#china cheap electric car

[zvaigzdelasas]

You can’t buy the Seagull in the US. But I bet you wish you could.

A small hatchback around the size of a Mini Cooper, the Seagull is a fast-charging electric car and claims a range of up to 250 miles [...] BYD, its Chinese manufacturer, claims it can go from 30 percent to 80 percent charged in a half-hour using a DC plug. It’s hardly a luxury car but it’s well-equipped, with a power driver’s seat and cruise control. “If I were looking for an inexpensive commuter car … this would be perfect,” veteran car journalist John McElroy said after taking a drive.

The best part? Its base model costs about $10,700 in China.

That’s about a third of the cost of the cheapest EV you can buy in the US. In South America, it’s a little pricier, but still fairly affordable, at under $24,000 for a top-trim version. Even in Europe, you can get an entry-level BYD for under €30,000. These are absolutely screaming deals — exactly the kind of products that could turbocharge our transition away from gas and toward electric vehicles.[...]

The problem for Americans? The Biden administration is hell-bent on preventing you from buying BYD’s product, and if Donald Trump returns to office, he is likely to fight it as well.

That’s because the BYD cars are made in China, and both Biden and Trump are committed to an ultranationalist trade policy meant to keep BYD’s products out. [...] Shipments to Europe have increased astronomically; Chinese companies sold 0.5 percent of EVs in Europe in 2019 but they’re already over 9 percent as of last year. Companies like BYD make cheap, reasonably good-quality cars people are eager to buy.

In 2018, Trump imposed, and Biden has since continued, a special 25 percent tax on Chinese-made autos, on top of the ordinary 2.5 percent tax on foreign-made cars.

That has so far prevented BYD and its Chinese peers from trying to enter the US market. US customer tastes are different enough that Chinese manufacturers would probably prefer to make cars tailored to them — but US policy has been so hostile toward cheap Chinese EVs that so far, the companies haven’t wanted to bother.

So, the result is that we’re left out of the bounty of cheap EV options created by BYD and others. “If you’re a consumer right now, the best place to be right now is China, because you have the best choice of EVs,” Ilaria Mazzocco, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an expert on Chinese EVs, says.[...]

Still, China’s price advantage is big enough that even the extreme Trump-Biden import tax might not be enough to deter companies like BYD from entering the US market. Even with the tariffs, Chinese cars might be cheaper than their rivals. “​​Subsidies most likely won’t be enough; Mr. Biden will need to impose [more] trade restrictions,” climate journalist Robinson Meyer predicted recently. The Biden administration is already making noise about imposing even more draconian taxes or trade restrictions against these vehicles. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has described Chinese-made cars as a national security threat, and recently announced an investigation into the vehicles’ data collection abilities and the possibility they could send movement data to Beijing.

On the one hand, Biden is offering Americans up to $7,500 per vehicle to buy EVs (provided they meet certain made-in-North America rules). On the other hand, he’s imposing massive taxes to keep Americans from buying EVs. It’s a bizarre policy that makes no sense from a climate perspective.[...]

[The Biden Administration] has proven shockingly willing to sabotage its own climate policy if it gets to stick it to the Chinese in the process.

“There’s almost an across-the-board apprehension about Chinese EVs, even though they would make an important contribution to [lower] CO2 emissions,” Gary Clyde Hufbauer, a veteran trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says.[...]

Realistically, Helveston argues, BYD might not sell something like the Seagull in the US because it’s smaller than most cars Americans buy. They’d probably build plants in the US instead, or its free-trade zone partners Canada and Mexico, to build vehicles tailored for Americans. “If you’re going to really enter a market, you have to make it locally,” Helveston explains. “US automakers like GM sell and make millions of cars in China to sell in China.” BYD would do the same. Indeed, it’s already reportedly scouting sites for factories in Mexico.

If they ever were to set up shop in North America, BYD and other Chinese car companies would still have a major price advantage versus American EVs. They have years more experience and a much more successful track record of building batteries and EVs at low cost.

“Part of why they’re so successful is they’ve been thinking outside the box on cost reduction for a long time,” Mazzocco says. They took the “opposite of the Tesla approach”: starting not with luxury vehicles but ultra-cheap cars fit for taxi fleets and not much else, and constantly improving their early inexpensive prototypes. The result is that Chinese firms have gotten extremely good at making inexpensive EVs, at a time when Ford, by contrast, lost $28,000 for every EV it sold in 2023.[...]

“If you have more affordable EVs in the United States, no matter where you come from,” Gopal says, “that’s better for the climate.”

Still, the Biden administration reportedly wants to restrict Chinese car companies’ access to the US even if they do set up shop in North America. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the Biden administration is formulating rules that would limit US sales of Chinese-made parts, even if they’re in vehicles ultimately assembled in the US or Mexico.[...]

But the Biden administration’s objections to Chinese EVs are also ideological. The Biden administration represents the victory of a protectionist, trade-skeptical wing of the Democratic party that was relegated to the sidelines during the Clinton and Obama years.[...]

[O]ver 90 percent of American households have a car, and surging car prices were a huge contributor to the 2021–2023 rise in inflation.

Barriers to importing cheap cars make inflation worse and reduce the real incomes of the middle class.

Not only are the administration and other left-leaning institutions opposed to Chinese EVs, but hardline conservatives at places like the Heritage Foundation are calling for outright bans on Chinese EVs as well. Their rationale is security, another theme the Biden administration evokes often. On Thursday, the Commerce Department announced it was beginning a process to “investigate the national security risks of … PRC-manufactured technology in [internet-connected] vehicles.”

