionized with higher labor costs.

            It’s astonishing to see so many people willing to kill their Domestic Labor just so they can get a cheap car. It’s disgustingly short sighted and selfish.

            • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              1 year ago

              Yeah I’m a bit puzzled because I think these folks are supportive of labor given they seem positive about workers in China having better safety nets. Yet letting cars in that will destroy local manufacturing isn’t going to do anything positive for North American labor. If anything is going to help, it’s supporting them instead of non-union car makers and supporting union action at non-union manufacturers. I’m of the opinion that we can’t expect any improvements from the political class before we take more of the profits so we can buy those politicians like corporations have. They simply won’t represent labor to a significant extent unless they see workers as organized voting blocks that don’t lap up corporate propaganda.

              • davel@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                I’m of the opinion that we can’t expect any improvements from the political class before we take more of the profits so we can buy those politicians like corporations have.

                The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. — Audre Lorde

                I don’t think we should try to play the game by the capitalist class’ own rules, which they created for themselves. We’re never going to be able buy the political system by outspending the capitalist class: they own the means of production and it’s their political system.

                Right now labor is very divided, shattered. It was significantly more organized a hundred years ago, though still divided along racial lines, a mistake we mustn’t repeat. People don’t seem to remember now how many socialists existed back then and were deeply involved in that organizing, before they were crushed by red scares and other skulduggery. And unfortunately almost all of our surviving unions came from explicitly anti-socialist roots, the others having been purged. Socialists are still extremely few in the US.

                We can’t buy government, and we know our vote alone has very little power. What we need is a resurgent, re-organized labor movement, and new labor media (we used to have our own newspapers!) to counteract corporate media, and we need new mass industrial actions that fit today’s material conditions*. That’s how we forced the state to make concessions in the past.

                *Simply organizing factory workers again won’t cut it, because most of us aren’t factory workers.

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Anti worker. Riiight.

          Are you seriously trying to make the claim that a Chinese auto worker is doing as well as a UAW member? If you are I want proof, if not then what are you talking about?

          If they’d gotten off their rich asses and developed the tech for cheap, well-built EVs sooner they wouldn’t need Big Brother to run to their aid.

          You realize it’s “cheap” in China because their Government subsidizes it and the manufacturers abuse their employees, right?

          This round, it’s time they did.

          I have no love for the American Auto Industry but this idea that BYD or any other Chinese “New Energy” vehicle is competing on anything like a level playing field is ludicrous. They are cheap because they pay their workers like dogshit, they treat their workers like dogshit, they have near zero environmental safety regulations, and they have near zero environmental regulations hell. 2/3rds of their electricity is produced by burning coal!

          Lusting after a cheap BYD product just because you despise American Auto Manufacturers is literally cutting of your own nose in order to spite your face.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            US government right now is very heavily subsidizing EVs as well. It’s not just the Chinese government. For my purchase, the direct incentives alone were $11,500 (and that doesn’t count the tens of billions in indirect subsidies) - if a legacy manufacturer could make an EV for even double the cost of BYD, I’d buy it since my cost would be the same

            I’ll give you higher wages and move the goalposts toward you to account for it …… let’s say double the price. Where is my flood of EVs from legacy manufacturers for no more than double the price of Chinese manufacturers?

            • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              US government right now is very heavily subsidizing EVs as well.

              What you refer to as “heavily” (~15B across four years) is what China spent per year every year from 2009 through 2022, for a total of 173 Billion dollars. Their latest package, announced last September, will have them spending 73$ Billion across the next four years. Their Government has literally been subsidizing EV production at 3-4 times the rate of the United States for over a decade! Yeah, that’s a totally level playing field. No shenanigans there, no Sir.

              let’s say double the price.

              As the article notes the Seagull, rebadged as a Dolphin Mini, sells for $21,000 in Latin America so you aren’t going to get it for $24,000 in the United States and most especially not if it’s built here where they can’t employ people for 5 USD an hour.

              You don’t have to like it, or me, but it’s completely irrefutable that the 12,000 price is only possible due enormous government subsidies and cheap Chinese labor. Allowing those vehicles into the United States is the end of all domestic auto manufacturing, not just the Big 3, and all of the workers who are employed there. We already watched this play out with Steel, Textiles, and other manufacturing based industries.

