The mentioned cars are somewhat outdated.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.

Chinese electric cars are just better. BYD is what Tesla wanted to be, but actually fulfills its promises. Plus it isn't ran by a nazi dictator.

I uh.. you sure about that dictator thing? xi jinping enters the chat

The cold war never became hot

Tell that to the millions of people the west murdered through bombing of Korea, Vietnam or Laos, the millions more murdered though US support of military dictators such as Suharto or Pinochet, or the millions who died through the de-stabilization of their countries such as Mosaddeq's Iran, Guatemala or the outright invasion of Iraq. Ask those people what they think of the west's military expenses over the past century.

Democracies have more freedoms allowing for more accurate polling. There is also less fear of consequences for being open

Literally two days ago Mamdani won the mayoral elections against all polls, polls in the west are heavily manipulated. And literally last week a man was denied entry in the country due to having a picture of bald Vance. I happen to be Spanish, and in our super-democratic state we have literal political prisoners who had to free the country such as Carles Puigdemont due to political persecution and risking their lives in jail. The west is NOT more democratic than China at this point, and the trend is towards openness in China and towards fascism in the west.

It would be nice if there was a way to rip out any questionable software/electric components from modern cars and replace it with something open source.

There are lots of EVs by European car manufacturers. The problem is that they have trouble competing on price with the Chinese ones.

Fair point, but I'm looking to buy used (i3 hasn't been made for a few years already).

I'm somewhat hopeful, in the last ten years, new and renovated country roads have been getting dedicated bike lanes behind the guardrails. Miles away from the excellent, completely separate infrastructure the dutch have, but its a start.

I used to like and look up to SpaceX for the interesting stuff that they build,

but nowadays i don't care anymore. The company can fail for all i care. Musk spoiled it.

The tipping point, for me personally, was when Musk seriously threatened to slash public spending in February this year. It shows a clear disrespect to the people, and frankly, a sociopathic attitude.

Musk had everything, lots of money, lots of fame, lots of influence, but he threw it all away when he decided to threaten the wellbeing and lifelyhood of a lot of people just so that rich assholes can make an extra buck through tax cuts.

Here in the UK Musk is just seen as an idiot. Some decent European EV solutions coming along but the Chinese cars are so much better value than Tesla OR the main European makes. Couldn't happen to a nicer megalomaniac and as a plus I love seeing the monthly SpaceX explosions

If you think Xi Jinping is dictating what BYD does with their cars then you don't understand the fundamentals as to why China managed to attract so much foreign investment and got to where they are now in the first place.

We have 2 BYD plug-in EVs in our house, absolutely delighted with the brand. Before that I had a Model 3 Tesla, which I could not get rid of fast enough.

Honor where honor is due, Tesla did open the door for mainstreaming EVs, there's no doubt about it, but it was through marketing based on gimmicks, not through quality products. But the reality is that BYD, Xiaomi, Avatr and a few other Chinese manufacturing cars are way better value and even quality than their Occidental counterparts.

That's halfway true, depending on the part, and where you live. But the warranty they provide (at least in my country) covers everything that you don't damage yourself, and the warranty is transferable if you sell it still being under warranty.

The only expense I've had with mine are new tires and correcting some body scratches caused by other people (and public charging if on long road trips, because I charge at home with solar power).

China can have all the images they want from my car's. I don't live in China or anywhere near them. I'm more concerned about US made EVs and their surveillance because I travel there regularly, and they are digging hard on everything for people coming into the US.

I wonder where you're getting this information. BYD alone is second worldwide if you account for the US market, and 1st if you don't.

59% of all EVs sold in January of this year were Chinese.

Don’t know why exactly are you downvoted but this is exactly what is going on as cars get more ”connected”, following Tesla & BYD lead.
Just like with phones at the moment, everything tries to spy on you a little to tap into that sweeet targeted ad revenue, or something else.

For example I bet the insurance companies love to have some driver behaviour data about you, and the big retail likes to know where/what time you are on the move (though they already get it from the dozens of apps on your phone that have access to location data, like Google Maps).

Bio gas and diesel are also renewable.

We bought a second hand i3 (2014) model for my SO to drive to work and back (short distances). The range is objectively horrible (about 100 km), but sufficient for my SO's needs. Overall, we love the car! It's so much fun to drive, and very efficient due to its light carbon fiber chassis. The car does everything we expect of it and we run it very cheap.

Such a waste BMW didn't iterate on the i3/i8 sooner. They would've knocked Tesla out of the water before they could even learn how to swim.