by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
There are countless reasons why consumers are reluctant to switch to electric vehicles, with pricing consistently listed as a top concern. Western governments have warned that they will ban fossil fuel vehicle production in the not-so-distant future to meet emissions targets despite lacking the infrastructure or demand for EVs. Every government is hoping that consumers will purchase their new EVs domestically but no one has been able to compete with Chinese EV manufacturing.
China has pumped over $230 billion into its growing EV sector since 2009. Batteries account for around 40% of the total cost of EVs, and companies like BYD are able to maintain low prices are they own the supply chain to create these batteries from the raw materials to the finished packs. BYD has announced that its newest line will cost as little as $9,555, a price no other EV manufacturer has been able to provide.