6 Mar 24

[mariacallous]

On May 14, Washington slapped new tariffs on China in what looks at first glance like the latest round of a familiar trade spat. The White House imposed duties of 25 to 50 percent on a range of industrial, medical, and clean tech goods—including semiconductors, solar cells, batteries, steel, aluminum, graphite, magnets, syringes, and ship-to-shore cranes. Strikingly, the latest measures also include a whopping 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles, effectively shutting the U.S. market to Chinese-made EVs.

Seen from Washington, these measures also look like a political move as U.S. President Joe Biden courts blue-collar voters in industrial swing states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania ahead of the November presidential election. It’s unlikely, however, that Beijing shares this benign interpretation. Seen from China, the tariffs look like a serious escalation of the U.S.-China contest and are probably raising alarm bells. Here’s why.

1. Washington is playing the long game. Stories of how China has become the world leader in EV manufacturing and is flooding the world with cheap vehicles have flourished over recent months. At the global level, there certainly is something to this analysis. Chinese exports of EVs jumped by a whopping 80 percent last year, propelling China to the top of the global ranking of car exporters. Yet this does not apply to the United States, where China supplied just 2 percent of EVs sold last year. (U.S. consumers appear to have a distinct preference for South Korean, Japanese, and European EV imports.) In other words, a 100 percent tariff on a few thousand cars will not hit Chinese firms hard.

A closer look at the list of targeted sectors suggests that batteries, not cars, will be the real pain point for China. The U.S. market is important for Chinese battery firms, which supply around 70 percent of the lithium-ion batteries used in the United States. For China’s battery sector, this means that the impact of the latest U.S. tariffs will likely be huge: The usual rule of thumb is that a 1 percentage point increase in tariffs entails a 2 percent drop in trade. With tariffs rising from 7.5 percent to 25 percent, the rule suggests that Chinese battery firms’ U.S. sales could drop by around one-third—or by $5 billion when one includes the entire battery supply chain. With Chinese battery-makers already seeing their profits plummet amid softening global demand, this is certainly bad news for Beijing.

Crucially, batteries are also an area where the U.S. government is investing huge amounts of public funds, in particular through the Inflation Reduction Act, which seeks to boost U.S. domestic production of clean tech goods. Seen in this light, the latest U.S. tariffs are preemptive measures to protect a nascent clean tech industry and make sure that there is domestic demand for future U.S. production. This suggests that the United States is playing the long game here, with little chance the tariffs will be lifted anytime soon. On the contrary—the U.S. clean tech market could well be closed to Chinese firms from here on out.

2. The White House is trying to force Europe to come on board and impose similar tariffs on China. Biden is probably seeking to score electoral brownie points with a 100 percent tariff on EVs, making former President Donald Trump’s proposal for 60 percent on U.S. imports from China look almost feeble. (Not to be outdone, Trump just announced that he would apply a 200 percent tariff on Chinese-branded cars made in Mexico.) Yet the reality is that Biden’s tariffs will not prove game-changing in the short term: Their implementation will be phased in over two years, and supply chain adjustments typically take time. In short, the measures are unlikely to fuel a U.S. industrial boom in time for the November elections.

What will happen before the election, though, is the conclusion in June or July of the European Union’s ongoing anti-subsidy investigation into China’s EV makers. Rumors abound of a possible tariff of 20 to 30 percent on Chinese EVs. Such a prospect is probably unnerving for Beijing; the EU is the biggest export market for China’s EVs, absorbing around 40 percent of Chinese shipments. The United States hopes that its 100 percent tariff on EVs will compel the EU to not only follow Washington’s example in imposing a tariff on Chinese EVs but perhaps also consider a higher one. This bold strategy could well work. Europe is unlikely to enjoy having its arm twisted by Washington, but the bloc will also worry that Chinese EV makers could double down on their push to dominate the EU market now that they have lost access to the U.S. one.

Chinese EVs look set to be a key topic when G-7 leaders meet for their annual summit in June. The United States will probably try to cajole Germany, which has long been dovish vis à vis China, into supporting sharply higher tariffs. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pointed to the fact that European auto manufacturers “sell a great many vehicles that are produced in Europe to China”—hinting at German fears that China could retaliate against EVs and internal combustion engine cars imported from the EU.

3. The tariffs are a serious escalation from Washington’s previous de-risking strategy. In recent years, U.S. de-risking has focused on reducing the United States’ reliance on China for crucial goods and curbing Beijing’s access to dual-use technology in a bid to avoid fueling the country’s military advances. To implement this strategy, Washington has so far relied on two main tools from its economic statecraft kit: financial sanctions (for instance, on firms linked to the People’s Liberation Army) and export controls (notably on semiconductors, which are dual-use goods found in most military equipment).

Washington is slowly realizing that these two tools are imperfect. China’s massive sanctions-proofing efforts mean that sanctions do not always deal a blow to Chinese firms, which may no longer be using the U.S. dollar (China now settles around half of its cross-border trade in renminbi) or Western financial channels such as SWIFT, the global payments system. Washington also understands that export controls on clean tech would not curb China’s ambitions in the field, as Chinese firms already have all the tech they need. This leaves only one option for U.S. economic statecraft: tariffs that leverage one of the country’s greatest economic assets—access to its market.

This is why the latest U.S. tariffs are likely raising red flags in Beijing. The United States is now severing access to its market in clean tech and other areas that China sees as crucial for its plans to become the world’s future economic superpower. If the EU plays ball, this approach would expose a central flaw in Beijing’s industrial strategy: What if the world’s two biggest markets—the United States and the EU—become no-go areas for Chinese firms dependent on exporting their vast production, leaving them with piles of unused goods? Few other markets are available for Chinese clean tech exports—outside Europe, North America, and East Asia, most countries lack the infrastructure for large-scale EV adoption, for example. This prospect may well keep Beijing’s planners up at night, with no easy solution in sight.

