Is China’s push to develop electric cars really a means of getting out of an oil squeeze? The Economist published a small piece on its Free Exchange site suggesting that industrialists are making a conscious effort to get away from combustion:
The Chinese are growing wealthier and demanding automobiles by the tens of milions, but the demand for oil they create is likely to send petrol prices soaring again before long, making driving unaffordable for most Chinese families. It’s no wonder, then, that the Chinese government is anxious to develop electric automobile technologies. Not only would this allow Chinese families to continue driving as petrol prices soared, it would also allow China to sell into foreign markets similarly afflicted by dear oil—including America. China recognises this and is heavily subsidising efficient automobile purchases and production.
Battery technology hasn’t changed much in decades. The real challenge with going electric is in bringing down the cost of electric power (and, as we all know, Mainland China enjoys an advantage in this area). Some interesting figures from American Statesman:
Ford estimates that supplying batteries for an electric vehicle adds $12,000 to $15,000 to the cost of the same vehicle with a gasoline engine. Until that cost difference is brought down, the automaker doesn’t expect to sell high volumes of electric cars.
You know, I’ve always been amazed to see how Chinese manufacturers will drop a Japanese engine into a China-made automobile, motorcycle or ATV. The shell is the easy part, it’s the internal mechanism that’s more of a challenge. Isn’t it possible that the push to produce electric vehicles is in part about the R&D hurdle for combustion, that it’s a workaround? Those banging the drum for Chinese innovation might want to consider the implication…
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Wall Street Journal published an article about Chinese mergers and acquisitions, suggesting that there is an advantage in low-cost capital being made available in Mainland China. A year ago, I put up a blog post touching on the same subject, linking the phenomenon to the closure of Taiwan- and Hong Kong-owned factories. Key point: Bank money is being loaned out to industrialists at a low rate of interest, and lenders are not in the habit of pushing for repayment. Access to capital in this way becomes an unusual competitive advantage in business. Chinese manufacturers continue to find it advantageous to make a product for $1 and sell it for $1 (if not for less), because they are focused on unrelated ambitions. It is one more reason why I have concern for products that are made in China today. Producers should be focused on manufacturing quality products, not on tangential opportunities…
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UK Border Agency seized over 9,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike shoes, according to BBC.
“These fake products are poorly made, easily fall apart and the glues used to fix them together are often toxic. “
Not to mention that they might not be orthopedically sound…
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Another episode in the endless “tainted China” saga…
At least 64 people have been infected with hepatitis C after receiving transfusions of tainted blood at a county hospital in southern China, a hospital official said Wednesday.
Hospital officials, who have been blamed, are claiming ignorance. Some say part of the problem is a system based not on altruistic giving, but on cash money:
Last year, the Health Ministry said it had uncovered hundreds of cases of illegally sold blood, and it shut down nearly 5,000 blood banks.
And in another related case…
Twenty patients were infected with hepatitis C while receiving dialysis treatment in Shanxi Province, according to a notice on a ministry Web site, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported Wednesday. Investigations at those hospitals began after six dialysis patients discovered they were infected and filed a complaint last month, it said.
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