Are chinese EVs worth it?
We may love our Teslas and ID.3's, but should we have the same enthusiasm for Chinese electric cars?
While we constantly associate electric cars with Western manufacturers, the truth is that China is both the largest manufacturer and the largest buyer of electric cars. Furthermore, the country has a large amount of EV manufacturers, several of whom sell cars in parts of Europe.
I recently moved to the Netherlands to study, and during my time here I have seen several Chinese electric cars, including Lynk & Co 01 and the Aiways U5. Furthermore, NIO has been expanding into the European market, and are set to launch in the UK as well.
While we constantly associate Chinese cars with poor quality and copying of Western designs, the fact that these companies are expanding to Europe and are getting a good amount of customers shows that there's potential for success.
In some aspects, these cars are superior to their Western counterparts; for example, the Aiways U5 may have a slightly lower range than a Tesla Model X, but it's much cheaper by comparison, costing only €39,950 in the Netherlands, compared to Model X €114,990 price tag. I say that's a bargain!
In conclusion, I say that in spite of what we think of Chinese cars, the fact that they are doing really well here in Europe shows that people are able to look past the stereotypes and see their true genius. So yes, I think they are worth it.
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Comments (4)
It looks like China is set to displace Japan as the leader in quality affordable cars as the world transitions to EVs. Good strategic move on their part. They must be laughing at Toyota specifically and Japan generally going so slow on EVs and wasting their R&D on hydrogen cars, which will help China win in the market transition. No reason China is inferior on quality, they manufacture much of what the west buys, you are probably reading this on a made in China PC / Mac / Mobile / Tablet. They seem to be good at cars too. Indeed the quality of the China made Tesla’s seem to be better than the US made ones.
I think in China most electric cars will fall in the large micromobility category, similar to the Arcimoto FUV. The country is so much more Urban than the US, that most people don't need more than a 100 mile range, and a budget EV works perfectly for a lot of the population
I do think Chinese cars offer a lot for the price, and has a decent build quality and technologies nowadays. I just hope they show some more respect and humbleness towards the communities and the industry, at least like Geely.
One of the main reasons why I still have some distaste towards Chinese cars is because of SAIC. After buying SsangYong, they gave no support yet they exploited SsangYong and stole technologies, and left SsangYong alone when the economy crisis hit the world. I really hope such disaster don't happen again at anywhere in this world/industry.
They're definitely worth it, they're quite good A to B vehicles.