They’re $15k because the government is paying for the rest of the car, they control the lithium, they don’t give a shit about environmental regulations, and they use slave labor to produce these materials and cars.
Hey, maybe it’s because:
They put heavy emphasis on EVs since 2009
They don’t kowtow to ICE car companies; ICE cars have a cap system that makes them expensive, every ICE car has one day of the week they aren’t allowed on the road (determined by number plate)
Their car companies aren’t all pre-invested into massive ICE car factories
The govt has very consistently supported EVs - western countries tend to flip-flop, e.g. when a conservative govt is elected
They’ve more extensively vertically integrated their EV manufacturing (which to be fair, is an extension of point 3)
The industry experts have done teardowns of chinese EVs, and concluded shortcutting and labor abuse alone can’t explain the low pricepoint. As shitty as the CCP is, if we don’t recognize that China is ahead on EVs then they’ll eat our lunch. EU/US tariffs on Chinese EVs won’t stop them, because they’re selling to the entire world, not just the EU/US. It’ll be Harley Davidson all over again (who received protectionist tariffs against japanese motorcycles until Harley Davidson could “catch up” on affordability - and the rest is history).
Even if Chinese labor standards were the problem (and people don’t mention that US/EU cars have plenty of Chinese components, made by Chinese workers with Chinese wages - Ford, Tesla etc have ), the result of the tariffs is that they’re setting up factories in Mexico (just like Ford/etc) where they’ll be bound by the same labor standards as everyone else. And they’re still undercutting everyone.
Hey, maybe it’s because:
The industry experts have done teardowns of chinese EVs, and concluded shortcutting and labor abuse alone can’t explain the low pricepoint. As shitty as the CCP is, if we don’t recognize that China is ahead on EVs then they’ll eat our lunch. EU/US tariffs on Chinese EVs won’t stop them, because they’re selling to the entire world, not just the EU/US. It’ll be Harley Davidson all over again (who received protectionist tariffs against japanese motorcycles until Harley Davidson could “catch up” on affordability - and the rest is history).
Even if Chinese labor standards were the problem (and people don’t mention that US/EU cars have plenty of Chinese components, made by Chinese workers with Chinese wages - Ford, Tesla etc have ), the result of the tariffs is that they’re setting up factories in Mexico (just like Ford/etc) where they’ll be bound by the same labor standards as everyone else. And they’re still undercutting everyone.