China is making electric buses cheap, just like it did for solar panels
China&#x27;s goals for pushing electric vehicles very hard are multi-faceted and strongly aligned with their long-term national strategies:<p>* Reducing their dependence on oil, one of few strategic resources which they do not possess in sufficient quantity and is subject, in large part, to the inclinations of foreign entities. Advanced electronics is another such resource on which they are also investing heavily to address the dependence.<p>* Building up technical expertise by accumulating experience in designing and scaling up production of affordable electric vehicles for the masses. (Unlike ICE vehicles, this is an area where no one has a huge lead.) It is clear that EVs are the future. The size of global automative industry is in the trillions and can provide jobs for a huge number of people.<p>* Improving urban air quality especially in tier 1 cities like Beijing and Shanghai to address the concern of talent who they try to attract (and attract back) from abroad as well as to address people’s demand and to reduce long-term public healthcare expenses.<p>* Helping with global warming which may affect cities like Shanghai in the future. But this is possibly not a primary goal. As another commenter mentions, other approaches like carbon tax could be more effective.<p>Governments in several developed nations should at least be concerned that, if they invest insufficiently in EVs, the issue of unemployment and underemployment in traditional manufacturing hubs could become more severe than it is now.