Save globalisation! Buy a Chinese EV

SCHUMPETER IS NOTEVEVMGEVEV a car owner. He bought his last one, a diesel-fuelled Volkswagen, in 2015, days before the emissions-cheating scandal erupted. He was so appalled that when the car’s engine caught fire he vowed never to buy another and took to a bike instead. He has lived in emissions-free smugness ever since. At least he did—until increasing numbers of electric vehicles (s) started to swish past, signalling even more virtue. Now his car envy has returned—but with a dilemma. Some of the most appealing s in Europe are either made in China (Tesla) or by Chinese-owned firms (). Given concerns about the decoupling of trade into ideological blocs, should that be a dieselgate-sized worry?To answer that question, first examine what is known in China as “the catfish effect”, the idea that a predator makes weaker rivals swim faster. For years China led the world in production and purchase of s. However, the cars were heavily subsidised and shoddy. They were a response to the government’s desire to scrub the air and leapfrog the internal-combustion engine, a technology in which China was a laggard. Delighting customers was an afterthought. No Chinese -maker was as world-beating as Huawei became in smartphones—before America blackballed it in 2019.