          • FirstCircle@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            literally cutting of your own nose

            “Literally”? Really? People lusting after BYD products have no noses now?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I don’t know if the laws have changed but (for some reason I forget), a dealership here imported two three-wheeled small pickup trucks from China within the last decade or so. So it was at least possible within the recent past somehow.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      Drive it over the border from Mexico. Although, you’ll likely have to pay above the sticker price. Latin Americans are gobbling up Chinese NEVs as fast as they can deliver them.

  • Darkscryber@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    A electric car that is not a SUV? I am in!!! Here in Canada the only option for EV are Prius and SUV. No small EV car under 20k. I say bring them on!! Otherwise I will continue to buy juices from arabian country.

  • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I don’t want a Chinese car but at the same time if American automakers are going to continue refusing to make affordable electric cars and only give massive SUVs and trucks as our gas options then it seems like that’s pretty much the choice we’ll be left with.

    Edit: if this frightens the Biden administration then they need to find a way to put pressure on American manufacturers to make some decent vehicles.

    • Wahots@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’m really not a fan of China, but I’m inclined to agree. We need smaller, more affordable vehicles. SUVs are antiquated, and trucks are largely decorative for most of the population. We need smaller, lighter vehicles. Though we also should be investing much more into mass transit rather than (largely redundant) highways and roads anyways, as it’s a huge waste of taxpayer money. Keep the key highways, build rail to reduce reliance on shit we shouldn’t really be rebuilding anyways. A lot of highways are going to be hitting the end of their useful lives soon, anyways, and require rebuilds.

  • ansiz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’ve seen enough QA issues with most of the Chinese EVs I would highly doubt any of them make it to the USA for consumer sale at any scale. Some have overheating issues, panels fall off, cheap seat belts, uncomfortable seats, sizing issues (too small for larger Americans), goofy AC vents that blow weak when pointed downward and high when pointed at your face but don’t allow for other adjustments.

    • Ozone6363@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      1000% this.

      This article is fuckin ridiculous. There hasn’t been a Chinese auto manufacturer that is even CLOSE.

    • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      I mean at those prices you don’t expect too much quality. Unlike Teslas that are poorly built but priced like the aren’t

    • rowinxavier@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      I agree with many of these points, but have two thoughts here. First, the same was true of many items being produced in China in the past, but quality control got better and honestly most of the products you can buy for a reasonable price are partly or wholly made in China. Second, Tesla is a good example of a US based company with many of the same issues. Loose panels, door handles that fall off, accelerators that get stuck, and so on. Bad engineering is not only available in Mandarin.

      I hope they can produce a good quality electric car and help accelerate the transition.

    • arthurpizza@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      BYD has been making buses and work trucks for the US market for years. I’ve only had a ride on a few BYD buses, but they seem to be quality.

      • ChewTiger@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Good to hear they’ve had some success in the US, but I do worry about the quality of their consumer products. Too many companies can’t translate success in onr section of a market into another section.

        I really want a small EV.

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling.

    Hyperbole as rhetorical device is getting exhausting and makes me extremely skeptical.

    • Rolder@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      Specially when you see the stats and it has a 190-250 mile range and a max speed of 81 MPH. And even the article points out they cut costs with things like having only one windshield wiper.

      • KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        it has a 190-250 mile range and a max speed of 81 MPH

        That’s further than I’d drive before a 20 minute rest stop, and faster than it’s legal to drive anywhere in the US, except for Texas State Highway 130.

        And even the article points out they cut costs with things like having only one windshield wiper.

        As opposed to the Cybertruck, which has a revolutionary, but very expensive, design featuring only one windshield wiper.

        • Rolder@reddthat.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          Cybertruck is a bad comparison, everyone already knows that thing is a steaming pile of hot garbage.

        • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Yeah here in the uk there’s plenty of good charging points, woodland trust and national trust are putting them in at a lot of locations so I could plan a relaxing walk in the woods with my journey if I ever needed to go more than 150 miles, I think that would be really nice.

          Supermarkets have tave them too, so I could plan getting the shopping I need for the trip while it charges, this would allow me to avoid predatory pricing at garages too.

          I just looked on a road distance map and it’s about where I would normally stop for a break, I’ve done longer drives but only rarely and I can’t think of a time an excuse to stop for a walk in the woods wouldn’t have been welcomed.

          Oh and I only have one wiper but it was made by Hyundai so I guess it gets a pass lol

        • MagicShel@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          I don’t think comparing it to cybertruck is really a win. I could be in a bubble, but I hear nothing but terrible things about them.

