The USA is becoming a weird protectionist island of expensive and inefficient cars while the rest of the world is moving forward.
It’s not the first time of course. Something similar happened with banking, where the US got stuck in the mid-20th century with people still using paper checks, no access to instant digital transfers, etc.
Chinese EVs aren’t banned in the EU (to my knowledge), but have an import tax that brings their total price roughly to the level of western products. BYD is special amongst them, because they build cars in Hungary.
In Czechia businesses can get ~17000€ per EV, free vignettes for EV, cheaper price for charging if you get photovoltaic panels, also donated ~8000€. No wonder that sales goes up when our taxes sponsor EV manufacturing outside EU. And simultaneously automotive in EU dies.
The real comparison is compared to most human drivers - distracted on their phones and smoking cigarettes, drunk driving or high on marijuana or laughing gas, etc.
This highlight the core issue of vision-only self driving: it falls apart when visibility is bad or confusing. Tesla FSD struggles with something as common as driving towards the sun at dawn/sunset.
Completely untrue, Tesla FSD is approved for Finland, Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia, Slovakia and Latvia. Chinese cars like BYD, Xpeng etc are everywhere too.
Can one buy a Mercedes or BMW today in Finland that can drive hands-off? Not meant as a rhetorical question. I thought that it's not possible but I might be wrong, am not an expert.
Tesla can be used in Finland supervised aka tesla needs to see that you look at the street. BMW and Mercedes can drive hands-off and eyes off on german autobahns.
The main issue is the tariffs and certification - like there is a literal hard cap on the total number of imports. It is getting better now though as BYD has the factory in Hungary at least.
It's crazy that the EU criticise Trump for the ridiculous tariffs, but then do near the same thing themselves.
What? BYD, NIO and others are to be found everywhere in Germany.
I literally see one parked on the other side of the street looking out of my window right now.
Looking at your comments, which each and every one of is anti-EU and somewhat similar, I am almost convinced you are, in fact, a bot. And if you're not, then you have a clear agenda and given this very comment, just spread lies.
That tariff barely covers the exchange rate manipulation. I do think it’s kind of stupid, for goods that are not strategic we should take advantage of the cheap EV prices so we can move more quickly on the green reforms.
The lower tariff on hybrid cars is even dumber, why do we want more polluting cars?
Hybrid cars getting any benefits is dumb, I agree. But I would argue that automotive and just transportation in general are strategic sectors basically anywhere.
I think it’s debatable, trucks and vans are important for logistics but the tariff doesn’t even apply to them. The whole thing is just to protect car industry profits.
US has been protectionist forever. Even in the very low (good!) tariff rates under the WTO, ownership rules and safety (plus "safety") regulations acted as protection systems. Now, the US is afar from being the only country to have done this, but in the US they have chosen another layer that most successful countries have abandoned: national champions and cartel.
The EU, for all its faults, is a far more competetive environment than the US and has been for decades. Air travel, telecoms, and banking are far more competetive than the US. The US favors cartel systems so that there are a small number of airlines, telecom providers, foor companies, etc. Strict competition rules make things like credit cards much cheaper (no "points" etc because there's no money to fund them). So all those products are much cheaper in the EU than in the US and more dynamic too.
These higher prices make the GDP look bigger and the stock market too: in the EU that extorted money is returned as a consumer surplus.
>The EU, for all its faults, is a far more competetive environment than the US and has been for decades. Air travel, telecoms, and banking are far more competetive than the US.
You might argue this for airlines, given how Southwest has gone upmarket in the US while the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet haven't in Europe. But banking? No. The Big Four US banks have 50% of the market, while their Dutch, British, and Spanish equivalents (for example) have 70%.
As for telecom, the US just moved to three mobile carriers from four with 97% of the market, but that's hardly different from their Big Three or Four equivalents in European countries, all with ~90% of the market. Further, in yet another example of nature abhorring a vacuum, a) US cable carriers are seeing good growth in mobile as part of bundled subscriptions, and b) Starlink may soon offer a fourth national network.
As for prices, well, my $25 tax-inclusive Sprint/T-Mobile subscription for three unlimited mobile lines laughs at all the peons out there denied such wonders. But for everyone else, there is always the option of Mint or US Mobile or Visible for $25 monthly unlimited plans, all quite competitive against European MVNO counterparts, all offering coverage from Honolulu to Key West, Anchorage to El Paso.
>Strict competition rules make things like credit cards much cheaper (no "points" etc because there's no money to fund them).
