The real winners of Net Zero: China’s cheap EVs will swamp Europe’s car market
By Paul Homewood
I warned about this years ago:
Chinese carmaking giant BYD Co. will start selling vehicles this quarter in the UK, where electric cars are seizing a growing share of the market. BYD already outsold Tesla in 2022.
Chinese carmaking giant BYD Co. will start selling vehicles this quarter in the UK, where electric cars are seizing a growing share of the market.
The automaker backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has appointed four UK dealer partners in Pendragon Plc, Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd., Lookers Motor Group Ltd. and LSH Auto Holdings, according to an emailed statement. BYD’s debut model will be the Atto 3 sport utility vehicle, and it will announce more dealer partners and pricing in the coming weeks.
While the UK remains one of Europe’s biggest car markets, automakers have struggled to revive sales since the start of the pandemic, with registrations slumping to a 30-year low in 2022. EVs have been a bright spot, with battery-electric models accounting for around 17% of deliveries last year, overtaking diesel for the first time.
Shenzhen-based BYD has been expanding in Europe, having already set up shop in countries including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium. The group — which also has been making a big push into other markets around Asia, including Thailand and Australia — may even pass up Tesla Inc. in global EV sales this year by expanding its model lineup and manufacturing capacity, according to BloombergNEF.
When including its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, BYD already outsold Tesla in 2022, and its sales of fully electric vehicles soared to around 911,000 last year, from 321,000 in 2021.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
If we had an MP or even, a PM with spherical ornaments he/she would slap a serious import tax on the vehicles. After all, isn’t that something that not being in the EU enables us to do? Failing that, what about roadworthy tests (fire safety)?
Harry Passfield. Fire safety of EV’s. I wrote to my MP some time ago when Grant Shapps was still Secretary of State for Transport, when he demonstrated a total lack of knowledge regarding the inextinguishable qualities of a lithium battery in a fire, after a question was put to him in the Commons. The dangerous electrocution risks after an accident are also unknown by the Public, and apparently the authorities. I received a generalised reply from the Ministry if Transport assuring me that the Fire Service are “prepared for all eventualities”. I was talking to a retired Fire Officer a couple of years ago, and he said that it will take a major tragedy to concentrate people’s minds.
https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/20/london-fields-fire-hackney-bus/
It really isn’t going very well, is it! 🙂
I don’t understand how they didn’t see it over thirty years ago, or is it forty years ago?
I would have thought that many working in STEM Industries would have been wondering how the illusion kept rolling on.
At least we can now stop wondering about that!
While I agree completely with your sentiments this EV craze is playing straight into the hands of the CCP, I feel you missed one vital point: The electrical grid is already crumbling and no one will be able to charge their EV. Once this becomes apparent sales will surely dry up.
Well 007 – we all think that. But if like neighbours of mine, you only drive 30 miles and then back each day and you have a charger on the wall outside your garage you will be fine. Well until lecky stops flowing or the grid needs to pinch the charge in your battery to keep the lights on for somebody more important than you.
EVs will eventually hit many problems and probably rust away, but much pain and money will be expended before then. The pile of dud batteries will take some shifting.
EV-only is a disastrous national security risk.
Presently our vehicle transport needs are met by petrol, diesel, LNG, EV and hybrids. EV only would leave UK exposed to a giant super-hack or system failure.
No electric, no transportation. What could possibly go wrong?!
OK a fully-electric fleet will take decades (if it happens at all) but there’s no getting away from the principle of this basic flaw. EV-only should be restricted on national security grounds.
As I posted the other day the Nissan UK battery plant(s) are also actually Chinese.
An Australian factory is in the pipeline, not for car batteries initially though.
https://news.sky.com/story/advanced-battery-plant-in-oxfordshire-to-be-opened-later-this-year-creating-up-to-300-new-jobs-12789274
Well, blow me down with a feather, I never saw that coming.
No S**t, Sherlock!
China aren’t a signed-up member of the Kamikaze – sorry, developed nations, – they’re far too canny for that, they have bought soft power across the world and acquired control of essential raw materials all over the place. They don’t give a monkey’s about ‘Armageddon’ – aka climate change by anthropogenic activity. They have inveigled themselves into essential industries and politics in the West and now they can sell (relatively) cheap EV’s at will. No sh*t, Sherlock – who could have seen that coming! Certainly not our politicians – all bent on destroying our (or what remains of) our industrial base – with China stealing by whatever means possible our tech innovations. A few million of Buffet-backed EV’s and our leccy system (from Boris’s ‘world-leaders in wind’- aka hot air generators) will just fall over. Me, I’ll stick with my trusty diesel for as long as I can – and as I’m now nearing 80 – that probably means it’ll see me out… B*****rds all!!!
