A Business Insider article (1) Interviews cofounder of the Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus. OnePlus’ newest offering is widely praised, especially for the quality of its camera, and sold one million phones within a month of the phones launch. The phone sells in Europe for 200 Euros (US $235) which is craziness given the price of a new IPhone or Samsung Note.
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That is not the most interesting nor the most important aspect of the interview.
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Pei explains what he likes about China vs his home country of Sweden, “Things happen really fast over there. For instance, Shenzhen recently said that all taxi cars in the city need to be electric by the end of the year. In one more year all cars will have to be electric. When something gets decided, it really happens fast.”
Things happen fast in China. Meanwhile the GOP is committed to continued investments in 19th and 20th Century technologies.
China will own the 21st Century economy the way America owned the 20th Century economy. The ironies of arguments that: “capitalism” is king and planned economies can’t compete, and “government doesn’t work”, in the face of what is actually happening in real life re the transition to a 21st Century economy is painfully poignant. It still may be possible for America to catch up, but right now it looks like America’s golden age is already a part of the past.
China “owns” the solar voltaic market. China will soon make its competence with electric vehicles known on the world stage.
China has made a commitment to electric vehicles and is providing subsidies until 2020 for domestic use. A vehicle capable of 100km (62 miles) is less than $9000 US.
fortune.com/…
“Sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrids increased 60 percent in January-November, to 402,000 vehicles. By 2020, China wants 5 million plug-in cars on its roads.”
By 2019 or 2020 China will enter the global electric car market. Nothing “Soviet” about this Chinese offering that will debut in 2020. www.businessinsider.com/…
Here is an article about Chicago’s experiment with electric buses. Chicago is buying more electric buses. www.chicagotribune.com/…
Proterra, an American company got the contract. They are not well known like Tesla but are innovative, they offer leasing rather than selling. The advantage is the bus company is in charge of maintenance. www.forbes.com/…
China restricts its electric car production to domestic use. Perhaps also its bus production. I have seen pricing for amusement park mini buses and no American company could compete price wise. (And recently I ran across Internet advertizing that seemed to indicate Chinese manufactured city buses might be available internationally.)
I own an electric assist fat bike. The Chinese motor is far more powerful than the $15,000 “old man’s bike”, and $5000 electric cross bike, both of which I test road. The batteries for all three bikes were no doubt from China. My bike cost $2900 with a huge and powerful battery pack for a couple of hours of riding in deep snow. The KHS 3000 fat bike it is based on without motor and battery costs, $1800.
The Proterra buses cost about $1,000,000 each. Compare the Proterra with this Chinese bus that costs the equivalent of about $14,139 in China evobsession.com/…
I want one.
Watch out! Chinese electric vehicles are about to hit the global market, and they will likely make a big splash when they do.
(1) Business Insider Aug 29, 2018 “This 28-year-old college dropout madee the world’s best smartphone — but he doesn’t want to ‘be compared to Apple at all’ “
Business Insider Nordic, Tom Tdurula