Yes, I really hate earning 2-5% cashback on every purchase made with my personal and business cards.
>national champions and cartel
In what way are the Big Four US banks, or Big Three US carriers, "national champions" akin to the European nationalized days of yore, with the likes of Bull, British Telecom, etc.? And no, the US taking a 10% share of Intel is not the same thing as France assembling Groupe Bull, or Britain assembling ICL or BAe.
>These higher prices make the GDP look bigger and the stock market too: in the EU that extorted money is returned as a consumer surplus.
Ah yes, the days of yore, when (say) British Telecom and its fellow European equivalents were able to offer world-leading services at world-leading prices while returning a "consumer surplus" (whatever that is). Oh, wait.
PS - If you want to gripe about cartels, look north of the 49th. Canada's Big Five banks have 90% of the market, and Big Three carriers are so dominant—without offering niceties like $25 unlimited nationwide plans to all—that long ago they gained the "Robelus" nickname.
The issue in canada is that charging infrastructure is severely lagging, but also the travel distances are much longer on average and winter temperatures have a huge impact on range. So whether an EV can work for you is a lifestyle question.
AIUI, there are quite few electric cars available in the US compared to everywhere else; if you don't fancy a Tesla, or a restricted part of VW's or Hyundai's range, you don't have many options there.
Anecdotal, but I think there are a few hurdles to overcome in the US.
- The infrastructure isn't there yet. I can get gas anywhere, but charging stations may be few and far between. The median salary in my area is mid $100k, and 50k pop. and I see Teslas and EV'S everywhere. But despite that the town has only 1 public charging station.
- For apartment dwellers, who don't have the option of charging at home or work, why bother putting up with the anxiety of trying to find a charger?
- The early adopters feel like they got burned. Lessees like low maintenance, and the batteries tend to deterioriate. Buyers get into the same situation, but have no equity, and it's hard to justify dropping $$$ for a new battery when they can put that into a new car.
- There's a lot of nothing in between major towns and cities. If it's super cold out, will you make it the 120mi/193km to your destination?
Truly, I want an EV. But my occupation requires frequent long-distance travel to rural areas, I don't have the option of charging at home, and it's cold up here.
If it made practical and financial sense for me l would be all in. A lot of people I know feel this way. Even my older peers who were the biggest skeptics when EV's hit the market.
For instance, the most common trip I make is about 200mi one direction along a major US highway. Looking right now, there is one "slow charger" station near the first 1/3 leg of the trip, then nothing. How would I get back?
Yet... anecdotal, so that's just this stranger's take on it.
Not to deny your experience, but there are not many people in your geographic situation. The vast vast majority of people are well covered by chargers and don’t do long super rural trips.
I think North America is just a much bigger place so the required charging infrastructure build out is much larger than in European states. Personally, EVs are not practical yet in the US for my uses. When EV charging stations are as common as gas stations and charge times are reduced, I'll start looking at EVs.
Meh. Not saying they’re ready for your use, there’s a lot of reasons they wouldn’t be, but our charging infrastructure is in a really good place. There’s very few areas that you will struggle to charge on a long drive
There are so many mistakes in your comment that I can only conclude that you don't even want to understand.
I live in North America (Canada) and I own a "EV charging station". Most of time I just call it "the electric outlet in the garage".
Also, if you measure the active time, the "charge time" is ridiculously small: 15 seconds to plug, 15 seconds to unplug (and go do something else between those times). Beat that gas stations.
The average american drives like 30 miles a day, even city oriented EVs give you 250+ miles these days. If you periodically need more just rent a car, you'll still save money in the long run
Are Europe and China not big places? I think if you look at the data of how most people actually use their cars, most of those who have an outlet at home would never need to visit a gas/charging station again except for those rare times when they actually go on long distance trips. Average daily commute is supposed to be around 25 miles (both ways)
Why do these articles never include a simple plot? Instead, they describe the time evolution of several curves in prose. Does anyone find that helpful?
Interesting how _seasonal_ this seems to be; there's a falloff in EV sales at the beginning of each year as a proportion of total sales, and then it rises. Maybe company fleet purchase timing?
Tesla market share collapsed in 2025. It's had a bit of a dead cat bounce in 2026, but it's still nowhere close to what it was in 2024.
The Model Y still sells relatively well when compared to individual models, but every other manufacturer has a lot more than 2 models for sale. The VW sister companies have roughly 18 models that compete with the Y. The Y will outsell any of the 18, but if you add the 18 together, it does not.