The question now is whether and how Beijing will react. Serious retaliation is unlikely, since the United States exports far less to China than vice versa. Given its current economic woes, China also has little interest in further weakening its economy—for example, by imposing export bans on critical raw materials, rare earths, or other crucial goods for Western economies.

As the latest skirmish in the battle for economic dominance between Washington and Beijing, the new U.S. tariffs raise a number of bigger questions: Will Washington succeed in its efforts to create a domestic ecosystem for clean tech? Will the United States and Europe manage to cooperate—or go their own ways in their economic relations with China? Will the United States continue to curb Chinese access to the U.S. market for the purposes of de-risking—and if so, in which sectors? There is probably only one certainty in the U.S.-China economic war: The conflict will continue well after the November elections, whatever their outcome.

[knuckle]

May 24, 2024

Mr. Biden’s aides agree that electric vehicles — which retail for more than $53,000 on average in the United States — would sell even faster here if they were less expensive. As it happens, there is a wave of new electric vehicles that are significantly cheaper than the ones customers can currently buy in the United States. They are proving extremely popular in Europe. But the president and his team do not want Americans to buy these cheap cars, which retail elsewhere for as little as $10,000, because they are made in China. That’s true even though a surge of low-cost imported electric vehicles might help drive down car prices overall, potentially helping Mr. Biden in his re-election campaign at a time when inflation remains voters’ top economic concern. Instead, the president is taking steps to make Chinese electric vehicles prohibitively expensive, in large part to protect American automakers. Mr. Biden signed an executive action earlier this month that quadruples tariffs on those cars to 100 percent.

imagine thinking this guy for real cares about climate change and not the minimum optics necessary to get democrat establishment support

[beardedmrbean]

China is facing the prospect of further G7 sanctions.

The G7 has accused it of helping arm Russia against Ukraine.

Balancing its support for Russia with its European trading ties is becoming tricky for China.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this week warned China it faces a stark choice if it continues backing Russia's Ukraine invasion.

"Publicly, President Xi has tried to create the impression that he's taking a back seat in this conflict to avoid sanctions and keep trade flowing," Stoltenberg said.

"But the reality is that China's fueling the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

"At the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West.

"Well, Beijing cannot have it both ways. At some point, and unless China changes course, allies need to impose a cost."

A tough stance

The remarks are part of a tough new stance from the US and its allies over China's alleged provision of crucial dual-use goods to Russia to fuel the Kremlin's war machine.

The US believes China has supplied Russia with equipment such as chips and integrated circuits, which can be used to produce weapons. In response, China has said it is not a party to the Ukraine war and that there should be no interference with trade between China and Russia.

At the G7 summit last weekend, the leaders unambiguously signaled their growing frustration with China in a joint statement. "China's ongoing support for Russia's defense industrial base is enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and has significant and broad-based security implications," said the leaders of some of the world's biggest advanced economies.

It came days after the European Commission told Chinese carmakers that it would provisionally apply duties of up to 38% on imported Chinese electric vehicles from next month.

And in April and May, the US imposed new sanctions on Chinese banks and companies it accused of supplying goods and services for the Russian military.

Xi's balancing act

Analysts say that China is performing a balancing act. It is backing the Russian invasion to dent US global power while also seeking to maintain the trading ties with Europe its economy depends on.

The US has long been pushing its European allies to adopt a tougher stance toward Beijing similar to its own.

But they have hesitated until now. Many retain close economic ties with China, with the European economic giant Germany long dependent on China's manufacturing might for products such as cars and electronic devices.

But at the G7 there were signs that might be about to change, and Europe's leaders are becoming increasingly exasperated with China.

In the statement, members said they were willing to punish Beijing further for its support of Russia.

"We will continue taking measures against actors in China and third countries that materially support Russia's war machine, including financial institutions, consistent with our legal systems," they said.

China-Europe tensions increase

It's not just China's support for Russia that appears to be focusing European minds on the potential threat it poses.

In recent months, authorities in Germany and the UK have arrested people accused of spying for China, and the European Union has accused Beijing of flooding markets with cheap electronic cars.

China has sought to exploit divisions in Europe, with Xi visiting Hungary and Serbia in May, just after visiting France's President Emanuel Macron. Both have taken a critical stance towards Ukraine and appear keen to do more business with China, in defiance of EU policy. And China also seems keen to drive a wedge between European countries and the US.

But China's attempts to sustain its balancing act appear to be getting more difficult to sustain.

A person familiar with G7 talks told the Financial Times: "The era of naivety towards Beijing is definitely gone now and China is to blame for that, honestly."

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

GM fires thousands as sales in China fall a staggering 55%

P.S. In 2017, GM and the other legacy automakers received a perfectly clear warning that electric car battery technologies were sufficiently advanced for Chinese automakers to produce cheap and affordable EVs in large volumes and start exporting them. What was the response of the legacy automakers - they hired corrupt journalists and "experts" who tried to tell the public how it was "impossible" to produce affordable mass market EVs..., released some poorly designed, overpriced and low volume compliance EVs, and continued to invest huge resources in manufacturing obsolete ICE vehicles...as if nothing had happened in the car market...

To the real experts, the collapse of GM car sales in China comes as no surprise…There is no demand for ICE vehicles in that market...

Other unintended consequences: China's electric car manufacturers will help defeat Russia, unwillingly, because electric cars significantly reduce the need to import oil... but as we all know, Putler finances his war by exporting oil, gas, coal and other resources...! Until Russia is cut off from its sources of war financing, the Western "strategy" is in fact complete bullshit

[allhorsenoplinko]

(In order) 1997 Honda Allure Styling Prototype, 1994 Honda UniQ Concept,  1999 Honda Allure (1st Gen), 2002 Honda Allure (Concept), and 2019 Honda Allure (Concept)

Now for the lore:

Honda decided to make a microcar in 1993, produced for Europe and China, as a cheap car for inter-city travel, called the Honda Allure, revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 1997, the car was prepared for mass production with an option of either a 0.5L gasoline engine, or an electric motor with a range of 80 miles.

