Would You Consider the $10,000 Chinese BYD Seagull EV?
New EVs are expensive! BYD, the Chinese automaker known for inexpensive EVs, recently said it's opening a production facility in Mexico.
With production capacity in a NAFTA country, it's possible that BYD plans on entering the U.S. and Canadian market.
Other countries get choices. I don't mean between "big" and "bigger". There may be some way of buying a Hummer EV in Europe... but then again, there may not. For sure you can get reasonably-priced family EVs.
So... would you buy a $ 10 000 Chinese EV?
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I support made in American products and the workers who make them, even if it costs more.
I'm with you. to hell with that cheap chinese knockoff junk made by factory captives.
No
a $10K EV my ass. they only need to be priced a couple hundred less than their market rival and all the suckers in the US will form lines around their dealerships.
No
Hell no!
I do like the idea of 560km and 428hp.
Sure wouldn't be the first thing I own made in China.
I assume that the people who answer "No" never shop at Walmart.
The nearest Walmart for me is 20 miles away and there's another 30 miles away, but that one has a Home Depot next door and I might this weekend take a truck and pick up a 3,200# load of bricks.
A small EV car just doesn't work for us.
I do every week and it is under 5 miles round trip
Wonder what that $10,000 car would cost in America after they had to add all the safety features that the federal government mandates. There are a lot of cars sold in Europe that do not have those safety features and are not sold in America.
EU safety standards are higher than American.
The standards between the US and Europe are different and you cannot just pick up a car sold in Europe and drive it here in the US, and the same in reverse. Some standards are minor things, like turn signal lights. In the US they are amber and in Europe they are clear. The US mandates that windshield wipers cover a larger percentage of the glass. Some are bigger. But it's foolish to state that European standards are higher because that's not 100% true. Some are higher, some are less.
The U.S. has a bunch of extra safety standards that the Europeans don't. For instance, in America, car makers have to design airbags to protect people who are not wearing their seatbelt. In Europe, they just assume that everyone's buckled up. These rule differences drive the car companies nuts.
https://www.npr.org/2015/10/16/449090584/why-arent-auto-safety-standards-universal#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20a%20bunch,drive%20the%20car%20companies%20nuts.
Overall
The standards are not the same - your example is interesting. You're much more likely to be injured by zn "American" airbag because standards require more brutal deployment... because, as you say, European standards assume that seat belts are used. That is to say, safety is considered as a whole.
Another example: pedestrian protection. Hood heights are more limited in Europe... and fewer pedestrians are killed.
That’s a big change since I lived there. American spec cars were legal in Europe but European spec cars weren’t legal here unless windshield and headlights were changed.
Likely pretty close to what a similar US EV of the same category.
Interesting that it is going to be made in a "NAFTA" nation, but that won't help on making it eligible to be imported if it doesn't meet US standards. NAFTA. nation or not.
Since the intention of opening a plant manufacturing BYD EVs in Mexico has to have as at least one of its purposes to be able to export the cars to the US, they must know that they will have to comply with American standards.
Automobile manufacturers are accustomed to adjusting their products to differing rules. Headlights are a good example: European headlights can now alter their beams to protect oncoming traffic. That's not yet allowed in the States, so imports from Europe get "dumb" headlights.
So yes, Chinese cars would have to be "adjusted" for American rules, as they already are for the European market. The article suggested that this could be expensive... but even so the sales price would be low.
The seagulls top speed is listed at 81 miles an hour, that makes you a speed bump in about 37 states.
Just glad , barring accidents that total my vehicles, I'm a good 5-8 years from considering a vehicle replacement.
Me too. Just bought a new GMC last summer and with luck that should be the last vehicle I ever buy.
Yes. Our cars are a dozen years old, so they could die at any moment. I try to stay up with all the novelties, while hoping the cars will hang on for another five years.
There's SO much going on.
EVs are perfect for daily commutes, outside of 150 miles not so much. We have 1 ev and 1 ICE, we use the ICE for out of town travel and minimal local, but the EV for everything else. Know your equipment.
I work for a natural gas company, and everyone used to maike fun of me for "working for gas, but driving an EV"... they shut uop when i told my car only cost $40 more in electricrtiy and they are spending $200 a month on their rides. They may talk about my windup car from time to time, but my wallet won the war.
For those who swear they would never buy anything Chinese, they have no idea how many Chinese-made parts are already in the products that they buy. And, after all, I bet they all eat Chinese food now and then. LOL
My comment was OBVIOUSLY tongue-in-cheek. And by the way, the burgers I eat here are made by the American Burger King franchise across the road from where I live.
Nope, you know they are tracking where you drive abd of course can take it over. I trust the Germans to do that.
manchurian candidate software...
On a cold day in Hades, unless I can be convinced that a Chinese made EV has the same mandatory safety features required for American and Western made vehicles. Even then I probably would not based on reasons I have stated previously, being that EV's are not practical where I live.
It's enough that you simply don't want one. There's no need to find justification.
All cars sold in the States meet the same minimum standards. Beyond that, there are the "stars" handed out by safety institutes. In my opinion, these are more useful for consumers.
True, but the big question is do cars made in China for possible sale here meet those said safety standards?
Well... I don't really trust any manufacturer of anything - they'll always put profit before safety. (Boeing?) But since Chinese cars would probably be more closely examined than any others, I wouldn't worry about them any more than the locals.