Wood burners, diesel gennies and a feud mentality will help us, but a sensible Government would be much preferable. Don’t hold your breath!
My own thoughts too.
+1 John. I am similar age and my diesel will be kept going as long as I can.
Same for me. My 14 year old Subaru is going well and should see me out too.
Twenty years ago I worked in China for 6 years transferring electrical accessories production from UK. Reason our UK total cost for a female operator was around £10,000 p.a , In China it was £800 p.a. No company tax in China until 3 years continuous profit. Cheap energy.
Once we destroy our ICE vehicle production in the west (difficult to design, then make an ICE engine, the Chinese cannot do it) then the floodgates open for cheap Chinese BEVs. This does not alter the fact that we still do not have sufficient electricity to charge them, but ensures we have no car manufacturing in the west. That is a few million well paid jobs, direct manufacturing, first tier, second tier, machine tools, local jig fixture suppliers. As for UK Giga battery factory forget it…..Green jobs my arse…..
Sadly true.
Every vehicle I’ve looked at from that country looks on a superficial level very good but when you look at the bits people dont see they were rubbish,so unless quality has improved immensly in the recent past customers are in for a nasty suprise.
I have a friend who for many years was a marine engineer, he told me that the Chinese were unable to produce the metals required correctly and gave me an example of cylinder liners. The origional german spares were £x and the copy parts were 75% less, but iveriably didnt fit properly or only lasted a short while before failing which on a ship was somewhat undesirable.
Thing may of course improved, but I doubt it.
The only good thing I can see about this is that there’ll no longer be the dishonesty involved in Chinese made products being sold under “Western” brand names. Landrovers from Slovakia and Transit vans from Turkey is bad enough, but a (BMW owned) Mini EV made in China? They should just call it a Chini, and have done with it…
God help us.
Here in darkest kent we have had 4 power outages in three days, covering a reasonable area, I concluded from that It must be a fairly major failure. the local forums are ablaze with outrage at the electricity supplier (curiously Chinese owned).
I am not suggesting its their fault but the words lack of network maintainance and asset stipping come to mind for some reason.
Thankfully I have a large diesel generator so am alright Jack, unlike many others it would seem with combi boilers, deadlines to meet whilst working from home etc.
Many folks are finding out how useless the new voice over internet phones are without back up power, and what a flat EV battery looks like in the morning when the school run becons.
But what do I know?
Hi Lordelate, still having problems down here near Canterbury. It now seems that the local distribution here doesn’t like the wet and windy weather and voltage drops way below standards. They have finally conceded there is a problem (they have given up blaming the consumer’s wiring) but no indication of what ,if anything, they prop0se to do about it.
Ours has now been ok for 2 days!
The Chinese cars are cheap because they usr coal fired power stations sndcoal firef steel mills
The Net Zero scam, with so many falling over themselves now to prove their net zero dedication it is all horribly reminiscent of the Great Leap Forward which resulted in 30m Chinese deaths except this is on a global scale.
Net zero scam has destroyed British manufacturing whilst China one of the biggest producerer of carbon reap the benefits, all with the connivance of the EU and our own Parliament.
Are the battery car sales a mirage? Overall sales are down which makes the percentage of battery cars greater but they are always very careful to avoid numbers.
Visualising Chinese dominance of the global lithium ion battery business at
https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-dominance-in-battery-manufacturing/?utm_source=Visual+Capitalist+Infographics+%28All%29&utm_campaign=43f122d9a1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_01_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_31b4d09e8a-43f122d9a1-45322647
Can any one of you kind fellow subscribers tell me how to reduce the size of these enormous, internet links?
https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/chinas-dominance-in-battery-manufacturing/
Hugh, I think you need Tinyurl. Check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/app
Thanks Harry and Kaiser! 😉
‘Chinese carmaking giant BYD Co. will start selling vehicles this quarter in the UK, where electric cars are seizing a growing share of the market.’
Seizing? Active voice?
Even with 10-20% of new vehicle sales, EVs account for only two percent of total UK registered vehicles. So, even with increased penetration in the market, they are still irrelevant. Rich men’s toys. And I don’t see rich men buying Chinese cars.
Gamecock thinks ChiComs are making a strategic blunder, investing heavily in a Western fad.