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China has about twice the purchasing power of the US. So the Chery QQ would be like buying a $8k car in the US accounting for PPP. Outside of the current pandem

China has about twice the purchasing power of the US. So the Chery QQ would be like buying a $8k car in the US accounting for PPP. Outside of the current pandemic used car market, $8K will buy a pretty great used car and will be more practical than the Chery QQ. e.g. I can buy a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD for $5,600 which probably has a good 200k miles left. People buy expensive cars because they want expensive stuff and don't know any better. As long as these people exist the cheap vehicle market will be fulfilled by used vehicles. It would be hard to make a new vehicle compete with a slightly used one at the same price because newer vehicles are subject to higher taxes and emissions standards. That said we certainly need cheap electric vehicles which means we need enough new EVs so that the used EV market grows. The Cherry QQ only has a range of ~120 miles and top speed of 60mph. I just looked and I can get a used 2015 Nissan Leaf S for $12K which is a much better value overall. Funny enough I found a used, road-legal electric 'golf-cart' car for sale for 8K: https://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/d/boulder-citecar/7373397641.html https://boulder.craigslist.org/cto/d/boulder-citecar/7373397...

llampx 5y ago
> e.g. I can buy a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD for $5,600 which probably has a good 200k miles left. I frankly would not take that bet. There are many catastrophic (costing more than the purchase price) repairs that can come up between 100k and 200k. If its survived that long it probably has more left in it, but a lot depends on how its been driven and maintained.
- bserge 5y ago
  Not if you do it yourself. E.g. $900 for a diesel pump change vs $200 + a Saturday. But that's always been the case.
baybal2 5y ago
> China has about twice the purchasing power of the US. So the Chery QQ would be like buying a $8k car in the US accounting for PPP. Outside of the current pandemic used car market, $8K will buy a pretty great used car and will be more practical than the Chery QQ. e.g. I can buy a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD for $5,600 which probably has a good 200k miles left. Except China doesn't have used cars. All cars have to be scrapped after 8 years, and can be pulled from the road much earlier by any arbitrarily imposed new safety, or emissions regulation. Some cities plainly prohibit second hand cars, or just plainly "ugly cars" and I am not lying there. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3125013/chengdu-china-faces-backlash-over-dirty-car-ban-city-clean https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3125013/che... Also, Chinese really despise buying anything used.

llampx 5y ago

> e.g. I can buy a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD for $5,600 which probably has a good 200k miles left. I frankly would not take that bet. There are many catastrophic (costing more than the purchase price) repairs that can come up between 100k and 200k. If its survived that long it probably has more left in it, but a lot depends on how its been driven and maintained.

bserge 5y ago
Not if you do it yourself. E.g. $900 for a diesel pump change vs $200 + a Saturday. But that's always been the case.

baybal2 5y ago

> China has about twice the purchasing power of the US. So the Chery QQ would be like buying a $8k car in the US accounting for PPP. Outside of the current pandemic used car market, $8K will buy a pretty great used car and will be more practical than the Chery QQ. e.g. I can buy a 2003 Honda Pilot 4WD for $5,600 which probably has a good 200k miles left. Except China doesn't have used cars. All cars have to be scrapped after 8 years, and can be pulled from the road much earlier by any arbitrarily imposed new safety, or emissions regulation. Some cities plainly prohibit second hand cars, or just plainly "ugly cars" and I am not lying there. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3125013/chengdu-china-faces-backlash-over-dirty-car-ban-city-clean https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/article/3125013/che... Also, Chinese really despise buying anything used.