Was a comment about Ford saying the world would end because they can't compete.
The European car manufacturers may be scared stiff by the Chinese. If they don't catch up, there might not be any European car makes in a few years.
European countries are basically a protectionists so EU will step in before that happens. Meanwhile, their product mix may look dramatically different in few years.
There are actually something like 150 automakers in China...kinda nuts if ask me
Axial flux motors are really cool, except that high power ones are currently expensive to manufacture. Smaller ones have been around fo years in electric bicycles, construction equipment, and disk drives for example. Putting motors in the wheels adds unsprung weight to the suspension which can be a handling and ride performance issue. It's not a killer, just a tradeoff.There are actually something like 150 automakers in China...kinda nuts if ask me
But that's also what forces them to be competitive and why Xiaomi being profitible after two years is quite a feat while the others are living on borrowed time burning their IPO money...
I haven't heard stories of MB/BMW CEOs publicly saying (unlike Ford) they need to block Chinese cars from the country...
They just quietly built competitive EV platforms to sell in the US and Europe...MB designs are gaudy with stars in the headlights/taillights but tech looks impressive with nVidia self driving and MB also bought a company that builds axial flux motors you can stuff in the wheels instead of putting them in the body of the car.
It's because both BMW and MB makes vehicles in China exported to EU.
Adding 30~50kg to unsprung weight would be a non-starter for sports cars but for utility vehicles like trucks and utility vehicles, where handling is not a high priority would make lots of sense.
