To each his own.

Well, I kinda like my brain. Wife likes my balls.

That’s because unlike these inhabitants of other countries we as a whole don’t want to overpay for transportation which falls woefully short of our current options.

On a per capita basis the leaders in EV owership are:

1. Norway - 117 per 1,000 people
2. Iceland - 69
3. Sweden - 29
4. Califoirnia - 27
5. Netherlands - 21



But by far the Chinese buy the most EVs.



So people in China and Norway "want to overpay" ???
"woefully short"??

Click the links.

The pics and charts aren't lying.

"Sales Figures Speak Volumes
In March, sales of hybrid vehicles in Europe increased by nearly 13%, raising their market share from 24.4% to 29%.

Concurrently, electric vehicles saw a 5% decrease in the number of new registrations compared to the previous year, according to figures from the industry association Acea.

"This trend is unmistakable and reflects a broader movement towards hybrid technology across the continent," comments an analyst from Acea."


A 5% decrease in sales - wow someone should tell china that the sky is falling....

Yeah, someone should because their entire economy is propped up on faulty GDP. Ghost towns built for 100,000+ in the middle of nowhere...EV's parked all over the EU in lots nobody wants...a dwindling population with forced labor camps to manufacture whatever the party tells them to...and a silk road initiative that makes those seedy check loan places look legit with their interest rates. I don't think you want to chase the CCP as some stellar example of anything anyone with a brain wants to follow.

Thanks for proving me correct

Meanwhile;
America considers whether or not to give the future automobile market to the Chinese.

Chinese car maker BYD introduces a $12,000 car - and it is nicer and scarier than you think.
https://apnews.com/article/china-byd-auto-seagull-auto-ev-cae20c92432b74e95c234d93ec1df400

US government moves to keep the new high tech out with tariffs - a stop gap move:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehicles-evs-solar-2024ba735c47e04a50898a88425c5e2c

Once in production EVs should be far cheaper than ICE cars. But companies like Ford show us how legacy companies don't know how and are locked into doing it the old way, with the old vendors and the old tech. So they lose money.

BYD is subsidised by the Chinese government - which is wise. But Americans would cry a river about us doing that.

American's strategy is to hope the new tech just goes away. And push the idea that it is not real, doesn't work and is "bad".
"You know that them EV's kill Bald Eagles - right?"

But, the world will be getting cars that cost half as much to buy, own and operate. And Americans will deny it until their only move left is to call for a war on China.

"America - F*ck Yeah!"

"the fool is the twin of the wise"

Noted that rather than discuss or trade opinions you name call - Always reminds me of middle school.

You're just being petulant because of all the arguments that you have lost.

And you know the Chinese are gaining a real advantage in the auto market - but you're just going to wish it away.

What does that make someone that willingly gives over money to the Communist Chinese Party? Almost all of the minerals that are in your EV are sourced from them. Their "cars" are really miniature spy balloons tracking where it's been, where its going with cameras in almost every angle, microphones to listen in and GPS systems to store and upload from. You don't have a problem with that. No, you cheer it on and bad mouth the nation you live in.



You are openly extolling this nation's demise at the expense of your level of trendiness. Get over yourself. You've been shown the error of your purchase at ever opportunity. You got played. Your car is worth less than what you paid for it and is depreciating faster than your IQ and you don't even OWN IT! You got all giddy and had to tell everyone here you have an app for your car so it makes fart noises. Act like a man instead of some washed out Kardashisan ****.

The ONLY person that's lost every argument on this thread is YOU! You've been dead wrong on everything. EVERYTHING.

Taking sides with China? That's a new kind of low for even you. Gonna crack some Uyghur jokes now? Seriously the slave labor the CCP employs to maintain relevance is staggering...but hey, we gave them "Favored Nation" status. Gotta expect it, but not with a vehicle that is unsustainable without government gimmickry. After all there will forever be a sect of Americans that will cling to their love of cars for the freedom of that experience. Not you. You want to rush headfirst into debt with a not ready for primetime vehicle that is really just a fad like a pet rock. So while you're rushing in the CCP and holding the door open for more of their shenanigans, I will be calling you a fool for doing that.

We are not in an automobile race with China.

Paranoid? Hardly. Informed? **** yeah. You? Unless its on the side of a Starbucks cup...you don’t know **** about ****...and display that DAILY!

Um...once again I have to talk down to you because you can't fathom that there isn't an 8 ft bed with a gooseneck hitch that can tow my 30' 3horse slant with living quarters trailer. I don't run out like you to the mall, the nail salon or out with the girls. China doesn't even have one! I would never support them like you. I'm a bit more American and an see how losers like you want people sleeping on sidewalks, can't speak the language and committing crimes because you dont pay enough in taxes and want to spend your grandchildren into oblivion.

The fart car is for ADHD spasmatic morons with rapid cycling bouts of lucidity.

Obviously an attempt at what a moron such as yourself would call humor.

Have fun at the nail salon!

I would like to see a report on the durability of the vehicles. From the little bit I can find they are described as pretty junk. I would assume major worldwide manufacters do not want their name to be thought of with junk. Is there opportunity there in the cheap market, sure there is. Do you want to be in the cheap market is another question entirely. How did Yugos do in our market? If I remember correctly they bombed and also did not meet our saftey standards.

It would be interesting to know their tolerance on parts + or -. Also a report on saftey over the last 5 years would be good to have. Do they even meet our standards? What is the expected life span in miles? Are the made of substandard materials? What would parts availability be? Perhaps biggest of all what is the quality of the electrical motors?

