Chinese EVs & The US Market — Where Is This Going?

I’ve been covering the electric vehicle industry for 14 years. Different topics or themes tends to dominate the EV story for significant periods of time. You had the Nissan LEAF era, the social media buzz around the Tesla Model S, the booming Tesla Model 3 launch, the explosion in EV market share in Europe in alignment with industry CO2 regulations, and the even bigger explosion in EV market share in China. (Yes, there were some other categories I could plug in there, but you get the idea.)

The era we’re in right now seems pretty clear — rapid innovation and fast-growing competitiveness in the Chinese EV market, extending out globally through exports and factory expansion.

We’re seeing fast growing availability and sales of Chinese electric cars in Australia, various Asian countries, South America, and Europe. And Canada is next. Yes, we already know all of that, and it’s been discussed before — but could we be approaching a real issue with this, especially with these better options coming to North America.

An article from China Daily shared the story of a Texan landscaper named Jose who recently visited his grandparents and cousins in Mexico. The result: “I am a little jealous of my cousin’s truck,” Jose told China Daily. “He’s driving a Changan Hunter. It feels so luxurious.”

Hmm…

The article expounds a bit on the features and benefits of the truck along with its low cost.

The article then touches on the story of a Wall Street Journal columnist who recently got to drive the Xiaomi SU7 Max for a bit in New Jersey. “I test drove a Chinese EV. Now I don’t want to buy American cars anymore,” she wrote. You may recall that this is the EV Ford CEO Jim Farley drove for about 6 months and made him realize how far Ford is behind the Chinese EV industry. “We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now, and I don’t want to give it up,” he said.

It was a very similar sentiment from the Wall Street Journal columnist, Joanna Stern. “Now, every time I climb back into my Ford Mustang Mach-E, I can’t stop thinking about you — your long range, your modular interior, your absurdly large infotainment screen,” Stern wrote. “Please come back to America … for me.”

A separate Wall Street Journal article reported on people who have Mexican and US citizenship who drive Chinese-made EVs they bought in Mexico. A popular comment under the article summed the issue up well: “If US automakers aren’t going to make small, affordable cars, why shouldn’t we consumers be able to buy imported Chinese cars? I don’t want an SUV or truck.” Word.

“Sure. Let’s prohibit imports instead of building better cars. American cars are not only more expensive; they are actually worse quality,” the most popular comment out of about 2,000 stated.

Right now, only people following the EV industry closely really know how much US buyers are lacking in EV choice. However, if stories like the ones above grow, especially as Canada gets Chinese EVs, are people going to start getting irritated and more vocal? “I’m American — why can’t I get these vehicles?!” Hmm…. We’ll see.

The big question, though, is if consumers and these Chinese companies will find a way to get these various EVs into the US market. Will we ever be able to buy a Xiaomi SU7, a BYD Seagull, an XPENG G6?

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