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China's strategic planning around electric cars is really a thing of beauty. Imagine a massive growing middle class buying gas-powered foreign produced cars in

China's strategic planning around electric cars is really a thing of beauty. Imagine a massive growing middle class buying gas-powered foreign produced cars instead. What would that do the Chinese economy and security with all oil imported? The strategy of welcoming of firms such as Tesla builds up a huge ecosystem of suppliers creating possibilities for China's own car companies. Whether they target a highend international market such as with the Volvo Polestar or the small electric car market. The small car market basically doesn't exist in the west. We don't find these cars safe or desireble enough. But safety and desirability of this category of cars will improve rapidly over time and ultimately they will become attractive enough to be sold in the west.

silvestrov 6y ago
Fixed: The small car market basically doesn't exist in the USA. There are a lot of small cars in European big cities as it is difficult to find parking space for an "american sized" car. The sedans which Americans thinks of as "small car", we think of "too big car for the city".
- tibbydudeza 6y ago
  Yep they don't sell the VW Polo (my daily driver) in the US. It seem compact hatchbacks/cars (a.k.a B segment) has no market.
  - tw04 6y ago
    No, they sell the golf which is about a foot longer. I'd still call it a compact hatchback. Chevy makes the Aveo. You can still buy a Smart car here. The mini is quite popular. There is absolutely a segment for compact cars in the US, it's just nowhere near as large because most people spend time on the highway and don't feel as safe being surrounded by larger cars and OTR trucks.
- throwaway4good 6y ago
  Yes, agreed. The US has a strange obsession with massive cars. However it was not the european style small cars I ment when I referred to small cars but rather the 4000 USD electric cars, the article is refering to. Those you do not see in Europe at present. In fact, the only Chinese EVs I have seen are the MG ZS EV and Volvo Polestar - both big cars. The small electrics are things like the VW Up electric and the Fiat 500 electric, both European.
  - mikewarot 6y ago
    >The US has a strange obsession with massive cars. It's not strange... it's survival (plus federal regulations about crash safety, bumper height) require the size vehicles I'm used to here. (The SUV thing is just crazy, though) It is not unusual in the USA on a road trip (vacation) to drive 1000 km/day (or more) at 120+ kph. How is something smaller than a 1999 Honda Civic (1100kg) going to safely share the road with 40000 kg Tractor-Trailer rigs? Here's the smallest car I ever owned... it was silver, with a hatchback... I loved that car, and miss it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(sixth_generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(sixth_generation)
    - alisonatwork 6y ago
      There are plenty of trucks in Europe. There's even a whole computer game series based around it.[0] Lots of Europeans go on driving holidays. They even take caravans ("travel trailers"). Caravans are so common that they're a running joke on popular car shows like Top Gear.[1] It is true that generally people don't tend to drive as long distances in Europe as they do in the US, but it's not unheard of to drive 1000km on holiday. It's not as if everyone in Europe spends their lives pootling around cobble-stoned towns in Fiat 500s with a crusty baguette sticking out the window. There are large highways and plenty of heavy traffic. I think the difference is that people in Europe tend not use their oversized vehicles as daily drivers. Many people don't even own a large car at all, preferring to rent or borrow one for specifically when they do go on holiday. Driving a large car seems like less of a status symbol in Europe. I don't buy that it's a safety thing for Americans, when most Americans are just driving their SUVs to the shops or to work every day. [0] https://eurotrucksimulator2.com/ https://eurotrucksimulator2.com/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNTnrpL1Uw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNTnrpL1Uw0
- billfruit 6y ago
  And why is that. Small cars should be as practical in the USA as in rest of the world, and it seems it is only the mentality of the American consumer that seems to avoid them, perhaps?
  - ryan93 6y ago
    It would be scary to drive european sized small cars on back roads with big SUVs and trucks whizzing by.
  - dheera 6y ago
    I live in the USA (California) and it's almost impossible to get anywhere without getting onto a highway. The only local roads are littered with stop signs or red lights at every goddamn intersection and then some speed bumps. It's either the highway or the obstacle course. I do have a electric scooter (max 40 km/h, so can only stick to local roads) which I use for <5km trips and and I can definitely say those stop signs cut my battery range by a factor of 2 or 3.
  - nowherebeen 6y ago
    Americans have this weird fascination of bigger is better mentality to the point that practicality goes out the window. The hummer is a prime example: burns a ton of gasoline with little benefit to the owner or others.
    - an_opabinia 6y ago
      Bigger cars are almost always safer, which isn't a weird fascination at all.
      - Etheryte 6y ago
        This used to be true back in the 80s and such, but with modern safety standards, you have to take extreme ends of big and small to get anywhere close to a statistically significant difference. How you drive, what kind of airbags your car has, what the general traffic culture is in your country etc are all considerably more important factors than your car size. To put it another way, you're way more likely to walk away from a crash in a modern small car than in an older large car. For all intents and purposes, size being safety is an urban myth today.
- dragonelite 6y ago
  For a small road trip to Chicago my family member rent a 8 person fan a huge car and off course I offered to be the driver. Once we arrived in Chicago I kind of started to sweat because I'm used to European city parking spots. How many times will have to retry to park this huge car, but to my surprise the parking spaces are also huge.
cavisne 6y ago
These small cars are illegal in big cities in China (just not enforced) so it’s not strategic

silvestrov 6y ago

Fixed: The small car market basically doesn't exist in the USA. There are a lot of small cars in European big cities as it is difficult to find parking space for an "american sized" car. The sedans which Americans thinks of as "small car", we think of "too big car for the city".

