BYD Seagull, the cheap electric car the USA almost got

[neptronix]

Cool! an $11k EV! now we can start the electric revolution finally!

 

[chuyskywalker]

Even if you double the price, it's still 10k less than some of the cheapest EV's here.

Still, what a bummer.

 

[Chalo]

Protective tariffs make a lot more sense when they're protecting an industry that's actually making the thing being taxed. When they're protecting the industry from being obligated to meet an existing demand for that thing, it seems to me that everybody loses except the welfare-sucking corporate capitalists.

 

[neptronix]

There's a lot to unpack but pretty much everyone is a loser in this case except for certain corporations who have the ability to just tell the government what to do because we live in a super corrupt country.

Just remember this moment when anyone in our political system said they were interested in reducing our country's emissions; notice that the second someone gets close to providing a competitive solution to get us closer to that goal, the door is immediately slammed shut on that workable idea.

I try to stay out of politics on this forum but this is particularly infuriating because of how big a door that just got closed.

I wouldn't buy a Chinese EV but i think the existence of them in the USA market would pressure other companies into producing a lowish cost everyman EV, where in the meantime, they've only been focused on the mid to high end of EVs, which is inaccessible to most.

 

[Chalo]

I wouldn't buy a Chinese EV but i think the existence of them in the USA market would pressure other companies into producing a lowish cost everyman EV, where in the meantime, they've only been focused on the mid to high end of EVs, which is inaccessible to most.

On the plus side, the lack of a cheap to own, cheap to operate electric car here probably does push both development and adoption of e-bikes to some degree. Hopefully the auto industry's short term anticompetitive thinking cuts down their overall slice of the pie in the long run. Having more alternatives to car driving is better than having slightly better cars.

 

[Hillhater]

Most BYD vehicles seem to double in price as soon as they leave China ,….and that is before any tarrifs or taxes !
With no “tarrif” the proposed price in Australoa is reported to be $31,000 Au , and undoubtedly that would be for the 30 kWh base spec model before sales tax etc.

I wouldn't buy a Chinese EV

..whilst i fully support any locally produced product where possible, it is becoming very apparent from reviews and technical analysis that some of the Chinese technology is truely class leading, particularly in the EV and Hybrid fields.
Even Toyota are now using BYD batteries and hybrid systems in some new models !

 

[neptronix]

On the plus side, the lack of a cheap to own, cheap to operate electric car here probably does push both development and adoption of e-bikes to some degree. Hopefully the auto industry's short term anticompetitive thinking cuts down their overall slice of the pie in the long run. Having more alternatives to car driving is better than having slightly better cars.

True

 

[offGridDownUnder]

Having more alternatives to car driving is better than having slightly better cars.

Absolutely. Cars take a ridiculous share of space, and other resources for most of the jobs they do, and they isolate people socially, which encourages anti-social behavior.

The solution to building the wrong society is not to make it less expensive, the solution is to stop having that society.

 

[99t4]

The solution to building the wrong society is not to make it less expensive, the solution is to stop having that society.

How? In my area, even the smallest bit of vehicle infrastructure that gets repurposed or shared to bicycling or mass transit infrastructure instantly gets attacked as "War on cars," "I never see bikes on that road, they'll never use it," "bikes need to pay licensing fees same as cars," "the trains I see are always empty," etc., etc. Even cycle/pedestrian/transit improvements that don't encroach on existing automobile roadway get attacked as "too expensive, "waste of money," "vanity projects," "fix the potholes on my street before any new projects." And this is in a decidedly bluest of blue areas.

Maybe the newer generations are more amenable? I hope so.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

How?

Sometimes stupid cures itself, but we get around this by making more stupid.

People can and do use enormous resources to avoid admitting Reality, all the while insisting they are 'right'. They run out eventually. Sometimes I'm around and I get to enjoy it.

Reality doesn't care, and always prevails, but not on my timescale.

I lower my own footprint, choose my battles (well or poorly), and try not to get my fingers caught in it.

 

[series_hybrid]

The smallest least expensive EV I can think of that is readily available in the USA is the Chevy Bolt. The wheelbase is 102.4 inches.

Its hard to get a scale of the size of a vehicle without the two cars being next to each other, and also...an ad agency trick is to have small people standing next to the car. The BYD Seagull has a wheelbase of 98 inches, or four inches shorter. That's not a lot so the two cars are fairly comparable.

BYD cars:

BYD, they’re huge, and they’re coming soon

There’s a lot of discussion about tariffs right now to keep out products that would disrupt domestic products, like vehicles from Tesla, Ford, GM, and Dodge. A tariff is a tax that makes impo…

www.electricbike.com

 

[Hillhater]

Absolutely. Cars take a ridiculous share of space, and other resources for most of the jobs they do, and they isolate people socially, which encourages anti-social behavior.

Cars, and Vehicles in general , enable population movement..individual movement,..and hence enable social development and society to mix.
They also generate a tremendous amount of manufacturing jobs and technology industries which have facilitated the lifestyle we all enjoy.
Its not the cars that encourage antisocial behaviour, its the idiots we allow to drive them, (and also use all forms of public transport)
stop blaming inanimate objects, and deal with the live problems we allow to destroy our society.
Finding some honest ,capable, leaders, rather than corrupt politicians, to guide us would be a good starting point !

The solution to building the wrong society is not to make it less expensive, the solution is to stop having that society.

Well yeah !… that sounds like the “Ultimate Solution” … social engineering/clensing ?….a recipe being played out in the Middle East ?
.. Not a very smart plan ..

 

[offGridDownUnder]

that sounds like the “Ultimate Solution”

I understand it sounds like that to you, as you are the one who suggests the connection. Please don't pretend I said that - you are misleading at my expense.

After the Port Arthur massacre, the gun laws in Australia were changed, and there is a push about Domestic Violence now. It is social engineering - we live here and we will tend to our society as we agree to.

Responsible people admit flaws and fix them.