this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago

Lol goodbye tesla if that happens

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

The thing is, if Trump wants to kill Canada's role in US car manufacturing, then it will cost him the car markets in Mexico and Canada. If there's no jobs here to protect, then we'll just drop the tariffs on Chinese EVs. (This is speaking like 20 years down the road). We'll all be driving Chinese cars in that scenario. The tariffs are a total lose-lose situation, so dumb.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

China isn't our friend. The whole 'make it more financially appealing for the world to not war' is not working. China isn't influencing the world to be decent and at peace. They're Putin's allies and therefore our enemies.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

China can buy our housing to rent it back to us, but we can't buy their EV because other companies won't make as much profit. Great trickle down.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah China feeling more emboldened to invade Taiwan and talking about wanting to send in troops to gain experience in Ukraine shows they are looking to fill in the power vacuum left by the US and become US 2.0.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

No, absolutely not like Russia 2.0 The Chinese are taking a completely different approach to the Russians. The fact that people still think the Chinese are stupid is unbelievable...

[–] LovableSidekick 10 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

$15k EV... Yes Please!!!

Nah you wouldn't want one, they're bare bones.

Okay, add $5k worth of options = $20k EV... Yes Please!!!

[–] drmoose 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I have driven byd and some other Chinese brands and it's a really great experience minus the shitty touch screen UX. That being said I wouldn't trust China to run my car ever. Everything is locked down and it absolutely spies on you. I wouldn't trust my life with that to save a bit of money.

Just buying a 2nd hand ice vehicle is better for you and the environment if you're looking for a affordable option.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I'd be way more concerned about whether it's a deathtrap than whether or not the touchscreen has good UX, lol.

[–] drmoose 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Those are not mutually exclusive. The ux is incredibly dangerous especially here in sunny and wet south east asia where China is exporting a lot of cars now. Many accidents are making the news where the driver didn't see something cause they're fucking with the stupid controls instead of driving.

We don't allow smart phone use while driving but somehow giant tablet in the middle of the car is ok.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

I have this problem in my gas-burning Mazda because of the horrible touch screen that won’t work half the time and has options buried in it.

I cannot believe there haven’t been lawsuits to stop this BS yet

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

I still want diy builds to be eligible for hov lane sticker and rebates when they have those

[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Replacing nazi cars with slave labor cars is a pretty fucked up idea.

[–] Alteon 25 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Pretty much anything that you've ever owned has been made from the exploitation of some working class somewhere. The clothes you wear. The house you live in. The electronics that you use. The furniture that you own. The very food you eat and drink is often cheap because of an exploited worker somewhere that's paid pennies on the dollar. Your going to draw the line at a drastically cheaper car that's leaps and bounds better for the environment than a petrol vehicle? Okay.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

To be fair, as someone said, it’s not EV that will save the environment. They bring their own problems such as rare earth minerals, heavy metals, lithium fires, heavier cars = move road degradation because of weight, more PM2,5 because of the weight on caoutchouc tires, the difficulty to replace parts when broken because of the more locked design and less right to repair friendly and more.

Are they good for the environment? More than a combustion car, probably. Are they the silver bullet solution? Absolutely not. We are in Canada and we have industries, local, that could benefit from investing into public transportation and trains. That’s true Canadian investment to our companies and solutions to the current environmental crisis.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yes.

EVs are definitely better for the environment than ICE powered cads. But they won't singlehandedly solve climate change, let alone all the harms when places prioritize single occupancy passenger cars at the expense of public transit.

And sure, I'm drawing a line here because cars are one of the precious few industries where you can still buy union-made.

Where do you draw that line?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Smell that? That's the smell of virtue signaling. Just buy shit and drop the hypocrisy. At least the other guys is being honest.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

"I buy from companies who most closely match my ethics" is virtue signaling, now?

We live in a capitalist society, and voting with our wallet is the only vote we get. Not everyone can afford to vote, but why wouldn't you if you could?

