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The news that Chinese electric car company BYD has overtaken Tesla to become the world’s top EV manufacturer comes just as the Year of the Dragon begins.
But as BYD gobbles up global market share, America should be wary of the three heads of this dragon: spying on Americanswhich could prevent U.S. vehicles from driving on the roads and weaken the domestic EV industry.
The Chinese Communist Party controls all major Chinese companies, and the United States should not join the global rush to give it power in key economic areas. In fact, the United States should ban the sale of both Chinese-made EVs and EVs made in other countries, such as Mexico.
espionage. In February 2023, Americans were concerned that Chinese reconnaissance balloons traveled from Alaska to Montana and then to the East Coast. Shot down in South Carolina. The balloon, which was 60 feet tall and weighed more than 2,000 pounds, was equipped with solar panels and equipment to collect sensitive information.
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China’s EVs could be equipped with even more powerful spying equipment. We could go anywhere: military bases, power plants, cell phone towers.
EVs would be much more effective than reconnaissance balloons at collecting important data, and would cost much less. Because Americans buy these vehicles. For similar safety reasons, the Federal Communications Commission banned Huawei and ZTE technologies in 2022.
China’s EV will give the Chinese Communist Party access to an unprecedented trove of Americans’ personal data. When buying a car, people provide information such as address, driver’s license, credit card, and insurance. Taking out a loan gives businesses access to your credit history, including mortgages, other loans, and additional credit cards. America should not hand this over to the Chinese Communist Party.
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Vehicle Disabling. The United States should not give the Chinese Communist Party the power to stop or disable EVs driving in the United States, just as General Motors’ OnStar program touts its ability to stop or disable stolen cars. Onstar can remotely activate emergency flashers. You can stop your engine from starting with GM’s trademark Remote Ignition Block™* and slow your vehicle with Stolen Vehicle Slowdown®. If OnStar can pull this off, the Chinese car company definitely has the technology, and it could even disable brakes and navigation systems.
Reduce US EV incentives. The Control Inflation Act of 2022 includes more than $1 trillion in clean energy initiatives to fund EV and battery manufacturing factories and provide consumer tax credits to foster the domestic EV industry. was. However, the Chinese Communist Party’s subsidies for Chinese EVs, contrary to Congressional intent, could undermine these programs and U.S. EV production.
China has low labor costs, both due to low wages for its workforce and the use of child and slave labor in Xinjiang. China has low energy costs due to fewer regulations on pollution and reliance on domestic coal. The cost of capital is also low, as the Chinese Communist Party provides low-interest loans to preferential enterprises. China controls 60% of the world’s critical battery minerals and produces 80% of the world’s batteries.
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Due to these advantages, China’s EVs are expanding globally. Chinese companies include BYD, Nio, Chery, Geely, SAIC, and Great Wall. China will export 5 million cars around the world in 2023 and is now the world’s number one exporter of cars. Jeep withdrew from China at the same time as China expanded, and sales of GM and Ford vehicles in China were halved from 2017.
BYD, which sold 3 million cars last year, hopes to overwhelm the German automaker with the $11,500 Seagull. At $33,000, the Dolphin is one of the cheapest new cars in the UK and is also expanding to Scandinavia, Asia and Australia. The company also sells a $40,000 EV in South Africa, where power outages are constant.
Geely now owns Volvo, and SAIC acquired Britain’s MG. Chery expects to open 50 showrooms in the UK in 2024 and sell 15,000 cars, overtaking Jeep, Jaguar and Suzuki.
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Michael Dunn wrote in Automotive News last month that “China’s EV and battery production is 10 times that of the U.S….BYD produced 76,800 EVs in the last week of December, while GM has produced 76,800 EVs in all of 2023. 75,883 units were produced.”
China has an advantage in small EVs, but American companies have an advantage in large vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs. But U.S. companies are under pressure from regulators the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to focus on electric vehicles rather than the cars customers want to buy.
Regulations that would require 60% of new car sales to be battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030 and 66% by 2032 are currently being considered by the White House and are expected to be announced in March.
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America cannot have both positions. If Chinese companies mandated EVs without banning imports from both Chinese and other companies, the U.S. auto market would give up to the Chinese people just as Chinese companies would take over the global auto market. It will be done. And allowing the import of Chinese EVs not only gives the Chinese Communist Party control over the US economy, but also poses a serious national security threat.
America, be careful, the dragon is coming for our cars.
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Diana Furchtgott-Roth is director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation.