On April 4, MICHauto hosted its inaugural quarterly investor briefing, Industry Insights, where Executive Director Glenn Stevens Jr. was joined by Tu Le, Founder and Managing Director of Sino Auto Insights for a discussion about China’s growing influence on the electric vehicle (EV) market in the U.S.
Le, who spent nearly thirteen years living in China, began with a response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union prediction that the country will see more technological change in the next 10 years than in the last 50, saying, “what I believe is that a lot of that technological change is not going to be dictated by the United States, is going to be dictated by a lot of other countries.”
This leadership is already being seen from Xiaomi, a prominent Chinese lifestyle and technology brand that recently entered the market with an impressive EV for just $30,000 and specs that outperform the Chevy Bolt of the same price.
Le broke down the global EV spaces as being in one of three phases: electrification, smartification, or autonomication.
“The United States and Europe are clearly in the electrification phase where China is in already in the smartification phase,” he shared, “we’re going to get there, just not as fast as China.”
China has held the top spot in the global passenger vehicle market since 2009, with the U.S. close behind. When it comes to “clean energy” vehicles, a term inclusive of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric, their sales made up 60% of the world’s total in 2023, a trend that has been growing since 2020. Le predicted, “almost one out of every two vehicles sold in China will be clean energy or electric.”
When asked about the key components of a thriving EV sector, Le identified manufacturing, software development, and silicon chips (which drive machine learning, AI algorithms, and batteries). He optimistically stated, “all of these things have a competition aspect with China and some of these other countries, and we’re very strong in each one of these things.”
The U.S. and Europe have been lagging in the mining, refining, and manufacturing of batteries, “effectively giving that away to China over the last 20 years.”
He claimed, “all companies are becoming software development companies,” emphasizing the need to focus on the user experience and design throughout product development. Vehicles with such advanced software can create over one terabyte of data every day, so security, privacy, and analytics will be extremely important parts of the EV and mobility space moving forward.
The way Le sees it, the traditional automotive industry is no longer calling the shots for everyone else.
“The terms are now not being dictated by the traditional automotive sector but outside players that are entering the traditional automotive space,” which is disrupting the industry at all levels.
Le, who spent nearly thirteen years living in China, began with a response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union prediction that the country will see more technological change in the next 10 years than in the last 50, saying, “what I believe is that a lot of that technological change is not going to be dictated by the United States, is going to be dictated by a lot of other countries.”
This leadership is already being seen from Xiaomi, a prominent Chinese lifestyle and technology brand that recently entered the market with an impressive EV for just $30,000 and specs that outperform the Chevy Bolt of the same price.
Le broke down the global EV spaces as being in one of three phases: electrification, smartification, or autonomication.
“The United States and Europe are clearly in the electrification phase where China is in already in the smartification phase,” he shared, “we’re going to get there, just not as fast as China.”
China has held the top spot in the global passenger vehicle market since 2009, with the U.S. close behind. When it comes to “clean energy” vehicles, a term inclusive of battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric, their sales made up 60% of the world’s total in 2023, a trend that has been growing since 2020. Le predicted, “almost one out of every two vehicles sold in China will be clean energy or electric.”
When asked about the key components of a thriving EV sector, Le identified manufacturing, software development, and silicon chips (which drive machine learning, AI algorithms, and batteries). He optimistically stated, “all of these things have a competition aspect with China and some of these other countries, and we’re very strong in each one of these things.”
The U.S. and Europe have been lagging in the mining, refining, and manufacturing of batteries, “effectively giving that away to China over the last 20 years.”
He claimed, “all companies are becoming software development companies,” emphasizing the need to focus on the user experience and design throughout product development. Vehicles with such advanced software can create over one terabyte of data every day, so security, privacy, and analytics will be extremely important parts of the EV and mobility space moving forward.
The way Le sees it, the traditional automotive industry is no longer calling the shots for everyone else.
“The terms are now not being dictated by the traditional automotive sector but outside players that are entering the traditional automotive space,” which is disrupting the industry at all levels.