by Justin Worland
China has built the world’s leading electric vehicle industry with more than 100 brands from the country. Those cars have all sorts of features that would wow the average U.S. driver—and they come at a lower price point than the American or European competition.
But the majority of U.S. consumers don’t want them, according to new polling from the University of Chicago and AP-NORC. Even when the Chinese car is $10,000 cheaper than the U.S. one, a majority of respondents to the poll released Thursday said they would prefer their vehicle was made in the U.S.A.
There are, however, two big caveats: the advantage for U.S. cars generally gets narrower and narrower as the savings increases. Two thirds of Americans say it would be worth $500 more to buy a U.S. car rather than a Chinese one; 53% say it’s worth paying $10,000 more. And then there’s the change over time. Just in the last year, the share of respondents who say they are willing to pay more has shrunk significantly—with a double-digit shift toward the cheaper Chinese vehicle for both a $500 and $5000 savings.
For now, this is of course mostly theoretical. You can’t easily buy a Chinese EV in the U.S. Chinese automakers don’t have U.S. dealerships or distributors. To import one would require a hefty tariff and doing so will soon effectively be banned due to national security restrictions.
But to dismiss the rise of Chinese EVs as irrelevant to the U.S. would be a strategic misstep. I keep thinking way back to my U.S. history coursework. In 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev engaged then-U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon in an impromptu debate in front of a replica of an American kitchen. Nixon pointed to the kitchen and its modern appliances as a sign of the opportunities capitalism can provide. Khrushchev argued that the goods were a sign of modern decadence. Ultimately, the moment encouraged the Soviet population to agitate for household comforts.