Chinese technology companies are paving the way for a world that will be powered by electric motors rather than gas-guzzling engines. It is a decisively 21st-century approach not just to solve its own energy problems, but also to sell batteries and other electric products to everyone else. Canada is its newest buyer of EVs; in a rebuke of Mr. Trump, its prime minister, Mark Carney, lowered tariffs on the cars as part of a new trade deal.

Though Americans have been slow to embrace electric vehicles, Chinese households have learned to love them. In 2025, 54 percent of new cars sold in China were either battery-powered or plug-in hybrids. That is a big reason that the country’s oil consumption is on track to peak in 2027, according to forecasts from the International Energy Agency. And Chinese E.V makers are setting records — whether it’s BYD’s sales (besting Tesla by battery-powered vehicles sold for the first time last year) or Xiaomi’s speed (its cars are setting records at major racetracks like Nürburgring in Germany).

  • ceenote@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    It’s like he wakes up every morning and asks himself “What can I do to make sure China owns the 21st century?”

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 month ago

        Bribery is how the US political system has operated for the bulk of the country’s history

        But, for the most part, the bribery was intended to increase private profits. Rarely have we seen industry bribe the feds in an act of self-sabotage.

  • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Yeah, conservatives don’t think of the future except through the lens of the present. They can’t imagine a world with EVs and batteries because they have oil brains. They are looking for solutions to problems with an oil first mindset. Sunk cost is everything.

    • ClamDrinker@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      That’s in part because they see their future through the lens of them oppressing objective developments, so EVs and batteries will never happen in that fantasy. They took a liking to AI for example despite it being relatively new development purely because it helped them in that department. They will only embrace something if it’s ‘their’ idea, and they have a lot of shitty ideas.

  • Tolc@lemmy.zip
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    1 month ago

    China is better for world in every way possible so good.

  • Auth@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Can other countries forgo their climate commitments and scale up coal productions to compete in manufacturing or only China?

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      Australia’s economy has been in a tailspin precisely because China hasn’t been buying enough coal.

      Fortunately, India, Maylasia, and Indonesia have picked up the slack at the prodding of fossil fuel interests.

      • Auth@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Not it hasnt. A small drop in exports to china isnt enough to send the austrialian economy into a tailspin. Chinese coal imports globally dropped only 9% last year (and domestic production increased to meet that deficit for all those thinking china isnt polluting the world). Keep in mind this 9% decrease comes after a record amount of coal imports in 2024.

  • jof@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Not that Trump is right but, how will we charge said batteries…?

      • jof@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That is excellent and cost effective, however what then when there’s no sun out or it’s cloudy? Will you not travel?

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          This is one of the concerns I have watched with interest ……

          • with the first mass market push to wind “grid won’t be stable with any significant amount”
          • as wind and solar became more popular “renewables can only be 30% without destabilizing the grid
          • this past summer “with today’s renewables and storage technology, the cheapest most stable option is 95% of the grid”

          Your concern may be technically and historically valid but is rapidly disappearing

          • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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            1 month ago

            That’s about right. I have product tío and storage at a 115% of my consumption, which translates to actually using some grid because the sun is not always out (although you would think it is where I live, lol). That allows me to finish the year with an excess credit of about 200 dollars with the electric company, but I still use some of the grid during hurricane season and very rainy periods of 3 or more days, which rarely happens.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 month ago

          however what then when there’s no sun out or it’s cloudy?

          You’re not going to believe this, but solar panels will still work even when the light is reflected or partially blocked by clouds. Rain actually helps to keep your panels operating efficiently by washing away any dust or dirt. If you live in an area with a strong net metering policy, excess energy generated by your panels during sunny hours will offset energy that you use at night and other times when your system isn’t operating at full capacity.

          • jof@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            That’s crazy. I never would’ve guessed. Did you also know solar panels have a theoretical limit of 33%, which is diminished even more when sunlight is further blocked? Wow! That means they’re horribly inefficient and even more so when less light comes in! Who knew! So really we’re talking about pennies on the dollar at the end of the day when something like supplying a grid at a larger level would mean nuclear.

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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              1 month ago

              Did you also know solar panels have a theoretical limit of 33%

              Did you know fractions are predicated on a base value?

              So really we’re talking about pennies on the dollar at the end of the day

              That’s definitely an aphorism.