          Also, anecdotally, going on long family trips in my van, I frequently do 350 miles between stops on 900 mile trips. I’d say 80 is a typical speed on the Ohio turnpike, but I’d be a little worried about driving that thing pedal to the floor for 2-3 hours straight (no worries though, it’ll never get that range at full speed).

          That said, hey if this car meets your needs I’m all for that. Everyone should have options. I would consider buying one for my kids when they start driving as long as it’s safe in accidents.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      This whole article is just paid marketing. Some AP journalist didn’t tear this car down and analyze its build quality.

  • nobleshift@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    From an Infosec and Opsec perspective, there’s no way I would ever purchase a new(er) vehicle, a vehicle with OnStar, let alone an American made EV (I’m American), never fucking mind a Chinese EV. Tiktok just became the last of your worries.

      • nobleshift@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        I own a degoogled phone, and make every effort to poison, block, or otherwise make my data as useless as possible. I also own dumb phones for travel.

        And it doesn’t matter if I own a phone or not, this isn’t that conversation.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      I look at both sides here, where every new vehicle has a chip that tell the auto makers just about everything about you … but cheap, well-made EVs should be available to the average Joe, not just the wealthy.

      What pisses me off the most is the Big Three have gotten billions in subsidies/corporate welfare, and instead of creating cheap EVs to fill the market they build gas-guzzling SUVs and full-sized trucks for $60k+ per.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        They have to sell cars. I hear the EV F-150 is selling like shit despite all the interest online, which really disappoints me. I couldn’t be happier with my Chevy Volt (other than it’s too low to the ground for my body to comfortably climb in and out of) and many would say it’s the best PHEV - or at least was for its time. The Bolt consistently ranks very highly among EVs. I absolutely disagree that American car manufacturers are dropping the ball here. They are trying to figure out how to make and sell these cars to consumers who have made clear they want trucks and SUVs with the cargo/passenger capacity for trips.

        Cost of labor is higher here, but not nearly enough to explain this price difference (and is anyone suggesting we shouldn’t pay autoworkers good wages?). Something doesn’t add up. Corners have to have been cut to create an EV half the cost of everyone else. I welcome fair competition to help drive prices down, but I’ll wait to see what happens. I’m super skeptical of any miracle solution, particularly when the verbiage about it has such an emotionally charged tone.

        • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          Did you have the chip issue in the volt a few years ago? Man that was a pain, lost mine for months waiting.

          I’m currently buying ford mavericks for my fleet, and really wish they’d get off their ass and make it a plug in hybrid. We need more low to mid vehicles in the US or china will take the market even at 100% tariff markup. That’s embarrassing, but the outcome of them all pushing to “Yank tanks” for profit.

          • MagicShel@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            I didn’t have the chip issue, but I know it was bad and covid supply chain issues turned it into an absolute shit show for those who did. So far it has been an absolute dream. I’m just too old and have bad joints to easily get in and out. I used to commute over 200 miles a day in it, so I got every watt out of that battery every day. I still push that battery to its limits at least once a week. Anyone who thinks 30 miles is plenty is crazy - especially in northern winters where range is cut in half.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          Chevy Volt … Bolt consistently ranks very highly among EVs. I absolutely disagree that American car manufacturers are dropping the ball here.

          They’re not dropping the ball, they’re throwing it away. You’re giving two examples that have been our best hope for affordable EVs but are no longer made

        • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          My son refuses to buy a new vehicle. He says the old ones run better and he’s able to fix them himself, which offsets the cost of maintaining any new vehicle.

          • FirstCircle@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            I refuse as well, and will continue to refuse, at least until my 1997 and 2005 vehicles can no longer be repaired for some reason. I’d love some EV tech but the idea of driving a Big Brother vehicle that’s fender-to-fender loaded with spyware and “features” that can only be enabled via subscriptions is horrifying and dystopian. Also forget all the Big Screen distractions inside and all the self-driving antifeatures. At least 1/2 of my driving is done for pleasure and I expect to be focusing on the road and what’s happening around me.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    The Big Three have already had Biden’s ear for a while on this, which is why he’s quadrupling tariffs on Chinese EVs this week. Source

    • Daveyborn@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      What? The big three are trying to rig the game in their favor again? I’m very surprised! …not really, it’s business as usual from them.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      This may surprise you but US manufacturers count on a lot of income from selling outside the US. They’re all global conglomerates. Even looking through your roses colored glasses, do you really think legacy manufacturers will do well when they lose all of their global sales?

