An influx of Chinese cars is terrifying the West
- Thread starter lutefisk
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Wouldn't it be great to have the price of EVs really driven down?
It depends, If Yugo was an electric, think of what it would have done the reputation of electrics? Right now, Leaf is about as cheap as they get in a 4 dr car, and it has its limitation.
The problems need to be overcome, and that doesn't happen by trying to make stuff cheaper.
Yes, I'd love to see prices come down, but not at the expense of reliability and we are on the knife edge of that right now.
The problems need to be overcome, and that doesn't happen by trying to make stuff cheaper.
Yes, I'd love to see prices come down, but not at the expense of reliability and we are on the knife edge of that right now.
That reminds me of the old joke:
A man goes into an autoparts store and asks "can I get a new gas cap for my Yugo?"
the man behind the counter thinks for a minute, then answers "Yeah, ok that is a fair trade"!
A man goes into an autoparts store and asks "can I get a new gas cap for my Yugo?"
the man behind the counter thinks for a minute, then answers "Yeah, ok that is a fair trade"!
Actually I believe that would be the Bolt and it was too cheap for me, which is one of the reasons I went with a Leaf. I'm not against cheap transportation, heck my first "new" car was a '94 Geo Metro 5-door with AC and nothing else. It was a decent vehicle and a real workhorse and at $8500 it was a heck of a deal. When I went to replace it I looked at another "cheap" vehicle, a Mitsubishi Mirage which IMO was "too" cheap so I passed. My new '13 Leaf was my most deluxe car at the time, well we did get a new '07 Prius that was pretty nice but IMO the Leaf was a bit more "deluxe".
I remember looking at new Yugos at a local auto show back when they first came out and people were actually paying over sticker! I remember thinking, no way in hell! A tin can on wheels
Not sure how I feel about Chinese vehicles but it's better than Vietnamese vehicles, which as present I wouldn't touch with a 10' pole!To be honest, I don't know what the prices are on new EV's as I will not buy a new car or not likely. I did once and ran it until the frame rotted, so got my money's worth.
If I could fit in a Bolt, and find one used in my price range I would have considered it. Looked, but didn't fit well in one.
When I purchased my Leaf, it was by far the best car for the money spent I could find at the time. However, I was well aware of its limitations also, but out use fits those limits quite well
If I could fit in a Bolt, and find one used in my price range I would have considered it. Looked, but didn't fit well in one.
When I purchased my Leaf, it was by far the best car for the money spent I could find at the time. However, I was well aware of its limitations also, but out use fits those limits quite well
Snakebitten
Well-known member
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- Jul 29, 2023
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- 101
I commute about 50 miles daily from the office and back, as well as a few errands, which includes a run or two to "the convenience store".
In cold weather, (not Fargo cold, admittedly) I find the heat pump fantastic at almost instantly warming the cabin.
The 2018 SL 40KWH package is smooth, quiet, and comfortable. I charge nightly to ~85% and have never experienced range anxiety. But I'm also not testing it's range with the use I described.
Great value equation for "extra" runabout.
I have other vehicles for long trips or multiple adult passenger situations.
In cold weather, (not Fargo cold, admittedly) I find the heat pump fantastic at almost instantly warming the cabin.
The 2018 SL 40KWH package is smooth, quiet, and comfortable. I charge nightly to ~85% and have never experienced range anxiety. But I'm also not testing it's range with the use I described.
Great value equation for "extra" runabout.
I have other vehicles for long trips or multiple adult passenger situations.
wekebu
Member
Your Nissan sounds different than ours. My 2018 gets us 100 mile round trip to Austin.
wekebu
SueC56
Well-known member
I was just listening to an interview with Sandy Munro, an engineer and EV guru and he said the Chinese cars are very well made and that they are way ahead of most American EV manufacturers.
Interesting, but I'll wait until there is a track record outside China, for long term availability of parts/support before jumping in with one. China can produce some good stuff, but the quality can vary and upstarts from all countries can fold in an instant when the going gets rough.
goldbrick
Well-known member
I'm old enough to remember when 'Made in Japan' was a joke and meant really cheap, second-rate stuff. That obviously changed and I think the same thing is happening with China. The difference of course, is that China is so big vs Japan. There is still a huge range of quality of things coming out of China but I don't think there is anything in an EV that China doesn't have the technological capability to make.
I test drove a BYD EV sedan several years back, at a local demo event independent of any car manufacturers. It was not a good car, sounded like something was not going to last, something rubbing/scraping on acceleration. How long has BYD been selling and servicing in the US.
I've not heard of a dealership here, as far as I know they haven't met the requirements to be imported, but could be wrong, New cars are not on my watch list. There are makes that are imported that I have never seen also, like polecat (Polestar).
One advantage of not being affluent enough to be 1st in the area to buy, I can see what happens when they get a bit of use on them.
One advantage of not being affluent enough to be 1st in the area to buy, I can see what happens when they get a bit of use on them.
I recently saw a Chinese ad showing a BYD getting a quick battery change. The flaw in our system is the lack of a "Blue Rhino" concept for EV batteries. Probably 3 or 4 form factors would all that would be needed to cover the vast majority of passenger vehicles.
Search "Chinese EV fires" on youtube. Not comforting. Perhaps Chinese brands are more worthwhile if the consumer restricts purchase to cars using LFP or M3P batteries?