The 1994 Honda UniQ was a concept that would eventually evolve into the Allure, though this would be after a decision to shrink the model, from a 1 liter engined, 2+2 seater, to a 2 seater with a 0.5 liter engine, for more likely sales.

In 2002, a preview for the Second Gen Honda Allure was showed off at Geneva again, potentially expanding to the North and South American markets as non-road-legal carts, offered with a 100 mile range electric battery, alternatively a 0.7 liter engine, a revised version of the 0.5 liter engine from the previous generation. It wound up selling ~500,000 units worldwide, from 2004-2009, selling 10% of all units in the United States alone.

In 2009, the Allure was discontinued due to changing safety regulations in Europe, and the North American market dropping off over the course of the 5 year second generation, but in 2019, a third generation was revealed at the New York International Auto Show, to a near-production standard, equipped with a Hydrogen system at the show, which was purely for demonstration, but was to be sold in mass markets as a new EV for Honda to test their mettle on. As of 2023, 500,000 units have been sold, despite the massive issues in production due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, proving even more popular than the originals in North America, and not likely to be replaced in the near future by a next generation.

[usafphantom2]

Pratt & Whitney F135: the engine that can't do its job

Diego Alves By Diego Alves 04/12/2013 - 09:00 in Military

The Pentagon F-35 fiasco continues. With $412 billion for 2,470 jets for the Air Force, Marines and Navy (more than 75% more than originally estimated), you would think they would be spending enough money to get it right. But you'd be... wrong.

The most expensive weapons system in world history went through an unexpected turbulence on March 29, when the three-star Air Force general who commands the program revealed that the engine of the single-engine plane was not up to par. Even worse: it never was.

“We are consuming the life of this engine since the beginning of the program, because we underestimate the engine and its requirements,” Lieutenant General Michael Schmidt told a Congressional panel. "We are increasing the costs in this program by consuming the useful life of this engine with additional revisions that are expected throughout the life of the program."

Remember, the F-35 engine is not your typical engine. It is such a large program that since 2010 it has secured its own entry in the Selected Acquisition Reports issued irregularly by the Pentagon. This separates it from the line item "F-35 aircraft" (a way to make the plane look more "cheap"). And since the day the program began, the Pentagon and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney agreed that the engine could fail five times more than the used ones ?? in other American fighters.

It turns out that the increasingly complex on-board computers of the F-35 need more electrical and cooling resources than originally thought. This requires your $27 million F135 engine to run with more "force", which wears it out faster.

In 2008, Lockheed discovered that the engine was too weak. Five years later he asked the Pentagon to "reinforce" the resources allocated to the engine. "But the program officials determined that it was too late to redesign the engine, given the cost and schedule impacts of such a change at that stage of the general program," said Jon Ludwigson, of the Office of Government Responsibility, at the same House hearing. It is impressive to say that it was "too late" to fix the engine, since, a decade later, the F-35 has not yet entered full production due to continuous problems.

The powerful PW135: working at its maximum capacity.

Supposedly, the engine has to run twice as hot as the projected one. This wears out faster, which requires more maintenance. This is a great reason why only 29.3% of the 564 F-35s already delivered to the Pentagon were able to carry out all their missions in February. For those who have difficulty in mathematics among us, this means that only one in four F-35s is fully ready to fly and fight. To deal with this, the F-35 program launched what it is calling "War on Readiness".

Taxpayer conclusion: anyone who has taken their car to the workshop for repairs knows it's not cheap. "When you send an engine back more often than you should during [your] life ... it's a huge amount of money that will cost us to renovate these engines many times extra," Schmidt told Defense One.

The famous "meme" of the f-35.

How big is "huge"? The GAO sets the extra cost of engine maintenance in (hold your breath)... US$ 38 billion.

That's more than $100 for each American. Not for the plane. Or your engine. Or to keep the engine running. It's only for the extra repairs that the engine requires because its designs were very bad.

But don't be afraid. To face this challenge, the F-35 program launched a second campaign that calls "War at the Cost". It turns out that China and Russia are not the only enemies that can blow the F-35 from the sky. "The cost," says Schmidt, "is a significant threat to the F-35 program."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Russia, China, Iran? None of them! In fact, the cost is the most significant threat to the F-35 program today.

Fortunately for the program, the author did not mention the fact that to power the update of Block 4 of the F-35 - the one that will lead it to the contractual requirements - the aircraft needs a much more powerful engine and one that runs even hotter. This, in turn, will require additional cooling, which the F-35 cannot provide because its thermal management performance is already at its maximum capacity. Having "refused" to buy the Adaptive Engine that General Electric developed to replace the current F-35, the Pentagon will soon find itself with an even worse performance aircraft for which there will be no repair.)

