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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.