Chinese EV anyone?

[Oillover]

Recently it's been announced that Canada will be importing large amounts of Chinese EVs.
They are priced competitively with other "budget friendly" EV's.

There's a few problems with this idea, including;
1. Charging infrastructure in many rural parts of Canada are sorely lacking and decades away from maturity.
2. The vehicles haven't passed crash test or any other regulations from transport Canada
3. The "starting" price is in the low 30s. To me, given the rising costs of everything else, that's not much of a savings. Especially for something that can be troublesome to charge.
4. Reliability - As with many other EVs, they are still in their infancy. Many mainstream manufacturers are still having problems working out bugs (Hyundai, Volvo, Chrysler etc.)

What I propose, is we do what we did in N. America in the early 80s:
Import cheap, smaller ICE Euro cars from Peugeot, Renault, Lada etc. Similar in size to a Focus/Fiesta/Sonic/Fit.
It's not a permanent fix, but something to at least get us through until the "big 3" can get their act together and start providing vehicles the majority of N. Americans can actually afford.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/top...-will-they-cost/ar-AA1UnHMm?ocid=BingNewsSerp

 

[Leo99]

Let capitalism do its thing. Let people decide if they want to spend their money on them.

 

[SShooterZ]

Remote rural areas are not a target customer for EVs. Think large urban areas with congestion and strong electric grids. That's where they really shine. Low 30's isn't bad for really any vehicle these days. Have you seen the used car market?

 

[Passport1]

Import cheap, smaller ICE Euro cars from Peugeot, Renault, Lada etc. Similar in size to a Focus/Fiesta/Sonic/Fit.

Support this 100% except here they have to be >twenty-five years old. We need to get this nanny law changed.

Personally I'd like either of these Suzukis;




Suzuki Jimny

Wikipedia

 

[Rmay635703]

Let capitalism do its thing. Let people decide if they want to spend their money on them.

At $30k most people aren’t going to buy these.

Chinese cars are built with the mentality that your mechanic makes $15 a day so it’s always cheaper to just keep on fixing.

My fathers experience was
1. Minimal Rustpoofing
2. Rapidly discoloring, delaminating and cracking trim
3. Knobs , handles and other things that shouldn’t break in a long time breaking.
4. Higher and strange maintenance requirements.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Let capitalism do its thing. Let people decide if they want to spend their money on them.

How can "capitalism do its thing" when the product itself is the result of a state-sponsored economy?

You could literally fill a semesters worth of macroeconomic teaching with this: State-sponsored capitalism, flooding-the-market/dumping, predatory pricing, green grabbing.

China already showed how to play this hand with solar panels. What happened there kneecapped an emerging industry in every market worldwide. Doing it with vehicles will kneecap an established industry. It's playing the same con on a more lucrative mark and people are falling for it.

 

[cptbarkey]

The US has subsidized EVs for years, calling out China for doing the same thing is frankly ignorant.

Bring them and hurry up, I'm tired of seeing my kindred Americans being fleeced by the current car makers.

 

[Hall]

Recently it's been announced that Canada will be importing large amounts of Chinese EVs.

If it's not too late, you should add "TRIGGER WARNING" to your post !

 

[KGMtech]

I doubt there will be any Chinese EV's in Canada for any short time. I would expect the big players like BYD would want to set up dealerships or partner with existing brands so they have a launch point. I could see Nissan Canada doing this?

The issue of compliance to Transport Canada is not too hard, it's almost identical to USA standards, I'm not 100% on the specific details but placement of brake lights etc and small issues. The crash testing is a big question, especially if the Chinese want to ship cars that were not designed at CAD stage to meet North American crash requirements.

 

[hemioiler]

Recently it's been announced that Canada will be importing large amounts of Chinese EVs.

"large amounts"? 50k/year is tiny.

 

[rijndael]

50K is about 20% of their EV sales each year.

• 2024: ~252,000 units (17% of new car sales).

 

[Exhaustgases]

When will special EV garages start being a thing? You know all made from fire brick.

 

[fantastic]

Bring them... Put pressure on the big 3 for once! Many of us Americans saw this coming about Canada turning to other producers. Just look up which American manufacturers recently left Canada... What did they think was going to happen.

 

[hemioiler]

Just look up which American manufacturers recently left Canada... What did they think was going to happen.

They took gov't money and ran.

 

[CleanSump]

How can "capitalism do its thing" when the product itself is the result of a state-sponsored economy?

Capitalism will do it's thing. Doesn't matter who manufactured it for the market to react. If they're poop, this will become known to the buying public and fewer people will buy them. This isn't like your only choice is the state sponsored car. Some other company/companies will see a market to compete.

 

[Nessism1]

2. The vehicles haven't passed crash test or any other regulations from transport Canada

This strikes me as stunning, if true. Are you sure? This would be unprecedented in the US, not sure about Canada.

 

[MrkofXcellence]

How can "capitalism do its thing" when the product itself is the result of a state-sponsored economy?

You could literally fill a semesters worth of macroeconomic teaching with this: State-sponsored capitalism, flooding-the-market/dumping, predatory pricing, green grabbing.

China already showed how to play this hand with solar panels. What happened there kneecapped an emerging industry in every market worldwide. Doing it with vehicles will kneecap an established industry. It's playing the same con on a more lucrative mark and people are falling for it.

100% agree with this.

 

[MrkofXcellence]

Capitalism will do it's thing. Doesn't matter who manufactured it for the market to react. If they're poop, this will become known to the buying public and fewer people will buy them. This isn't like your only choice is the state sponsored car. Some other company/companies will see a market to compete.

Does it still count as fair capitalism if a foreign government (which can print money) is making the product to compete against a normal capitalist business model produced product? They’ll do what they always do: underprice the product for about 10 years until everyone is gone. Chinese play the long game because they can. Also, all reports are that this new breed of EV is not poop.

 

[Geekhead]

Does it still count as fair capitalism if a foreign government (which can print money) is making the product to compete against a normal capitalist business model produced product? They’ll do what they always do: underprice the product for about 10 years until everyone is gone. Chinese play the long game because they can. Also, all reports are that this new breed of EV is not poop.

Maybe the USA should print money too

 

[Danno]

Interesting thing is the Tesla China plant is setup to produce cars for the Canadian market. Ironic in so many ways.
On a related topic, GM has a no fix available recall on their 24-25 Buick Envisions. Main screen is unresponsive. TSB/Bulletin PIT6362. Since April 2025. Guess where they're made. Ding, ding...China.