Mastodawn

Oct 6, 2025

The first few Ultimate Fighting Championships were funny, because it was just a bunch of tough guys getting beat up by Jiu-Jitsu black belts. Because the tough guys couldn't accept that their tough guy training was not a winning strategy. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Eventually they figured it out. Now everyone can fight. This is like that, but for EVs.

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/dacia-challenges-low-cost-chinese-evs-with-prototype-15000-euro-mini-car-2025-10-06/

I said what I said 10 years ago, and I didn't have to take anything back. Still standing on my words.

The battle for the EV future, is happening below $20,000 retail. Tesla poses no threat to BYD. The bigger threat is from smaller, cheaper, cars at higher quality.

E-bikes are more of a threat.

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Luke Kanies

@mekkaokereke when — not if — the US finally allows Chinese EVs to be sold directly here again, it will destroy our local car economy, far more than when Japanese cars showed up in the 70s.

Our whole country is in denial. And it will be catastrophic when the truth arrives.

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😀🚲Oct 6, 2025

@lkanies @mekkaokereke we have a lot of cars that work fine for longer trips and don't need to be replaced for a decade or more, but half of all car trips are less than 3 miles. Now how about an EV which can carry a couple people or a few kids, is easier to park, great for short trips, and costs less than $5k? We could even build them in the states. #eBikes #CargoBikes #LegalizeBikes

Completely untrue.

BYD already makes cheap Chinese EV buses and trucks in California and in China. The California factory is a union factory.

Tesla makes expensive EV cars in California and in China. Tesla factories in the US are not union factories.

We need to stop pretending that there is something magically positive for US workers about Tesla EVs.

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Luke Kanies Oct 6, 2025

@mekkaokereke sorry, I didn’t mean anything at all about teslas.

I was more referring to our other car companies, who are doubling down on big gas vehicles, even if buyers don’t really want them. Those are the ones who will get slaughtered when we can buy small, cheap electric cars.

Just like how in the 70s American car makers kept building bigger cars that drank more fuel, then the Japanese makers showed up and gave people what they wanted, and it took decades for US car making to recover

Again, I disagree. Net employment will go *up*, even among car company employees. Because new car companies that are pretty cool like Rivian, will benefit from the increase in charging infrastructure that accompanies higher EV adoption.

And existing car companies will do Joint Ventures with newer import companies to take advantage of the untapped market.

And yes, some old companies will die. No one should care. Companies aren't people.

Better companies will survive. Businesses move at a faster pace than they did in the 70s. No one is taking decades to adapt.

I don't get nostalgic for companies like coal mines or gasoline only car manufacturers. They can adapt or sink into the past. Coal mines should call themselves energy companies and switch to renewables. Gas car companies should call themselves transportation companies and switch to low cost EVs.