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They didn't go straight, though. Chinese companies have been working for years on ICE. In fact, the largest companies were focused on ICE cars, and many were ou

They didn't go straight, though. Chinese companies have been working for years on ICE. In fact, the largest companies were focused on ICE cars, and many were outcompeted by domestic EV upstarts. Chinese cars have been sold worldwide for decades, they just weren't competitive with western cars even in very poor African countries. We do have a pretty good idea of the quality of the current crop of Chinese ICE engines. They aren't great - I can go into more detail if you want.

coderenegade 2mo ago
From what I can see, nobody bought Chinese cars because the styling was terrible. BYD hiring western designers is what suddenly made Chinese cars desirable, because it kicked other brands into gear. The forefront of Chinese ICE development today is coming from EV upstarts working on hybrid engines, not the likes of SAIC selling LDVs. There are numerous credible reports of Chinese hybrid engines hitting state-of-the-art thermal efficiencies, and the new wave of Chinese utility vehicles coming out have performance numbers that make everything else look laughable by comparison. It remains to be seen whether or not they can reach the kind of reliability and parts availability that the market expects, but Toyota at least is taking the threat very seriously. And circling back to the earlier point, there doesn't seem to have been an effective comparative advantage keeping China out of the market. I don't consider hybrid engines to be anything other than ICEs, because they still require injectors, heads, the timing assembly, pumps, etc., and whether or not the ancillaries are mechanically driven or electronic is mostly moot in my opinion. This latest wave of hybrid engines is the just the continuation of a process that has been happening for a hundred years (and is already mature in other transport segments). And in any case, Chinese automakers are here, and we're seeing the biggest upheaval in the automotive industry in 50 years as they overtake Japanese brands in key markets. >We do have a pretty good idea of the quality of the current crop of Chinese ICE engines. They aren't great - I can go into more detail if you want. Sure, I'm always happy to talk engines.

coderenegade 2mo ago

From what I can see, nobody bought Chinese cars because the styling was terrible. BYD hiring western designers is what suddenly made Chinese cars desirable, because it kicked other brands into gear. The forefront of Chinese ICE development today is coming from EV upstarts working on hybrid engines, not the likes of SAIC selling LDVs. There are numerous credible reports of Chinese hybrid engines hitting state-of-the-art thermal efficiencies, and the new wave of Chinese utility vehicles coming out have performance numbers that make everything else look laughable by comparison. It remains to be seen whether or not they can reach the kind of reliability and parts availability that the market expects, but Toyota at least is taking the threat very seriously. And circling back to the earlier point, there doesn't seem to have been an effective comparative advantage keeping China out of the market. I don't consider hybrid engines to be anything other than ICEs, because they still require injectors, heads, the timing assembly, pumps, etc., and whether or not the ancillaries are mechanically driven or electronic is mostly moot in my opinion. This latest wave of hybrid engines is the just the continuation of a process that has been happening for a hundred years (and is already mature in other transport segments). And in any case, Chinese automakers are here, and we're seeing the biggest upheaval in the automotive industry in 50 years as they overtake Japanese brands in key markets. >We do have a pretty good idea of the quality of the current crop of Chinese ICE engines. They aren't great - I can go into more detail if you want. Sure, I'm always happy to talk engines.