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Why Americans Can't Buy the World's Best Electric Car

4 points by mitchbob 1y ago

mitchbob 1y ago
https://archive.ph/2025.07.08-050736/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/opinion/byd-china-car-ev.html https://archive.ph/2025.07.08-050736/https://www.nytimes.com...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
behnamoh 1y ago
Recently I've been shopping for cars and I really wanted to purchase an EV this time but because of the the lack of good infrastructure in the US for EVs, especially for non-Tesla vehicles, I decided not to go the EV route. Also, I'm renting an apartment, which makes it more challenging to install a home charger. So buying an EV is not just about saving the environment, it also necessitates changing your lifestyle. For example, you should be okay with spending at least half an hour in charging stations. For some people it might be fine but I think that it just takes away some of the freedom that I want to have with my car. Not to mention that some charging stations have long queues and that adds to the waiting time. But another issue that I ran into is the lack of control over my own car when most of its mechanisms are controlled electronically. I prefer physical buttons and there seems to be an anti-pattern in EVs where they move almost everything to a touch screen. Also, the company can update the car anytime they want. That means they can remotely shut down my car or do whatever the heck they want with it. That also doesn't give me the sense of freedom. It actually makes me feel like I'm borrowing a car from the company even after paying the full price. And a Chinese company that is probably benefiting from government subsidies would freak me out because they might listen to the conversations I have in the car or track me or whatever.
- taylodl 1y ago
  The following needs to apply for EVs to make sense to most Americans: - Commuter car - limited daily travel - Urban area (contributes to being a commuter car) - Have own garage (charging convenience) If these points fit your situation, then an EV can be a great car. Otherwise, maybe not. Definitely not a great choice if you don't have your own garage in which to charge.
deleted 1y ago
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manfromchina1 1y ago
> BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams,” I read somewhere the founder (?) simply made it up. I guess now that they are very successful they would have to build the mythos around it.
- ZeroGravitas 1y ago
  It's a backronym from pinyin, Wikipedia says: > BYD is the pinyin initials of the company's Chinese name Biyadi. The company was originally known as Yadi Electronics (亚迪电子), named after the Yadi Road in Dapeng New District, where the company was once based.[24] According to Wang Chuanfu, when the company was registered, the character "Bi" (比) was added to the name to prevent duplication, and to provide the company with an alphabetical advantage in trade shows.[25] As the name "BYD" had no particular meaning, BYD started adopting a backronymic slogan "Build Your Dreams" when it participated at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in the US.[26][27][28]
dhx 1y ago
Whilst BYD may theoretically have the ability to be fully "vertically integrated", or at least only use domestic manufacturing equipment, seemingly this is not done in practice. From a UAV fly-through video of BYD's Shark production line at the BYD Zhengzhou factory[1], the following robots and other equipment are visible by manufacturer label and/or model numbers: - Filtermist FX7002 oil mist collector at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=15 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=15 (Filtermist being a UK company) - JIER sheet metal stamping presses at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=26 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=26 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=33 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=33 (JIER being a Chinese company) - KUKA robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=28 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=28 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU (KUKA once being a Germany company but purchased by Chinese company Midea Group in 2016) - Nachi robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=75 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=75 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU (Nachi-Fujikoshi being a Japanese company) - CLOOS robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=90 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=90 (CLOOS being a German company) - FANUC robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=105 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=105 (FANUC being a Japanese company) - ABB robots at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU (ABB being a Swiss/Swedish company) - FANUC M-20iD robot at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=208 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=208 (FANUC being a Japanese company) - ESTUN robot at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=227 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=227 (ESTUN being a Chinese company) - ISRA camera/industrial image processing system at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=300 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=300 (ISRA being a Germany company) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU

4 points by mitchbob 1y ago

https://archive.ph/2025.07.08-050736/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/opinion/byd-china-car-ev.html https://archive.ph/2025.07.08-050736/https://www.nytimes.com...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

behnamoh 1y ago

Recently I've been shopping for cars and I really wanted to purchase an EV this time but because of the the lack of good infrastructure in the US for EVs, especially for non-Tesla vehicles, I decided not to go the EV route. Also, I'm renting an apartment, which makes it more challenging to install a home charger. So buying an EV is not just about saving the environment, it also necessitates changing your lifestyle. For example, you should be okay with spending at least half an hour in charging stations. For some people it might be fine but I think that it just takes away some of the freedom that I want to have with my car. Not to mention that some charging stations have long queues and that adds to the waiting time. But another issue that I ran into is the lack of control over my own car when most of its mechanisms are controlled electronically. I prefer physical buttons and there seems to be an anti-pattern in EVs where they move almost everything to a touch screen. Also, the company can update the car anytime they want. That means they can remotely shut down my car or do whatever the heck they want with it. That also doesn't give me the sense of freedom. It actually makes me feel like I'm borrowing a car from the company even after paying the full price. And a Chinese company that is probably benefiting from government subsidies would freak me out because they might listen to the conversations I have in the car or track me or whatever.

taylodl 1y ago
The following needs to apply for EVs to make sense to most Americans: - Commuter car - limited daily travel - Urban area (contributes to being a commuter car) - Have own garage (charging convenience) If these points fit your situation, then an EV can be a great car. Otherwise, maybe not. Definitely not a great choice if you don't have your own garage in which to charge.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

manfromchina1 1y ago

> BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams,” I read somewhere the founder (?) simply made it up. I guess now that they are very successful they would have to build the mythos around it.

ZeroGravitas 1y ago
It's a backronym from pinyin, Wikipedia says: > BYD is the pinyin initials of the company's Chinese name Biyadi. The company was originally known as Yadi Electronics (亚迪电子), named after the Yadi Road in Dapeng New District, where the company was once based.[24] According to Wang Chuanfu, when the company was registered, the character "Bi" (比) was added to the name to prevent duplication, and to provide the company with an alphabetical advantage in trade shows.[25] As the name "BYD" had no particular meaning, BYD started adopting a backronymic slogan "Build Your Dreams" when it participated at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in the US.[26][27][28]

dhx 1y ago

Whilst BYD may theoretically have the ability to be fully "vertically integrated", or at least only use domestic manufacturing equipment, seemingly this is not done in practice. From a UAV fly-through video of BYD's Shark production line at the BYD Zhengzhou factory[1], the following robots and other equipment are visible by manufacturer label and/or model numbers: - Filtermist FX7002 oil mist collector at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=15 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=15 (Filtermist being a UK company) - JIER sheet metal stamping presses at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=26 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=26 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=33 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=33 (JIER being a Chinese company) - KUKA robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=28 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=28 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU (KUKA once being a Germany company but purchased by Chinese company Midea Group in 2016) - Nachi robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=75 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=75 and https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU (Nachi-Fujikoshi being a Japanese company) - CLOOS robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=90 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=90 (CLOOS being a German company) - FANUC robots at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=105 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=105 (FANUC being a Japanese company) - ABB robots at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU (ABB being a Swiss/Swedish company) - FANUC M-20iD robot at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=208 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=208 (FANUC being a Japanese company) - ESTUN robot at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=227 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=227 (ESTUN being a Chinese company) - ISRA camera/industrial image processing system at https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=300 https://youtu.be/LsUpWRaOyuU?t=300 (ISRA being a Germany company) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUpWRaOyuU