[Puffer Fish]

The Verge recently published this article about the Hyundai Inster, a cool little EV retailing below $26K, that will NOT be available in the US. Others on this Forum have stated that these cars aren't available, because nobody wants them in the US. However, the Fiat 500E is a small EV that is available in the US, and retails for about $32K. There seems to be political pressure in the US, to delay very low-cost EVs in America, to allow the American auto industry to catch up. Tesla has been promising a low-cost EV, priced at $25K for years, and never delivered. The tone in this Verge article seems to reflect this frustration.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/27/2418 ... Comments=1

Meet the Hyundai Inster, the latest cute, small electric vehicle that is being cruelly denied a North American debut. This subcompact EV has over 200 miles of range, an almost retro-inspired interior aesthetic (think lots of plastic and chunky buttons), and an adorable face that won’t be making an appearance on US roads any time soon.

Oh, and did I mention that it will be very affordable? Automotive News is reporting that the Inster will be priced below $26,000. So not only is Hyundai entering the fray for affordable EVs, but it’s doing it as at an extreme distance from the US — which is very much in need of affordable EVs.

There is an Inster review video of a very tall 6'5" male who put the driver's seat in his normal driving position, and then sat in the back behind the driver's seat, displaying all the legroom and head space. He called it "a design miracle".


But despite all the enthusiasm and excitement, there is another side to the coin... (This is where I burst people's bubble)


Yes, it is much cheaper to produce things in other countries where worker wages are lower and where there are fewer government regulations on industry (or where the regulations that do exist do not go strictly enforced).

The issue is, many of those on the Left promised that this government forced conversion to electric cars and renewable energy, which is expensive, would result in the creation of "green jobs".
Obviously they are not really following through with that promise if most of those electric cars are to be produced in other countries.

The Democrats do also have the Rust Belt region to worry about in the upcoming election -- a region that has been economically eviscerated over the last 50 years, as automotive production moved out of the region. Many of the voters living in that region (which contains many important swing states important for the election) won't be too happy if all those electric cars end up being made in China. (Especially when the federal government is implementing policies pressuring and forcing consumers to have to buy electric cars rather than traditional cars)

Additionally, I'd also point out that many of these cheaper cars produced in lower cost countries such as China have some quality control issues, which consumers in U.S. markets might not be so accustomed to. And then when it comes to the issue of lawsuits. At these low prices, if you were able to bring one of these cheaply priced cars from China into the U.S. and then something went wrong and you wanted to sue the company, consumers in the U.S. would find that they would not be able to get very much money at all. So the issue of legal liability does raise the price of things significantly.


Let's think about the mentality of typical persons on the Left. They want their consumer symbols of being a "socially conscious" good person. But they don't want to personally have to pay lots more money.

With this whole environmental "Global Warming" movement and push for electric cars at all costs, they've sort of pushed themselves back into a corner.
This is something they HAVE TO have. It's too late to try to go back on it. But at the same time, all the more affluent progressives already have their electric cars, but unfortunately two-thirds of these progressive supporters do not have the financial means to so easily afford a new electric car.
So the idea of a cheap car coming from China is the only way out, the only door remaining to them.

Think about the irony. The MAJORITY of these progressives who support wanting the government to force electric cars on the population HAVE NOT individually decided to buy an electric vehicle themselves, because they can't afford it.

If you ask them, they've convinced themselves that, somehow, only through government forcing the whole population to have electric cars will these electric cars become affordable for them to be able to buy one.
Mostly a lot of unrealistic wishful thinking, if you ask me.

Cognitive dissonance and a whole lot of hypocrisy.

To point out a parallel, remember how under the Obamacare push a lot of them thought that by forcing everyone to buy health insurance, it would somehow make it cheaper?
To many it may sound absurdly illogical, but this is the inclination of social collectivism. 'I cannot solve my individual problem, but can solve the problem as a collective group'

So the only question now is if the progressive environmentalists are going to come together as a group to support importing these things from other cheaper countries, since it seems Americans have too much difficulty affording it for everyone to be able to go along with the green agenda.
(Never mind that the manufacturing conditions in many of these other countries are more polluting, with much lower wages, worker exploitation, and fewer labor protections for workers)

Meanwhile, the issue of good-paying jobs is an issue that has been weighing down on the American economy. Some argue we're not exactly going to help that if we just get foreigners to make everything and do all the jobs for less money.