    • vividspecter@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      and are only sold in China are no threat to anything.

      The export model, the Dolphin Mini, is expected in Europe in 2025.

        • Windex007@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          Are you suggesting that there is a material difference of minimal testing standard between the EU and the USA?

          • Halosheep@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            Capital interests might have something to say about it in the US. No way they’re letting the government allow those in.

        • The Uncanny Observer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          California is the largest economy in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. It’s also the one with the largest market for EVs in the US. As an added bonus, it’s very conveniently positioned on the west coast, with easy access to shipping lanes from China. And finally, it’s probably the state that’s least likely to care if a US auto maker on the other side of the nation is struggling. Only fifteen states in the US require inspections, and California isn’t one of them. In fact, the only state that isn’t on the east coast that requires an inspection is Texas. All other states have nothing but emissions tests, if that, and any EV would be excluded from those, for obvious reasons.

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          Where as the States with no inspection are impoverished shit holes, I stand by my, ‘no threat’.

          You don’t live in reality.

          • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            I would say no at the prices they’re selling for in China. The crackdown is due to the massive subsidies being pumped into these manufacturers by the Chinese government which would make it impossible for any other manufacturer to compete with them since they’re selling them below cost.

  • A'random Guy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    I don’t even like buying Chinese shoes because they fall apart before the season ends. Do these shoes spy on us as well ?

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Those are just excuses:

        • Dumping: US auto industry is enjoying significant protectionism right now, with the excuse of combatting dumping. They have a grace period to catch up, but instead they’re backing off, retreating into their shells. We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars to give them a chance to compete fairly and they’re throwing it away. I’ll have sympathy if they at least try.
        • Surveillance: US auto industry and especially EVs are horrible with surveillance right now. You not only have no privacy, they commonly have cameras inside and can control your vehicle remotely. Those Chinese surveillance devices aren’t doing anything different from anyone else: they’re all violating our privacy and we have no protection. It’s not that I’m not afraid of Chinese surveillance devices but that I’m also afraid of US corporate surveillance devices. Let a have some actual privacy protections we can apply equally and fairly to all of them
        • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          Those are just excuses

          They might be used as excuses by a complacent industry, but they are not just excuses. They are also valid reasons for concern, and would still be so even if not used as talking points for Detroit lobbyists.

          US auto industry is enjoying significant protectionism right now

          Regardless of that, China’s government has spent more than a few years subsidizing products and services in order to make their exports dirt cheap abroad, eventually making other nations dependent on them. (See also: the Belt and Road Initiative.) This fits the same pattern, and would still be a problem even if US auto industry protectionism didn’t exist.

          US auto industry and especially EVs are horrible with surveillance right now.

          Agreed, but once again, that doesn’t invalidate the problem that I mentioned. A foreign adversary having deep, real-time access to the nation’s infrastructure, traffic patterns, sensitive information revealed through conversations and cameras, etc. is a larger problem than the personal privacy issues that already exist domestically.

          Chinese surveillance devices aren’t doing anything different from anyone else: they’re all violating our privacy and we have no protection.

          The difference lies in where the collected information goes. That might not matter to some people on a personal level, but on a national scale, handing all that info to an adversary nation is cause for concern.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            As opposed to them buying it from data brokers? There’s a difference in responsiveness and I’m sure data brokers make a pretense of anonymizing that will need a bit of adjustment, but I’m not convinced it’s as different as everyone is afraid of

            • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              1 year ago

              As opposed to them buying it from data brokers?

              That would also be a cause for concern. Both should be addressed.

      • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pub
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        Those are probably both totally relevant points but it’s not going to matter because everyone’s suffering so much from inflation that they’ll go ahead and take the bait and buy it anyway. Even those that are aware of the intentional nature of the dumping and aware of the risks of surveillance won’t be able to responsibly buy a car that cost $60,000 when they can get one for 12k.

        • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          1 year ago

          everyone’s suffering so much from inflation that they’ll go ahead

          That, along with a bloated auto industry and terribly underdeveloped public transit. Here’s hoping this turn of events will lead to real progress in fixing these problems.

  • yamanii@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s not hard to beat “US craftsmanship”, did the writer saw anything about the cybertruck?