The Chinese technological lead is so great that it will take a technological generation for Western manufacturers to catch up. Accordingly, they rely on tariffs, chip sanctions and other trade prohibition methods to hinder China’s development.
Like most major city railway stations, the Guangzhou station is a vast, modern, efficient but crowded space, more like an airport than a railway station. It has the same type of large-scale advertising. This week, I couldn’t help but notice the giant banner advert featuring CATL, the world’s premium electric vehicle (EV) battery company. It read: “Charge for 10 mins, travel for 400 kilometres.”
This typifies the advances in EV technology that China has already made. It is the reason why US and European car manufacturers are so worried. China knew it could never really compete with advanced internal combustion engines, so for decades it turned its attention to developing effective and efficient EVs while the rest of the automotive world ignored this need. The result is a manufacturing, technical and development efficiency that leaves the West staggering to catch up.
