lol downvoted for writing a reasonable explanation. People on Hacker News really love bashing China and not actually talking substance. Maybe this is a sign for our nations’ futures.
A combination of industrial policy, extreme competition in China's domestic market for cars, and a huge eco-system of subsuppliers.
Lots countries have had subsidies and incentives for electric cars; however China's policies seems to have been uniquely succesful - exactly why is not obvious.
Some point to the "mayor economy" where cities compete in being attractive for companies to setup business. For example see the story of Tesla's Shanghai plant.
Very simple. You could contaminate freely on China, but not in Europe and USA. You can use as much coal as you want, with as many ashes, sulphur or radioactivity as you want.
That makes energy super cheap. But is is an external cost, people are paying with their health.
Europe and USA went to similar periods in the past. Now China is regulating more and more because pollution is a huge problem there.
Then you have salaries, that used to be cheap, now not so much.
Also a very important thing is that in China capital is not free, it is a communist system and your savings account are used to subsidise what the Government wants. EV, solar, electronic chips and batteries are a priority so they receive infinite amounts of money from Government.
Finally you have scale. China usually have enormous markets because it has so much people, although that applies to cheap things, for cars they don't have enough buyers inside so they want to sell in Africa and India and the West.
pjc50|1 year ago
- vastly easier land use situation, and impossibility of local protest
- the big one: synergy. Making batteries and electronics and steel parts all comparatively close to each other inside the same customs zone.
- less regulatory capture (they actually have to compete!)
presentation|1 year ago
throwaway4good|1 year ago
Lots countries have had subsidies and incentives for electric cars; however China's policies seems to have been uniquely succesful - exactly why is not obvious.
Some point to the "mayor economy" where cities compete in being attractive for companies to setup business. For example see the story of Tesla's Shanghai plant.
cladopa|1 year ago
That makes energy super cheap. But is is an external cost, people are paying with their health.
Europe and USA went to similar periods in the past. Now China is regulating more and more because pollution is a huge problem there.
Then you have salaries, that used to be cheap, now not so much.
Also a very important thing is that in China capital is not free, it is a communist system and your savings account are used to subsidise what the Government wants. EV, solar, electronic chips and batteries are a priority so they receive infinite amounts of money from Government.
Finally you have scale. China usually have enormous markets because it has so much people, although that applies to cheap things, for cars they don't have enough buyers inside so they want to sell in Africa and India and the West.
okasaki|1 year ago