Tags: Military AviationusaLockheed MartinLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIPratt & Whitney F135PW135Technology

Diego Alves

Diego Alves

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Voice of America 0339 1 Nov 2024

6080Khz 0328 1 NOV 2024 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 45333. English, "Daybreak Africa" in progress fb news @0330z anchored by Alexis Strope. § Most of the North Korean troops sent to Russia are now deployed near the Ukrainian border and are expected to join the fight against Ukraine “in the coming days,” according to top U.S. and South Korean diplomats and military officials. “We now assess that there are some 10,000 North Korean soldiers in total in Russia, and the most recent information indicates that as many as 8,000 of those North Korean forces have been deployed to the Kursk region,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday. § Five people were killed in northern Israel by projectiles fired from Lebanon, including an Israeli farmer and four foreign workers, authorities said. Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed at least eight people, including six health workers in the country’s south. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said an Israeli attack in the occupied West Bank killed three people. The Israeli military said it also struck Hezbollah weapons depots and bases in Syria, where it claimed the militant group recently began storing weapons along the Syria-Lebanon border to smuggle them into Lebanon. And in Gaza, at least 46 Palestinians were killed Thursday in Israeli military strikes across the enclave, primarily in the territory’s north, where one attack hit a hospital, local health officials said. The Israeli military accused Hamas of using the hospital for military purposes and said “dozens of terrorists” have been hiding there, which health officials and Hamas denied. § Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. § 100s of Ecuadoreans hit the streets for anti-government protests amid widespread power cuts. Ecuador's worst drought in over 60 years has plunged the hydropower-dependent country into an energy crisis as diminished reservoirs leave hydroelectric dams offline, pushing the government to impose power cuts to limit the strain on electricity supplies. § The European Union is investigating Chinese online retailer Temu over suspicions it's failing to prevent the sale of illegal products, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm said on Thursday. Temu started entering Western markets only in the past two years and has grown in popularity by offering cheap goods, from clothing to home products, that are shipped from sellers in China. The company, owned by Pinduoduo Incorporated, a popular e-commerce site in China, now has 92 million users in the EU. § Canadian police dismantled what they said Thursday is the largest, most sophisticated illicit drug “super lab” in the country. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police believe organized crime ran the operation where there was mass-production and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine across Canada and internationally. @0335z "International Edition" begins. MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), JRC NRD-535D. 100kW, beamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2228.

[tbegolfball]

4 Seats Lifted Off road Electric Golf Cart

[mongorevera]

6 Insanely cheap electric cars from China

[sapphiresonstrings]

I don't really care about Musk so I don't even know what you're alluding to.

According to Wikipedia, Tesla has 10 factories in the USA, 1 in the Netherlands, 4 in Germany, 2 in China, and 2 in Canada. Which of those countries has the cheap exploitable labour? China is middle-income and the rest are all high-income.

I don't see how a deep moral objection to sweatshop labour leads you to criticize Tesla instead of, say, Nike.

And wherefore the anti-colonialism angle? China was never colonized, and I don't think the USA is being exploited by those evil (checks notes) Americans at Tesla. I suppose you could say that Canada is being colonially exploited by the USA? Speaking as a Canadian, though, we are broadly in favour of having electric car factories in our country. I personally don't feel exploited.

If you're not from Argentina, please read this carefully

I have no words to describe the pain I feel. after 40 years of democracy, my country elected a party whose only goal is to be a colony once again, to sell the country to Elon Musk, to the USA and the UK, to have our sovereignty impugned and erased.

I remember the video of USAmerican congressists calling Argentina an "important asset for the United States". I remember when we told all of you to be vigilant because this was gonna turn into a genocide.

Tomorrow, the Mega DNU (Decree of Necessity and Urgency) is going to overrule most of our constitutional rights, and yesterday the Omnibus Law was presented to congress, including measures that make it illegal to gather in public without permission (state of siege), and make it so that protest is a crime. We will have to pay for the bullets that kill us, and cops will have absolute legal immunity to hunt us.

Word for word, a dictatorship. Fascism.

We've already gone through this many times, but I want to see worldwide protests about this. I want the UN to intervene. I want the world to make noise.

What worries me is this is not an isolated case. With many genocides going on worldwide, if the world fails Argentina, this will be the blueprint for all of the world.

Make no mistake, what happens here will happen everywhere there's natural resources and sovereignty. If not through overt genocide, through an extremely libertarian far right that wins elections by manipulating people, funded by Elon Musk. A second Operation Cóndor.

[mariacallous]

What would you want to tell the next U.S. president? FP asked nine thinkers from around the world to write a letter with their advice for him or her.

Dear Madam or Mr. President,

Congratulations on your election as president of the United States. You take office at a moment of enormous consequence for a world directly impacted by the twin challenges of energy security and climate change.

Democrats and Republicans disagree on many aspects of energy and climate policy. Yet your administration has the chance to chart a policy path forward that unites both parties around core areas of agreement to advance the U.S. national interest.

First, all should agree that climate change is real and worsening. The escalating threat of climate change is increasingly evident to anyone walking the streets of Phoenix in the summer, buying flood insurance in southern Florida, farming rice in Vietnam, or laboring outdoors in Pakistan. This year will almost certainly surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record.

Second, just as the energy revolution that made the United States the world’s largest oil and gas producer strengthened it economically and geopolitically, so will ensuring U.S. leadership in clean energy technologies enhance the country’s geostrategic position. In a new era of great-power competition, China’s dominance in certain clean energy technologies—such as batteries and cobalt, lithium, graphite, and other critical minerals needed for clean energy products—threatens America’s economic competitiveness and the resilience of its energy supply chains. China’s overcapacity in manufacturing relative to current and future demand undermines investments in the United States and other countries and distorts demand signals that allow the most innovative and efficient firms to compete in the global market.

Third, using less oil in our domestic economy reduces our vulnerability to global oil supply disruptions, such as conflict in the Middle East or attacks on tankers in the Red Sea. Even with the surge in U.S. oil production, the price of oil is set in the global market, so drivers feel the pain of oil price shocks regardless of how much oil the United States imports. True energy security comes from using less, not just producing more.

Fourth, energy security risks extend beyond geopolitics and require investing adequately in domestic energy supply to meet changing circumstances. Today, grid operators and regulators are increasingly warning that the antiquated U.S. electricity system, already adjusting to handle rising levels of intermittent solar and wind energy, is not prepared for growing electricity demand from electric cars, data centers, and artificial intelligence. These reliability concerns were evident when an auction this summer set a price nine times higher than last year’s to be paid by the nation’s largest grid operator to power generators that ensure power will be available when needed. A reliable and affordable power system requires investments in grids as well as diverse energy resources, from cheap but intermittent renewables to storage to on-demand power plants.

