I think a lot of it is also growing their market share and establishing their brand.

What a downfall Tesla

Brand recognition is important, but it's a dangerous game operating mostly on government subsidies. Once you have established low prices it's hard to reverse it

China would love so much to rule the world, that's why it hasn't entered any war in the past 40+ years, and that's why all countries in the global south are happy to enter the comparably advantageous economic deals and infrastructure investments that China offers in comparison with the magnificent western democracies.

How many countries has China bombed in the past 40 years? Let's now make a list for the USA, see who wins!

As for "dictator", look at the approval rates of Xi in China and compare them to those of Kid Starver in the UK, Trump in the US, or Macron in France. I guess democracy is best represented by the system that lets you choose which hateful ghoul will apply social austerity policy and invest 5% of GDP in NATO.

Me, my friends, my colleagues are the target audience for Model 3/Y's. I drive a Model 3 and some colleagues do as well. Pretty much all of them and myself say the same thing: The cars top the list in terms of value versus price and has the features we want and need, but we will not buy or (company) lease a Tesla (again) due to the nazi in charge. Simple as that.

At this point, people don't even take Tesla's into consideration anymore due to the nazi. So I would say that's far worse than the competition with BYD.

I remember that one getting tested in my hometown.

You are comparing Tesla, a full electric car maker to « Chinese cars » which includes multiple brands and all engine types.
Only one-third of the cars that the Chinese carmakers sold in Europe during the first quarter were electric.

There are 2 types of libertarians.

One group is comprised of people who think the government should basically keep the military going, and handle foreign relations when that doesn't impede private citizens.

The other group is just Republicans who don't like being called Republicans.

The small Renault's are actually more than decent EVs and can be compared to the Hyundai Inster.(With the later being the closest to a "high quality EV for everyone" I have seen. Fantastic car, small, comparable cheap, secure. They need to get a bit cheaper still,but we are getting closer)

If you are filthy rich the Porsches are decent, same goes for some of the BMW. The Nissan Arya is also okayish, so are Mercedes.

But yeah, Korea has the absolute king of the hill atm. I drive an EV6 (pre facelift). And honestly? It's the most "fun" and "comfortable" car I ever had - and I used to have lots of expensive company cars in the past (Audi A4,A5,A6, BMW 5, Volvo), often with "lights and sirens " installed and drove Seat,Skoda,Hyundai, Volvo privately.

None of them were as fun.
None of fhem were as versatile and comfortable.
And funny enough I safe enormous amounts of money.

And all the downsides people worry about?
So far I didn't have any.

Charging? Absolutely no issue - beside the fact that my sparky is shit and I still don't have a home box (but a 200 bucks mobile box off Amazon helps). Even with long distances it's no issue - even in remote locations I had a chance to charge,often easier to find than petrol. And on regular trips it takes as much time to go to the toilet and get me a coffee. Which I would also do with petrol... So in fact I save a few minutes.
Even under these circumstances I pay half compared to what I payed for petrol.

Battery issues? The car is used. So far: Zero degradation. We had it assessed by a professional company recently.

The only two issues it has: Preconditioning is somewhat random (which has been solved with the facelift) and the fact that the drivers profile is not based on the key sucks.

Plenty of good European EVs as well. From a Porsche Taycan to a Dacia Spring, a wide selection. Including wagons/combis and vans.

The Japanese also have good ones, especially Nissan. Leaf and Ariya are decent. Honda kinda gave up and Toyota is indeed terrible, even the Lexus line is behind.

Tesla has NEVER been the good quality car. Ever.

Tesla was the techy car. The fast car. The fun car. The virtue signaling car. The convienent car. Lots of things, but they have never been the good quality car.

Exactly the same for me and my circle. I got a model 3 and got at least 3 colleagues and friends to buy one after a test drive.

I won't sell it now because it's still a good car and I would lose a ton of money to replace it with something equivalent, but I put a fuck elon sticker on it, canceled the connectivity, avoid superchargers when possible and no longer recommend it to people.

I'm looking for a second car and used Teslas are crazy value right now but out of principle they are out of the question. Probably will go for a Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe, VW ID.3 or BMW i3.

I'm still mad at Toyota because they've kept pushing hybrid cards instead of making great EVs.

They already enshrined "billionaires get all the money" in 2008 when the banks got the bailouts instead of the people

Just give Elon more of some new drug. /s

Buy european? I mean if that's an option.

The mentioned cars are somewhat outdated.

You might also want to consider newer models like Renault 5, Skoda Elroq or Hyundai Ioniq.

I agree until the last part. Democracies have more freedoms allowing for more accurate polling. There is also less fear of consequences for being open. Countries should be able to defend themselves, 5% is a step toward peace. The cold war never became hot because of the investment in defence.

They manufacture everything, they are just people chilling in their country. Say what you will about their form of government but BYD havent invested in hurting people for no reason.