European brands, especially French, are currently absolutely cooking with the new EV models. The boom started with Renault 5 and it took off from there.
So I personally am absolutely not afraid of the European brands disappearing somehow because China makes them quite well and affordably now, too. This previously already happened with Japanese and Korean ones as well and, to be honest, European brands just keep delivering exciting new cars that get your heart pumping and they still do. Meanwhile it hardly ever happens with the Asian ones. It does, but it's still... not the same kind excitement.
pavlov | 12 hours ago
It’s not the first time of course. Something similar happened with banking, where the US got stuck in the mid-20th century with people still using paper checks, no access to instant digital transfers, etc.
GardenLetter27 | 12 hours ago
Meanwhile Chinese EVs are banned, and even Tesla FSD is banned in most of Europe.
nkoren | 12 hours ago
martinald | 11 hours ago
CalRobert | 11 hours ago
marcyb5st | 12 hours ago
ch_sm | 11 hours ago
t0bia_s | 6 hours ago
jttnr | 11 hours ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQJL3htsDyQ
GardenLetter27 | 11 hours ago
The real comparison is compared to most human drivers - distracted on their phones and smoking cigarettes, drunk driving or high on marijuana or laughing gas, etc.
marticode | 11 hours ago
eliaspro | 9 hours ago
vikaveri | 9 hours ago
krzyk | 11 hours ago
LIDAR wouldn't help in case of water/rain, quite the opposite. It does help for funny painting.
tilsammans | 11 hours ago
Gravityloss | 11 hours ago
AFAIU only Ford and Tesla have it currently?
origini | 11 hours ago
BMW can self drive on autobahns in europe.
Gravityloss | 11 hours ago
origini | 8 hours ago
So none of them can do it properly anywhere :D
throwa356262 | 11 hours ago
Camera-only systems like the Tesla cannot handle some weather conditions and should not allowed on European roads.
GardenLetter27 | 11 hours ago
krzyk | 11 hours ago
I agree that Chinese EV cars are all over Europe.
throw-qqqqq | 11 hours ago
Maybe I misunderstand you, but I don’t think this is true. On the contrary: AFAIK there isn’t a single European country that does this.
Which countries are you thinking of?
GardenLetter27 | 11 hours ago
It's crazy that the EU criticise Trump for the ridiculous tariffs, but then do near the same thing themselves.
And unlike Trump, we cannot vote them out.
TMWNN | 11 hours ago
Tesla benefited <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-19/tesla-vol...> from Canada cutting import duty on Chinese EVs, by grabbing most of the slots.
rsynnott | 11 hours ago
Are you actually in the EU? If so, are you blind? Chinese EVs self-evidently are not banned.
svelle | 11 hours ago
What? BYD, NIO and others are to be found everywhere in Germany. I literally see one parked on the other side of the street looking out of my window right now.
cromka | 9 hours ago
48585858 | 12 hours ago
jurgenburgen | 11 hours ago
The lower tariff on hybrid cars is even dumber, why do we want more polluting cars?
pepperoni_pizza | 8 hours ago
jurgenburgen | 7 hours ago
tecleandor | 11 hours ago
origini | 11 hours ago
azernik | 11 hours ago
spiderfarmer | 11 hours ago
gumby | 9 hours ago
The EU, for all its faults, is a far more competetive environment than the US and has been for decades. Air travel, telecoms, and banking are far more competetive than the US. The US favors cartel systems so that there are a small number of airlines, telecom providers, foor companies, etc. Strict competition rules make things like credit cards much cheaper (no "points" etc because there's no money to fund them). So all those products are much cheaper in the EU than in the US and more dynamic too.
These higher prices make the GDP look bigger and the stock market too: in the EU that extorted money is returned as a consumer surplus.
TMWNN | 3 hours ago
You might argue this for airlines, given how Southwest has gone upmarket in the US while the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet haven't in Europe. But banking? No. The Big Four US banks have 50% of the market, while their Dutch, British, and Spanish equivalents (for example) have 70%.
As for telecom, the US just moved to three mobile carriers from four with 97% of the market, but that's hardly different from their Big Three or Four equivalents in European countries, all with ~90% of the market. Further, in yet another example of nature abhorring a vacuum, a) US cable carriers are seeing good growth in mobile as part of bundled subscriptions, and b) Starlink may soon offer a fourth national network.