<:crickets:>

Resistance is futile. The government has already ordered you to drive EVs.

You all need to come over to the EV side with me and BrewHa before we start putting you in camps.

This is tempest in a teacup. It is stooopit. The violations of the CLA are paltry when compared to the pollution generated from the mineral extraction necessary to get these vehicles to market. And air pollution…the number one emitter is concrete. Yup. And what will they need to get the infrastructure compatible with vastly increased EV ownership and operation? Concrete. Lots and lots of it too.

FWIW....not much...




Just three years ago, the Chinese company Xiaomi decided to build cars. It succeeded where Apple failed.


The Wall Street Journal reports A Chinese Phone Maker Did Something Apple Couldn’t: Make an EV

Xiaomi is a Chinese company known for its rice cookers, robot vacuums, air purifiers and smartphones. Now, it has pulled off what Apple, its longtime rival, couldn’t: Make an electric car and bring it to market. And it did it in three years.

In its home market, Xiaomi —pronounced SHAU-mee—is cranking out its SU7 sedan to a waiting list of buyers after its launch in late March. Since early April, the Beijing-based company said it had delivered more than 10,000 of the electric vehicles and received nearly 90,000 binding orders.

Priced between $30,000 and $42,000, the company says the SU7 can go up to 500 miles on one charge, undercutting comparable versions of the Tesla Model 3 in China by around $4,000 and outrunning it by around 200 miles per charge.

Xiaomi’s feat illuminates a new reality in the century-old automotive business: The barriers to entry for making a car have shrunk in recent years with the emergence of electric vehicles. And in this new reality, China is speeding way ahead.

To simplify development and reduce costs, Xiaomi adopted Tesla’s process of “gigacasting,” which employs large-scale, high-pressure aluminum die-casting to create the car’s frame. The process combines hundreds of manufacturing steps into one, saving on components, weight, cost and time.

Xiaomi also had to innovate. The liquid aluminum that gets injected into the die-casting machine has to be a certain variety that can withstand an extraordinary amount of pressure. Xiaomi had to come up with its own material, building an artificial-intelligence program that used a method known as deep learning to simulate how different materials would behave when placed inside the die-cast machine.

The company only seriously started looking into entering the car sector after the U.S. government blacklisted it in January 2021 for what it said were ties to China’s military, prohibiting Americans from investing in Xiaomi.

Xiaomi Profitable When?

Xiaomi loses money on cars. To turn a profit, Xiaomi would have to produce 300,000 to 400,000 of the SU7 each year, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun told CCTV.

It’s unclear if this company succeeds at building cars. But I suspect it will.

Regardless, Xiaomi has proven a company that makes phones can make cars three years later.

What exactly does Tesla have that some Chinese company can’t do better or cheaper? Perhaps self-driving technology, but there Tesla seriously lags Waymo.

Preparation for Growth

On April 15, I noted Elon Musk Fires 10 Percent of Tesla Workforce, Prepares for “Next Phase of Growth”

Preparing for Growth

Preparing for growth by firing working is like trying to lose weight by stocking the pantry with more potato chips.

On May 6, I noted Another Round of Mass Firings at Tesla, Sales Must Be Imploding

Tesla announced yet another round of layoffs today. News came in the typical way, an email starting “Dear Employee”. It seems “Dear Ex-Employee” would be more fitting.

Tiresome Lies

Musk statements are no longer best viewed as excessive hype, but rather tiresome lies.

For four years running, Musk promised to make 50,000 electric semis. Tesla delivered a grand total of 100.

Carbon Credits

Carbon Credits notes Tesla Hits Record High Sales from Carbon Credits at $1.79B

Elon Musk’s Tesla generated a substantial $1.79 billion from carbon credit sales last year, as revealed in their Q4 2023 and annual financial report, bringing its total earnings from such credits since 2009 to nearly $9 billion.

The revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits has become a substantial source of income for the company. In fact, the credits account for a staggering 11% of Tesla’s overall gross margin for the quarter, $4,065 million, down from 25.9% seen in Q4 2022.

Despite its continued dominance in the U.S. EV market, Tesla faces growing competition, particularly from China’s BYD. The Chinese automaker recently surpassed Tesla as the world’s largest seller of EVs.

Tesla’s Lead Has Vanished

Whatever technology lead Tesla once had is now gone.

Tesla’s Full Self Driving FSD technology is essentially vaporware.

On May 14, I noted BYD Unveils the “Shark” a Plug-in Hybrid Pickup Truck Built in Mexico

The Chinese automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams) announces a 700-mile range PHEV that will be built in Mexico, this year.

Also see Biden Wants EVs so Badly That He Will Quadruple Tariffs on Them

Astute readers will immediately notice the title of this post makes no sense. It’s not supposed to. But it is exactly what President Biden is doing.

The EU is too shellshocked and disorganized to do anything. The US is fighting with tariffs and sanctions.

The Blacklisting of Xiaomi led to this result, It’s another “victory” for sanctions.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/another-sanction-failure-us-blacklisted-xiaomi-three-years-ago-now-it-makes-evs

Only if less than one Ohm.

Thanks, I’ll read them all.

Ya'd think you'd find more Chilean leaches in a swamp...

As someone who lives near the location formerly known as the Grand Kankakee Marsh, yes they did

For those who don’t want to buy an EV, there is always mass transportation options.