If this is virtue signaling, it's the most subtle milquetoast virtue signaling ever.

[–] Alteon 1 points 2 hours ago

"I buy from companies who most closely match my ethics" is virtue signaling, now?"

That's well said. And good on you for sticking to your guns. You are 100% right. I think if you can afford to avoid these companies you should.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 hours ago

I hope EVs don't get a bad name out of all this. EVs are one of the few good things to come out of the last decade or so.

[–] ToiletFlushShowerScream 3 points 6 hours ago

Or maintain and drive the car you already have. There are more options then Tesla and BYD. These are probably the worst options.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 hours ago

Why would Canadians want cheaper EVs that may or may not be reliable when they can have American assembled ones that are more expensive and may or may not work?

[–] reddig33 84 points 14 hours ago (34 children)

As much as I hate Elon, this is a terrible idea. Cheap Chinese trash mobiles built by Uyghur slave labor are not the answer.

How about we build cars in Canada instead?

[–] [email protected] 40 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

Except they aren't trash, they're better than Teslas that's for sure.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 13 hours ago (14 children)

They are still data hungry, surveillance machines that are allways online and gps tracked. We need cars without that kinda shit built in.

[–] Grimy 26 points 12 hours ago

There has been talks about forcing Chinese cars to come over disconnected. Every new car is a surveillance machine. The western brands will not be asked to disconnect anything and it will probably be illegal to do so yourself, so Chinese cars might be an actual win in that regard.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

American car company secretly send your driving data to your insurance company so they can squeeze more out from you for any minor reason they see fit. There's no reason canada insurance company won't do that. Scared about chinese car collecting your data is kinda missed the point, you should have stronger data protection instead.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Build cars in Germany, Japan, South Korea and the like. focus on something non car you can sell to them in return. You can do anything but not everything.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Building cars is something we already do in Canada. And there's currently a lot of capacity coming online to build electric cars. Pretty much the entire car could be sourced from Canadian parts, including the batteries. I think semi-conductors are the only thing that doesn't have a domestic source right now.

[–] Serinus 1 points 10 minutes ago

Sedans please.

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[–] makyo 27 points 12 hours ago (19 children)

I obviously don't understand the economics of it and I realize that China will always have the upper hand on price but is there a reason every western EV has to be $40,000+? Like surely it's possible to build a barebones model for less than 30k right - especially if I don't need or even want touch screens or fancy interior materials or heated seats or anything.

[–] reddig33 12 points 9 hours ago

Higher profit margins.

Europeans get the bulk of cheaper and smaller EVs. Meanwhile in North America, Ford stopped selling sedans. It’s a niche that car makers could fill if they wanted to.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

If I specifically don’t want touch screens, what then?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

It's a combination of issues. In no particular order;

  • precursor availability: All the stuff that EVs are made of, is made in China. If you want to build EVs it's easier and cheaper to get all the parts in China than it is in the US
  • logistics: China has more modern roads, railroads, ports etc. That makes it much easier to get parts in and finished products out
  • government aid: China has prioritized EVs for a long time and has all kinds of policies to encourage EV production
  • EV infrastructure: China has more EV charging stations than the US and EU combined
  • limited ICE competition: China doesn't have any big ICE vehicle companies. There are no significant groups in China advocating against EVs

Labor costs don't seem to be a factor at all. EVs are made in modern factories that are almost completely automated. The biggest part of "precursor availability" is likely batteries. The main innovation in EVs was the batteries. The electric motors, chassis, computers, etc are all secondary to batteries that can safely hold a lot of charge and discharge reliably. China dominates that market too.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 hours ago

Western culture is built on delivering value to shareholders first and foremost.

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[–] expatriado 57 points 14 hours ago (7 children)

i would find amusing if countries retaliate US tariffs by singling out Musk and Trump companies

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Ban the fucking things.

Offer loan forgiveness to any Tesla owner. Tell musk to fuck off.

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