tibbydudeza 6y ago
Yep they don't sell the VW Polo (my daily driver) in the US. It seem compact hatchbacks/cars (a.k.a B segment) has no market.
- tw04 6y ago
  No, they sell the golf which is about a foot longer. I'd still call it a compact hatchback. Chevy makes the Aveo. You can still buy a Smart car here. The mini is quite popular. There is absolutely a segment for compact cars in the US, it's just nowhere near as large because most people spend time on the highway and don't feel as safe being surrounded by larger cars and OTR trucks.
throwaway4good 6y ago
Yes, agreed. The US has a strange obsession with massive cars. However it was not the european style small cars I ment when I referred to small cars but rather the 4000 USD electric cars, the article is refering to. Those you do not see in Europe at present. In fact, the only Chinese EVs I have seen are the MG ZS EV and Volvo Polestar - both big cars. The small electrics are things like the VW Up electric and the Fiat 500 electric, both European.
- mikewarot 6y ago
  >The US has a strange obsession with massive cars. It's not strange... it's survival (plus federal regulations about crash safety, bumper height) require the size vehicles I'm used to here. (The SUV thing is just crazy, though) It is not unusual in the USA on a road trip (vacation) to drive 1000 km/day (or more) at 120+ kph. How is something smaller than a 1999 Honda Civic (1100kg) going to safely share the road with 40000 kg Tractor-Trailer rigs? Here's the smallest car I ever owned... it was silver, with a hatchback... I loved that car, and miss it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(sixth_generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_(sixth_generation)
  - alisonatwork 6y ago
    There are plenty of trucks in Europe. There's even a whole computer game series based around it.[0] Lots of Europeans go on driving holidays. They even take caravans ("travel trailers"). Caravans are so common that they're a running joke on popular car shows like Top Gear.[1] It is true that generally people don't tend to drive as long distances in Europe as they do in the US, but it's not unheard of to drive 1000km on holiday. It's not as if everyone in Europe spends their lives pootling around cobble-stoned towns in Fiat 500s with a crusty baguette sticking out the window. There are large highways and plenty of heavy traffic. I think the difference is that people in Europe tend not use their oversized vehicles as daily drivers. Many people don't even own a large car at all, preferring to rent or borrow one for specifically when they do go on holiday. Driving a large car seems like less of a status symbol in Europe. I don't buy that it's a safety thing for Americans, when most Americans are just driving their SUVs to the shops or to work every day. [0] https://eurotrucksimulator2.com/ https://eurotrucksimulator2.com/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNTnrpL1Uw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNTnrpL1Uw0
billfruit 6y ago
And why is that. Small cars should be as practical in the USA as in rest of the world, and it seems it is only the mentality of the American consumer that seems to avoid them, perhaps?
- ryan93 6y ago
  It would be scary to drive european sized small cars on back roads with big SUVs and trucks whizzing by.
- dheera 6y ago
  I live in the USA (California) and it's almost impossible to get anywhere without getting onto a highway. The only local roads are littered with stop signs or red lights at every goddamn intersection and then some speed bumps. It's either the highway or the obstacle course. I do have a electric scooter (max 40 km/h, so can only stick to local roads) which I use for <5km trips and and I can definitely say those stop signs cut my battery range by a factor of 2 or 3.
- nowherebeen 6y ago
  Americans have this weird fascination of bigger is better mentality to the point that practicality goes out the window. The hummer is a prime example: burns a ton of gasoline with little benefit to the owner or others.
  - an_opabinia 6y ago
    Bigger cars are almost always safer, which isn't a weird fascination at all.
    - Etheryte 6y ago
      This used to be true back in the 80s and such, but with modern safety standards, you have to take extreme ends of big and small to get anywhere close to a statistically significant difference. How you drive, what kind of airbags your car has, what the general traffic culture is in your country etc are all considerably more important factors than your car size. To put it another way, you're way more likely to walk away from a crash in a modern small car than in an older large car. For all intents and purposes, size being safety is an urban myth today.
dragonelite 6y ago
For a small road trip to Chicago my family member rent a 8 person fan a huge car and off course I offered to be the driver. Once we arrived in Chicago I kind of started to sweat because I'm used to European city parking spots. How many times will have to retry to park this huge car, but to my surprise the parking spaces are also huge.

cavisne 6y ago

These small cars are illegal in big cities in China (just not enforced) so it’s not strategic