The definitive EV thread. No spin. No BS., page-273

The main story on the New York TImes right now is about Chinese EVs. I note that Polestar is copping a 27.5% tariff to export its "2" to the US, but it's also building an assembly plant in South Carolina. The tariffs obviously help the US rivals, but the competition will soon be heating up by the looks of things.

Polestar cars were almost going to be called Volvos. BYD's design chief used to work for Audi and Alfa Romeo. MG is little more than a logo, 8 years after the Chinese owners shut down the British factory. I can't detect any material lineage to those gorgeous 50s and 60s sports cars, but they are still marketing a thing they call "Brit Dynamics". Modern MGs seem pretty popular, I don't know anyone who owns one, but I assume they value the British heritage, flimsy as it is. My parents owned an MG TD for a little while, I think they sold it before I was born, they seemed to change cars as frequently as toothbrushes in those days. Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent again! The point is that Chinese cars now are not obviously Chinese when it comes to marketing and design.

This is the NYT story. Find your own way over the paywall https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/business/china-electric-vehicles.html

... or use my ladder https://archive.is/7D1bY