Electric vehicles, EVs for short, from China are the focus of a global debate. On the one hand, they are wildly affordable, climate-friendly, and advancing technology at a breakneck pace. On the other hand, the United States has already slapped a 100% tariff on them and the European Union is moving towards tariffs up to 36.3%. During a climate crisis, how can necessary technology like EVs be so wrapped up in controversy? Let’s dig deeper into both sides and see what we find. Tune in this episode of In Fact with Kyle Obermann. #InFact ☘️
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00:00Electric vehicles, EVs for short, from China are the focus of a global debate.
00:05On the one hand, they're wildly affordable, climate friendly, and advancing technology
00:10at a breakneck pace.
00:12On the other, the United States has already slapped a 100% tariff on them, and the European
00:16Union is moving towards tariffs up to 36.3%.
00:20During a climate crisis, how can necessary technology like EVs be so wrapped up in controversy?
00:26Let's dig deeper into both sides and see what we find.
00:44Fossil fuel burning cars produce about 10% of the world's CO2 emissions.
00:49Replacing these with EVs powered via clean energy is paramount and very feasible.
00:55In the United States, for example, the average 2023 EVs model range per charge was 270 miles.
01:02Over triple where it was just a decade ago.
01:04And China's average is slightly ahead at 285 miles, with the longest range cars exceeding
01:10600 miles.
01:12That's hundreds of miles further than the longest range Tesla.
01:17So in the EV sector, rapid improvement has been typical, especially when we look at China's
01:23advancements.
01:24Since 2010, China has accounted for about half of the world's total EV sales.
01:28And today, 60% of all new EVs sold globally are from China.
01:34Now ironically, China's leading role in EVs originates in how far behind it was 20 years
01:39ago in innovating combustion engine and hybrid cars.
01:43China realized chasing German or Japanese automakers in the traditional car making space
01:48was a literal dead end.
01:50So they turned down a new road, innovating completely battery powered cars.
01:54Plus, more EVs on the streets meant less air pollution.
01:57So as early as 2001, EVs were included as a priority technology in China's five year
02:02plan, the state's central economic guiding document.
02:06And by 2009, the state began to support both domestic and foreign EV companies with subsidies
02:12and tax breaks, totaling up to $21 billion by the time such policies stopped in 2022.
02:19But we have to mention batteries as well.
02:21They make up about 40% of an EV's cost.
02:24And China also went from being behind to inventing an entirely new standard at a 30% cost advantage
02:30over Europe and the US.
02:32So to do this, early on China tied its subsidies to a minimum quality of battery, incentivizing
02:37companies to meet it or go beyond.
02:40It also invested in becoming the world's leading refiner of essential battery minerals
02:44like lithium, cobalt and graphite.
02:47And finally, years of Chinese R&D into battery tech transformed the once dismissed LFP battery
02:52type into a cheap and efficient option.
02:55CATL, one of the Chinese companies that led the development of LFPs, now claims 37% of
03:02the EV battery market and announced an LFP battery that can charge 370 miles in just
03:0810 minutes this year.
03:09So when you compile China's early on policy decisions to pursue EVs rather than fossil
03:14fuel vehicles, the years of financial support given to developing the industry and the battery
03:19and supply chain factor, it explains why China's EVs are so competitive and popular.
03:27So if we are trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions and electrify, all of this is good
03:31news, right?
03:32Well, not for many politicians who see China's EVs as a threat to political power and local
03:37economy.
03:38In a neck-to-neck election year, Biden's new 100% tariff on Chinese EVs is no coincidence.
03:45Many of the swing states where the election will be decided, like Michigan, Wisconsin
03:48and Pennsylvania, are centers of the U.S. auto industry.
03:52Politicians are concerned that Chinese EVs will damage local companies and take away
03:56jobs.
03:57And the swift sales increase of Chinese EVs in Europe, from less than 1% of the market
04:00in 2019 to over 9% last year, for example, helps drive this fear.
04:06This also worries about over-reliance on China for key products like EVs and the components
04:11like batteries and rare earth minerals that go into making them.
04:15But for regular Europeans, Chinese EVs are on average 24% cheaper than European brands.
04:21CATL's new $7.3 billion production plant in Hungary will create 9,000 jobs.
04:27Other joint ventures and manufacturing sites are bringing even more jobs to Europe, such
04:31as a new site between China's Sherry Auto and Spain's Ebro EV Motors in Barcelona.
04:37In regards to the new tariffs, some are concerned that they may do more harm than good.
04:41Germany, in particular, is against tariffs on Chinese EVs, arguing that the tariffs will
04:46impact European companies that manufacture cars in China, risk escalation of trade conflict
04:51with and countermeasures from China, and slow down Europe's decarbonization and technological
04:57competitiveness.
05:01So where is this all going?
05:02In China, over 50% of consumers are considering buying an EV as their next car, the highest
05:07proportion of any nation in the world.
05:09Low prices have attracted domestic and foreign consumers, but the cars also rank high in
05:14safety ratings and are pushing the integration of software to create intelligent EVs with
05:19vehicle-to-everything capability, meaning a vehicle's ability to wirelessly communicate
05:24with other cars and traffic infrastructure.
05:26And we haven't even mentioned China's development of new sodium ion batteries, which could be
05:3020 to 30% cheaper than the lithium ones that we use today.
05:35So for the consumer, the appeal of a Chinese EV is likely not to lessen, that is, unless
05:39tariffs inflate prices to make them prohibitively expensive.
05:43But for the climate, the need for fleet electrification is only getting more urgent.
05:48So world leaders are going to have to decide between short-term protectionist policies
05:52that may or may not work, or long-term initiatives that work for the climate and the consumer.
06:00For more UN videos visit www.un.org