As for prices, well, my $25 tax-inclusive Sprint/T-Mobile subscription for three unlimited mobile lines laughs at all the peons out there denied such wonders. But for everyone else, there is always the option of Mint or US Mobile or Visible for $25 monthly unlimited plans, all quite competitive against European MVNO counterparts, all offering coverage from Honolulu to Key West, Anchorage to El Paso.
>Strict competition rules make things like credit cards much cheaper (no "points" etc because there's no money to fund them).
Yes, I really hate earning 2-5% cashback on every purchase made with my personal and business cards.
>national champions and cartel
In what way are the Big Four US banks, or Big Three US carriers, "national champions" akin to the European nationalized days of yore, with the likes of Bull, British Telecom, etc.? And no, the US taking a 10% share of Intel is not the same thing as France assembling Groupe Bull, or Britain assembling ICL or BAe.
>These higher prices make the GDP look bigger and the stock market too: in the EU that extorted money is returned as a consumer surplus.
Ah yes, the days of yore, when (say) British Telecom and its fellow European equivalents were able to offer world-leading services at world-leading prices while returning a "consumer surplus" (whatever that is). Oh, wait.
PS - If you want to gripe about cartels, look north of the 49th. Canada's Big Five banks have 90% of the market, and Big Three carriers are so dominant—without offering niceties like $25 unlimited nationwide plans to all—that long ago they gained the "Robelus" nickname.
yabatopia | 11 hours ago
In North America, that's including Canada? 1.3 million EVs so far this year. Minus 21% YTD-26 vs YTD-25.
Perhaps American drivers are putting off their purchase of an electric car until the launch of the flying roadster?
throw1234567891 | 11 hours ago
rimeice | 11 hours ago
origini | 11 hours ago
throw1234567891 | 9 hours ago
kalleboo | 10 hours ago
throw1234567891 | 9 hours ago
theappsecguy | 11 hours ago
rsynnott | 11 hours ago
TMWNN | 11 hours ago
Tesla benefited <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-19/tesla-vol...> from Canada cutting import duty on Chinese EVs, by grabbing most of the slots.
notme43 | 11 hours ago
- The infrastructure isn't there yet. I can get gas anywhere, but charging stations may be few and far between. The median salary in my area is mid $100k, and 50k pop. and I see Teslas and EV'S everywhere. But despite that the town has only 1 public charging station.
- For apartment dwellers, who don't have the option of charging at home or work, why bother putting up with the anxiety of trying to find a charger?
- The early adopters feel like they got burned. Lessees like low maintenance, and the batteries tend to deterioriate. Buyers get into the same situation, but have no equity, and it's hard to justify dropping $$$ for a new battery when they can put that into a new car.
- There's a lot of nothing in between major towns and cities. If it's super cold out, will you make it the 120mi/193km to your destination?
pepperoni_pizza | 8 hours ago
notme43 | 7 hours ago
If it made practical and financial sense for me l would be all in. A lot of people I know feel this way. Even my older peers who were the biggest skeptics when EV's hit the market.
For instance, the most common trip I make is about 200mi one direction along a major US highway. Looking right now, there is one "slow charger" station near the first 1/3 leg of the trip, then nothing. How would I get back?
Yet... anecdotal, so that's just this stranger's take on it.
dalyons | 4 hours ago
spottedmarley | 11 hours ago
kgermino | 11 hours ago
diego_moita | 10 hours ago
I live in North America (Canada) and I own a "EV charging station". Most of time I just call it "the electric outlet in the garage".
Also, if you measure the active time, the "charge time" is ridiculously small: 15 seconds to plug, 15 seconds to unplug (and go do something else between those times). Beat that gas stations.
233mhz | 10 hours ago
dns_snek | 10 hours ago
mr_mitm | 11 hours ago
ZeroGravitas | 11 hours ago
https://ember-energy.org/data/ev-sales-tracker/
rsynnott | 11 hours ago
TMWNN | 11 hours ago
bryanlarsen | 8 hours ago
The Model Y still sells relatively well when compared to individual models, but every other manufacturer has a lot more than 2 models for sale. The VW sister companies have roughly 18 models that compete with the Y. The Y will outsell any of the 18, but if you add the 18 together, it does not.
P.S. Your link is broken.
cromka | 9 hours ago
So I personally am absolutely not afraid of the European brands disappearing somehow because China makes them quite well and affordably now, too. This previously already happened with Japanese and Korean ones as well and, to be honest, European brands just keep delivering exciting new cars that get your heart pumping and they still do. Meanwhile it hardly ever happens with the Asian ones. It does, but it's still... not the same kind excitement.