Fifth, expanding clean energy sectors in the rest of the world is in the national interest because doing so creates economic opportunities for U.S. firms, diversifies global energy supply chains away from China, and enhances U.S. soft power in rapidly growing economies. (In much the same way, the Marshall Plan not only rebuilt a war-ravaged Europe but also advanced U.S. economic interests, countered Soviet influence, and helped U.S. businesses.) Doing so is especially important in rising so-called middle powers, such as Brazil, India, or Saudi Arabia, that are intent on keeping their diplomatic options open and aligning with the United States or China as it suits them transactionally.

To prevent China from becoming a superpower in rapidly growing clean energy sectors, and thereby curbing the benefits the United States derives from being such a large oil and gas producer, your administration should increase investments in research and development for breakthrough clean energy technologies and boost domestic manufacturing of clean energy. Toward these ends, your administration should quickly finalize outstanding regulatory guidance to allow companies to access federal incentives. Your administration should also work with the other side of the aisle to provide the market with certainty that long-term tax incentives for clean energy deployment—which have bipartisan support and have already encouraged historic levels of private investment—will remain in place. Finally, your administration should work with Congress to counteract the unfair competitive advantage that nations such as China receive by manufacturing industrial products with higher greenhouse gas emissions. Such a carbon import tariff, as proposed with bipartisan support, should be paired with a domestic carbon fee to harmonize the policy with that of other nations—particularly the European Union’s planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Your ability to build a strong domestic industrial base in clean energy will be aided by sparking more domestic clean energy use. This is already growing quickly as market forces respond to rapidly falling costs. Increasing America’s ability to produce energy is also necessary to maintain electricity grid reliability and meet the growing needs of data centers and AI. To do so, your administration should prioritize making it easier to build energy infrastructure at scale, which today is the greatest barrier to boosting U.S. domestic energy production. On average, it takes more than a decade to build a new high-voltage transmission line in the United States, and the current backlog of renewable energy projects waiting to be connected to the power grid is twice as large as the electricity system itself. It takes almost two decades to bring a new mine online for the metals and minerals needed for clean energy products, such as lithium and copper.

The permitting reform bill recently negotiated by Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barrasso is a good place to start, but much more needs to be done to reform the nation’s permitting system—while respecting the need for sound environmental reviews and the rights of tribal communities. In addition, reforming the way utilities operate in the United States can increase the incentives that power companies have not just to build new infrastructure but to use existing infrastructure more efficiently. Such measures include deploying batteries to store renewable energy and rewiring old transmission lines with advanced conductors that can double the amount of power they move.

Grid reliability will also require more electricity from sources that are available at all times, known as firm power. Your administration should prioritize making it easier to construct power plants with advanced nuclear technology—which reduce costs, waste, and safety concerns—and to produce nuclear power plant fuel in the United States. Doing so also benefits U.S. national security, as Russia is building more than one-third of new nuclear reactors around the world to bolster its geostrategic influence. While Russia has been the leading exporter of reactors, China has by far the most reactors under construction at home and is thus poised to play an even bigger role in the international market going forward. The United States also currently imports roughly one-fifth of its enriched uranium from Russia. To counter this by building a stronger domestic nuclear industry, your administration should improve the licensing and approval process of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and reform the country’s nuclear waste management policies. In addition to nuclear power, your administration should also make it easier to permit geothermal power plants, which today can play a much larger role in meeting the nation’s energy needs thanks to recent innovations using technology advanced by the oil and gas sector for shale development.

Even with progress on all these challenges, it is unrealistic to expect that the United States can produce all the clean energy products it needs domestically. It will take many years to diminish China’s lead in critical mineral supply, battery manufacturing, and solar manufacturing. The rate of growth needed in clean energy is too overwhelming, and China’s head start is too great to diversify supply chains away from it if the United States relies solely on domestic manufacturing or that of a few friendly countries. As a result, diminishing China’s dominant position requires that your administration expand economic cooperation and trade partnerships with a vast number of other nations. Contrary to today’s protectionist trends, the best antidote to concerns about China’s clean technology dominance is more trade, not less.

Your administration should also strengthen existing tools that increase the supply of clean energy products in emerging and developing economies in order to diversify supply chains and counter China’s influence in these markets. For example, the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) can be a powerful tool to support U.S. investment overseas, such as in African or Latin American projects to mine, refine, and process critical minerals. As DFC comes up for reauthorization next year, you should work with Congress to provide DFC with more resources and also change the way federal budgeting rules account for equity investments; this would allow DFC to make far more equity investments even with its existing funding. Your administration can also use DFC to encourage private investment in energy projects in emerging and developing economies by reducing the risk investors face from fluctuations in local currency that can significantly limit their returns or discourage their investment from the start. The U.S. Export-Import Bank is another tool to support the export of U.S. clean tech by providing financing for U.S. goods and services competing with foreign firms abroad.

Despite this country’s deep divisions and polarization, leaders of both parties should agree that bolstering clean energy production in the United States and in a broad range of partner countries around the world is in America’s economic and security interests.

I wish you much success in this work, which will also be the country’s success.

