China’s cheap electric vehicles, especially its recent $18,000 truck, have made some Americans quite jealous. Not that they’d admit it. But that saltiness is coming to an all-time high now that China is importing its EVs into Europe and Canada.
In recent news, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on February 4th that he was getting sick of China having all the cool, dancing electric vehicles, and he wants to see some swerving around moose in The Great White North. Okay, he didn’t say that. But as part of the country’s hard push for EVs, Canada is looking into a “new Chinese joint venture investment” that would allow a fixed volume of Chinese EVs to be imported into the Canadian market. On top of that, Canada will provide $1.68 billion in incentives to buyers and $3.1 billion to help automakers transition to electric vehicle models.
Meanwhile, the United States only has California struggling to cling to the country’s scrapped EV push. And it’s looking like the United States’ EV efforts will be stopping there, as the saltiness over Canada’s decision to allow Chinese EVs grows. However, the United States isn’t fully kicked from the Chinese EV party. Sorta.
Chinese EVs are “bad for the country,” so there!
It’s pretty safe to say that the United States’ tariffs have made cars more expensive to import and export, and made relations between the U.S. and Canada pretty tense. In the long, dramatic breakup process, Canada has decided to start openly canoodling with China. The States are left saying, “You’re really not going to try and work it out with us? You’re going to them instead of trying? This is what’s wrong with you. You never try to understand us. You never try to see it from our perspective. We raise prices, and you just walk away? You don’t even try to understand why we screwed you over and keep letting us? We promise we’ll try harder to hide that we’re doing it! Ug, typical!”
I’m not scarred or anything.
Anyway, that’s another made-up quote. However, the National Automobile Dealers Association’s CEO Mike Stanton did say on the U.S. following suit: “It’s bad for our industry, it’s bad for our country, it’s bad for consumers.”
The United States is clearly alarmed as more countries continue to invite Chinese automakers in, not wanting citizens to see the party hats and pizzas over the border. C’mon guys, Tesla isn’t so bad, right? The Cybertruck? Huh? Instead of joining in on the cheap EV jamboree, the United States is crossing its arms and being stubborn, holding onto its anti-China rhetoric for dear life. Stanton even claims that Congress supports his feelings on China’s EVs – he recently even told them that Chinese cars would only be allowed into America “over his dead body,” according to The Drive.
While Stanton insists that Chinese EVs are “bad for consumers,” Americans can’t help but feel a bit of FOMO.
“The panic from the NADA is, of course, expected because it’s a wake-up call,” said Robby DeGraff, Product and Consumer Insights Manager at AutoPacific, about the response to Canada’s decision. “The products of today’s Chinese automakers (whether ICE or EV/NEV) are undoubtedly compelling, impressive, and enticing to even the American consumer.”
DeGraff went on to say that AutoPacific has data that “suports consumer interest” in Chinese auto brands, likely due to the country’s cars being affordable while still offering impressive performances and features. Cheap, impressive cars do sound bad for consumers, now that you mention it. I mean, how would Ford compete? Have you thought about that?! It’s even struggling to keep its EV pickup truck design at $30,000.
In all seriousness, I don’t think the United States can hold off on Chinese EVs forever. Even if the powers that be want to be salty a bit longer, you may still start seeing some Chinese EVs in certain parts of the United States pretty soon.
Will the United States start seeing Chinese EVs after Canada lets them in?
You may be wondering: Can I just buy a Chinese EV from Canada and drive it over the border? Unfortunately, no. The Chinese EVs won’t pass the United States’ strict U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) or EPA emissions requirements. The only Chinese vehicles that can be modified to meet these standards must be 25 years or older, meaning the new EVs are out of the question.
If you are a Canadian resident or a U.S. citizen residing in Canada, you can get an International Driving Permit (IDP) to temporarily drive your own Chinese EV in the United States, a possible loophole for anyone with dual citizenship. This would let you drive it for about a year, depending on the state you’re planning to drive in (each state has its own registration rules).
If you live in a state that doesn’t heavily police this kinda stuff, you may see these Chinese EVs here and there. However, these will likely be Canadian visitors that are just spending time in Michigan, Vermont, Maine, Washington… It would definitely be an awesome sight to catch a BYD racing down a Vermont backroad surrounded by fall leaves. And it may give you some hope as to what may happen eventually once America caves in.
For now, however, it seems pretty tricky to legally get your hands on your own Chinese EV from Canada. Sorry.
