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The withering dream of a cheap American electric car

(www.wsj.com)
152 points voisin | 1 comments | 17 Nov 24 23:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.286s | source
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DaveExeter ◴[18 Nov 24 14:51 UTC] No.42172785[source]▶
If we wanted a cheap American electric car, the way to do it would be to allow Chinese EV manufacturers to sell to the American public!

Of course, that is not allowed, because it would benefit the American people and hurt the American car cartel.

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busterarm ◴[18 Nov 24 15:11 UTC] No.42173010[source]▶
And two million less jobs for Americans. Huge benefit!
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yurishimo ◴[18 Nov 24 15:45 UTC] No.42173461[source]▶
Americans vote against their own self interests constantly. How is this any different? Or do you think the US govt couldn't backstop it's own car companies until they became cost competitive? Seems like a win/win if we want to speed up EV adoption and reduce global emissions. If a new $20k EV with 300 miles of range was released tomorrow, we'd see massive adoption similar to the original Model 3. Americans I believe are largely ready for EV adoption but the only thing stopping the majority is price.
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1. busterarm ◴[18 Nov 24 16:27 UTC] No.42173968[source]▶
America's grid isn't ready for massive EV adoption, nor are its fire departments or insurance underwriters, indoor parking garages, etc.

Price is not the thing holding back EV adoption. The people who are in the $20k car market don't own their own homes and don't have anywhere to plug their theoretical EV into consistently.

EVs as they are now are only as successful as they are because of a set of diehard futurists with cash to burn and excessive government subsidy.