MIT Technology Review - How did China come to dominate the world of electric cars?

I would recommend reading this interesting article
from the MIT Technology Review website,
covering various majors topics covered in the TMC forum:

How did China come to dominate the world of electric cars?

So the Chinese government took steps to invest in related technologies as early as 2001; ​

that year, EV technology was introduced as a priority science research project ​

in China’s Five-Year Plan, the country’s highest-level economic blueprint. ​

​

Then, in 2007, the industry got a significant boost when Wan Gang, ​

an auto engineer who had worked for Audi in Germany for a decade, ​

became China’s minister of science and technology. ​

​

Wan had been a big fan of EVs and tested Tesla’s first EV model, the Roadster,​

in 2008, the year it was released. People now credit Wan with making the national decision ​

to go all-in on electric vehicles. Since then, EV development has been consistently ​

prioritized in China’s national economic planning. ​

​

​

"China's Electric Car Race" by Sustainable Urbanisation in China is marked with CC0 1.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[DrChaos]

Note: China has a minister of Science and Technology, unlike many Western countries. Also note that such minister was previously an engineer.

 

[Takumi]

So you're saying Tesla accelerated the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible?

 

[wwu123]

So you're saying Tesla accelerated the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible?

Not just by giving Minister Wan a positive early impression via the Roadster, the article also says by later allowing Tesla to manufacture and sell in China, that also raised the bar for the local firms to innovate and develop more quickly as well.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Not just by giving Minister Wan a positive early impression via the Roadster, the article also says by later allowing Tesla to manufacture and sell in China, that also raised the bar for the local firms to innovate copy and develop more quickly as well.

FTFY. TBF though there is also innovation going on.

 

[voyager]

The other MIT article regardimng the China Juggernaut is about batteries:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1628410721649278976

 

[NovaY]

Well... yea, the Chinese government rules absolutely with no limitations that are present in western liberal democracies where there is the rule of law. They can make snap decisions with broad immediate effects with no regard for anything else. These decisions make instant winners and losers - the winners are broadly celebrated and the losers are censored out of media coverage. Make no mistake, the "success" of China's EV car industry came at a heavy cost. For example, the earlier battery technology used have severe degradation issues, including the ones from established technology companies like BYD. This is leading to a significant problem of battery recycling - which you may have heard being touted that China has developed far superior battery recycling capacity than the rest of the world. Yea, you need that capacity to process all of those obsolete batteries about to come off the road. What are all those recycling activities going to do to the environment?

 

[CMPT PAD]

Keep on DREAMING

 

[Midpack]

We definitely have an EV horse race going on between the US and China, and they are exporting to Europe, Australia and SE Asia.

In just the past two years, the number of EVs sold annually in the country grew from 1.3 million to a whopping 6.8 million, making 2022 the eighth consecutive year in which China was the world’s largest market for EVs. For comparison, the US only sold about 800,000 EVs in 2022.

 

[wwu123]

We definitely have an EV horse race going on between the US and China, and they are exporting to Europe, Australia and SE Asia.

In just the past two years, the number of EVs sold annually in the country grew from 1.3 million to a whopping 6.8 million, making 2022 the eighth consecutive year in which China was the world’s largest market for EVs. For comparison, the US only sold about 800,000 EVs in 2022.

I think that statistic at the beginning of the article is slightly off, as I think the 6.8 million is China sales of what they call NEV's (new electric vehicles), which includes plug-in hybrids. Nonetheless the share of pure BEV's is growing fast. While I couldn't quickly find the total breakdown, for the largest maker BYD, half of their 1.8 million NEV's in 2022 were BEV's, so they alone sold more than the entire US market.

Always can be ambiguous with China EV data unless clearly noted as pure BEV only, so no plug-in's....

EDIT: Found a chart, looks like China 2022 pure BEV's might actually be about 5 million of the 6.8 million. (Note FHEV are "full hybrid", i.e. no plug-in)

 

[scurtis]

My worry is that as the US is lallygagging hanging onto ICE vehicles til the last breath, china will continue to lead in the EV space. They are already starting to export to europe, asia, south america and beyond. When ICE cars are no longer sold new in the USA, your only choice for a cheap car maybe a chinese EV.

 

[Midpack]

My worry is that as the US is lallygagging hanging onto ICE vehicles til the last breath, china will continue to lead in the EV space. They are already starting to export to europe, asia, south america and beyond. When ICE cars are no longer sold new in the USA, your only choice for a cheap car maybe a chinese EV.

If not for Tesla, I am sure that would be the case. At least now we may stIll have a chance to keep pace with China?

 

[CMPT PAD]

I spent more than 5 wks in Shanghai on a special project for my company in 2011. If U have not been to Shanghai, just imagine this... Just ignore the Chinese characters U think U are in NYC. Very safe town, I walked around at midnight no one dare to bother me. I saw quite a few bicycles with old battery running around. We went back in 2009 before the pandemic visiting Beijing, Xi'An, Chongqing and Shanghai again, Still very very safe locations to travel for vacation. This time, I saw more eCars (easy to recognize its GREEN license plate... Back in 2011 my Chinese colleagues told me it would cost $8K+ USD to get a license plate). Most eCars in 2009 were probably not too fancy with less than 100 miles range , so most likely for local use). They have bullet trains there so fancy eCars like Tesla, Audi, Volvo, MB, Buick etc... are for those with beaucoup $$$$$ and want to show off. Honestly, USA technology is top in the world. USA invented MagLev, did not use it, sold it to China and then use it for Maglev train in Shanghai , Just I was on that train riding at 250-275 mph from Pudong airport the the center of Shanghai (and U should when U have a chance)

 

[voyager]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1635217005245759488

 

[CMPT PAD]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1635217005245759488

IMO competition in sports, technologies etc... will make this world a better a better place to live (of course it may lead to some bad situation). Tiger Woods and those Asians ladies in LPGA say CATCH ME if U could. Without Bill Gates Steve Jobs etc... the world can't advance as fast as we are in today. People may hate Elon M but he shows eCars are here to stay,,, now everyone tries to catch him because DO or DIE (the terms we use in high-tech areas)