[the-firebird69]

Honda patents a ride-on range extender for EVs

In in China they make around 700 different brands of electric vehicle. Some of them are normal sized and they go pretty good and they have decent mileage and they have enough torque they they're like the size of Toyota Corolla coupe and the modern one and they go about 200 miles for charges quick charge and you can go about 60 MPH and get that with two people who are 160 lb it's not bad and really gasoline if you are pressed for a car that size to go 200 miles so we're looking at it and he says they'll never pick one or something and having a lot of problems figuring out which one's better car that's too many so it's really going to be who's stronger usually it's these idiots who don't really want it to work I'm supposed to wait until they get done with this fantastic game of Indian roulette and we don't want to so we know which models work and we're going to set up to start building them so when it starts to finishing they'll remain. And the beautiful part is they're thinking of exporting them too and that's the Chinese Chinese and they're really cheap our son said he'd buy one if he had money because he doesn't want to pay for gas you can charge it at the house you should have a house by then and we are going to have to change things here I can't stand it anymore you can't keep an inventor like him poor you're a fool stand and you others are just jackasses he's saying it too is ripping you a new one too you're not going to make it either I know you're not you're a fool and a candy ass I'll tell you what new people are going to die do you think people who are valuable don't need money and sitting here approving it wrong and you can't figure it out good morning Weaver said this I'm going to go in the mission for myself I'm going to get stuff and I'm going to make it work. No son says you kill yourself permanently that's who's to blame that's how I'm going to get away with it and she says what are you talking about did you disappear people think that it's Mac proper and you incinerated yourself because we were forced to send you back and they'll know too the ones that had it done and people won't care because they want to see who they are and those surface when you disappear because they want the information in the past and it's most likely a Mac proper it has something to do with that ship so she's frowning and saying how do you know it happens cuz I can just tell and you can't and it is you and it does come from a different movie and she says this is f****** hell so you make it to the movie and then you can send back and then you fry yourself with your current self she says I can figure that part out the gift that we're giving people who are threatening me and harassing me and taking pennies this is how you're going to get treated because of what you're doing if you can't figure it out no kidding okay no kidding. And she goes on to say the Mac proper doing it but these guys get rid of a lot of them by doing that to them then she said we're abusing him and we don't have any excuse and they would just go ahead and that's what's happening.

Thor Freya Olympus Hera

[beardedmrbean]

Chinese electric cars may become pricier in the European Union (EU) after politicians called them a threat to its own industry.

It has "provisionally concluded" that Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers will face tariffs from 4 July "should discussions with Chinese authorities not lead to an effective solution".

The EU's announcement comes as it continues an investigation into what it claims is a flood of cheap, government-subsidised Chinese cars into the trade bloc.

China alleged the tariffs violated international trade rules and described the investigation as "protectionism".

EV makers who co-operated with the investigation, which the EU's governing European Commission launched in October, will face an average 21% duty, while those who did not will face one of 38.1%.

Meanwhile, specific charges will apply to three companies:

BYD: 17.4%

Geely: 20%

SAIC: 38.1%

Non-Chinese car companies who produce some EVs in China, including EU-based ones like BMW, will also be affected.

The commission said Tesla may receive an "individually calculated duty rate" because of a specific request it had made.

These charges would come on top of the current rate of 10% tariff levied on all electric cars produced in China.

The EU's intervention comes after the US made the much bolder move of raising its tariff on Chinese electric cars from 25% to 100% last month.

The decision has drawn criticism not just from China, but also from politicians within the EU and several industry figures.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson In Jian said the "anti-subsidy investigation is a typical case of protectionism".

He added that the tariffs might also risk damaging "China-EU economic and trade co-operation and the stability of the global automobile production and supply chain".

The tariffs will apply definitively from November unless there is a qualified majority of EU states - 15 countries representing at least 65% of the bloc's population - voting against the move.

Germany's Transport Minister, Volker Wissing, said it risked a "trade war" with Beijing.

"The European Commission's punitive tariffs hit German companies and their top products," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, said that "free and fair trade" was essential in making sure that the European car industry remains competitive.

They added, however, that it was just one piece of the puzzle when thinking about how to boost the adoption of electric cars.

Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis — which owns Citroën, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat, and several other brands — also spoke out, emphasising the importance of free trade.

Stellantis said it does not support measures that "contribute to the world fragmentation [of trade]".

Some EU car companies have called for a bloc-wide industrial policy to deal with global competition.

Last year, more than eight million electric vehicles were sold in China – about 60% of the global total,according to the International Energy Agency’s annual Global EV Outlook.

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Surprise, surprise! Today, I saw such a car manufactured by a Chinese company on the street in Riga... Latvia, May 16, 2024. Source: autorings.lv

It would be a small thing, but a much more interesting discovery was on the dealer's website! It turns out that you can buy Chinese made ICE and electric vehicles completely officially in Latvia. The dealership sells cars made by DFSK, SEVIC, BAIC, SERES, JAC, FORTHING, SWM Motors and DFM...

And, third surprise, these cars made in China are NOT CHEAP...

[marketingreportz]

Electric Vehicle Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Electric Vehicle Market Overview

Electric vehicle market size is valued at USD 171.35 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach a value of USD 726.14 billion

 by 2026 at a CAGR of 27.19%

 during the forecast period 2021-2026. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles is modern electric propulsion, consisting of electric machines, power electronic converters, electric energy sources such as fuel cells and storage devices, and electronic controllers. The automotive Manufacturers have been driven to supply electric Zero Emission vehicles all over the world due to electric vehicle market trends such as rising demand for low-emission and governments encouragement towards long-range, zero-emission vehicles via subsidies and tax refunds which is estimated to boost the electric vehicle market size. Major players such as Tesla, ford, General motor and others are focused on increase of investment towards EV production. For instance Ford is investing $1 billion in an electric vehicle production facility in Cologne, Germany; this investment will transform the existing vehicle assembly operations into the Ford Cologne Electrification Centre for the manufacture of electric vehicles. Moreover Indian government to boost electric mobility over Internal Combustion engine based vehicles in the country announced to support 15.62 lakh electric vehicles through subsidies and have implemented a budgetary support of ₹ 10,000 crores. APAC is expected to hold large share in the electric car industry analysis estimation, with China accounting for half of the vehicle sales. The electric vehicle industry analysis, particularly the global electric commercial vehicle market will be driven by this rising investment.

