4 ms·
That tariff was the best endorsement I think I've ever seen for a foreign car. Turns out the secret sauce in creating cheap electric vehicles isn't a 10x batte
by fullshark 2y ago
That tariff was the best endorsement I think I've ever seen for a foreign car. Turns out the secret sauce in creating cheap electric vehicles isn't a 10x battery improvement or technological breakthrough but the same secret sauce in making every other durable good cheaper in America the past 20 years: labor arbitrage.
Can't make that work in America with the UAW.
- rootusrootus 2y agoI will be amused when corporations successfully push software development so far away from the US that unions will be the only way we won't be stuck with poverty wages.
- fullshark 2y agoI didn't mean to bad mouth unions, merely state the reality. If electric vehicles are much less sophisticated than ICE cars, and the cost of the battery never goes down significantly due to the cost of rare earth materials (especially if you want to sell at the volume environmentalists aspire to sell at) then the way they get cheaper is through labor arbitrage and there's no real alternative.
- rootusrootus 2y agoIIRC we’re seeing LFP at $50 or less per kWH now. A typical 75 kWh battery could soon be cheaper than an ICE drivetrain. I think we’re not far from ICE being the expensive choice. It’s already the expensive choice for long term use, pretty soon the capital cost will be higher too.