Report Coverage

The report: “Electric Vehicle Market Forecast (2021-2026)”,

 by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Electric Vehicle Market Analysis.By Vehicle Type

 – Passenger Cars, Commercial VehiclesBy Components 

– Motors, Electric Engine, Drivetrain, Power Conditioner, Battery, Controller, Other componentsBy Vehicle Class 

- Luxury, Mid-pricedBy Vehicle Drive Type

 - Front-Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive, All-Wheel DriveBy Geography

 - North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Russia and Others), APAC(China, Japan India, SK, Aus and Others), South America(Brazil, Argentina and others), and RoW (Middle east and Africa)

Key Takeaways

Growing awareness towards reduction of harmful emission and fuel efficiency is significantly driven by the global electric vehicle market during the forecast period 2021-2026.

The governments incentives such as cheap or no registration fees, as well as exemptions from import tax, sales tax, and road tax are estimated to spur the electric vehicle market size.

APAC is analysed to grow at highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to the growing government involvement and presence of original equipment manufacturers. 

Global Electric Vehicle Market, By Region, 2021

Electric Vehicle Market Segment Analysis – By Vehicle Type 

The EV passenger Vehicle is set to have the largest market share globally. This is owing to the governments' considerable backing for passenger electric vehicles in the countries. EV passenger vehicle is estimated to have the considerable share in APAC market owing to the presence of original equipment manufacturers and other automaker. The adoption of EV passenger car is increasing due the factors such as reduced emission, higher fuel efficiency.

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Electric Vehicle Market Segment Analysis – By Vehicle Drive Type

Rear Wheel Drive EV demand has risen in all regions, particularly in Asia Pacific and Europe. This is due to the fact that it is easier to drive and there is an increasing demand for these vehicles. North America has also experienced a faster increase in these vehicles, with Tesla Model 3 Standard, BMW i3, Volkswagen ID4, Porsche Tycan, and other models. The expansion of RWD electric vehicles is expected to accelerate in the future decade. Moreover the market for AWD is likely to increase as the demand for better ride handling and traction control grows. Continuous development of a three-motor AWD system for EVs is projected to boost the global electric vehicle market.

Electric Vehicle Market Segment Analysis – By Geography 

Asia Pacific has the largest electric vehicle market for passenger automobiles, followed by Europe and North America. China being the world’s largest EV producer, around 90% domestic OEMs currently dominate the Chinese EV market. To encourage residents to change to electric vehicles, the city of Beijing, for example, exclusively offers 10,000 registration licences for combustion-engine vehicles per month. Moreover MEA countries have begun to expand their electric vehicle markets, and they are likely to be the fastest-growing in the future years.

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Electric Vehicle Market Drivers

Increase in demand for fuel-efficient and low emission vehicles

The demand for fuel-efficient automobiles has recently increased as the price of gasoline and diesel has risen. Petrol and diesel are non-renewable sources hence the concern for developing alternative source of fuel is increasing which is further expected to increase the production of electrical energy vehicle. The Stringent CO2 emission norms have increased the demand for electric vehicles; these vehicles are environment friendly which has zero emission technology. The factors such as higher fuel economy, low pollution rate, smoother driving experience, reduced engine sound are driving the market for electric vehicle.  

Initiatives by the government to promote electric vehicles 

Government initiatives steps toward investment in Electric Vehicle market for promoting reduction of vehicle emissions is paramount. For instance in 2017, the United States government spent $5 billion to develop electric vehicle infrastructure, such as charging stations. Several governments are offering a variety of incentives, including cheap or no registration fees, as well as exemptions from import tax, sales tax, and road tax. Furthermore, countries such as Germany are heavily investing in EV sales promotion such as an amount of 6.5 billion will be provided by Germany for electric-car charging infrastructure.

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Electric Vehicle Market Challenges

Inadequate uniformity of E.V charging infrastructure

One of the major challenges of Zero emission vehicle market is the Inadequate E.V charging infrastructure. The rise of the electric car market, as well as variations in charging loads, have highlighted the need for electric car charging station uniformity. Certain electric vehicle charging stations may only work with a specific voltage. For example, level 1 charging stations provide a voltage of 120V AC, whereas level 2 charging stations provide a voltage of 208/240V AC. DC charging stations, on the other hand, use 480V AC to provide quick charging. Fast charging requirements range from country to country. CHAdeMO is used in Japan, while CCS is used in Europe, United States, and Korea, and GB/T in China. Both CHAdeMO and CCS procedures were required by the Indian government. Hence due lack of uniformity across countries may impact the installation of charging stations and hamper the growth.

Electric Vehicle Market Landscape

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Electric vehicle Market. The market of Electric Vehicle has been consolidated by the major players -Tesla, Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motors, BMW Group, BYD Company motors, General Motors, Chevrolet, Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor, and Mercedes.

Acquisitions/Technology Launches/Joint Venture

In September 2020 Volkswagen with its local Chinese joint ventures FAW Group, SAIC Motor, and JAC, invested USD 17.4 billion in the Electric Vehicles market to support new product releases of Battery Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in the market.

In December 2020 the United States, Nissan has revealed the Leaf model for 2021. The car is available with a battery capacity ranging from 40 to 62 kWh. Per charge, the mileage varies between 149 and 226 miles.

In November 2019 BYD debuted the e3 electric vehicle. It has two battery capacities of 35.2 kWh and 47.3 kWh, as well as a single electric motor of 70 kW. The vehicle's range is approximately 252 miles. 

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