The Island of Misfit Cars
China has a problem with thousands of unwanted, obsolete EVs. Soon it might be our problem, too.
If you’re in the market for a cheap electric car, you might be able to good deal in China.
Of course, you have to get the car across the Pacific, somehow get it certified for American or Canadian roads, and if it breaks down you’re kind of screwed getting spare parts, because the manufacturer, which might have sewn together clothes for Shein before pivoting to EVs, may not even exist anymore.
But I’m sure they’re extremely cheap. Maybe you could get some kind of BOGO deal and buy one for your spouse or your kids or your mailman.
On the outskirts of the Chinese city of Hangzhou, a small dilapidated temple overlooks a graveyard of sorts: a series of fields where hundreds upon hundreds of electric cars have been abandoned among weeds and garbage.
Similar pools of unwanted battery-powered vehicles have sprouted up in at least half a dozen cities across China, though a few have been cleaned up. In Hangzhou, some cars have been left for so long that plants are sprouting from their trunks. Others were discarded in such a hurry that fluffy toys still sit on their dashboards.
The scenes recall the aftermath of the nation’s bike-sharing crash in 2018, when tens of millions of bicycles ended up in rivers, ditches and disused parking lots after the rise and fall of startups backed by big tech such as Ofo and Mobike.
This time, the cars were likely deserted after the ride-hailing companies that owned them failed, or because they were about to become obsolete as automakers rolled out EV after EV with better features and longer driving ranges. They’re a striking representation of the excess and waste that can happen when capital floods into a burgeoning industry, and perhaps also an odd monument to the seismic progress in electric transportation over the last few years.
After years of skepticism - I thought hydrogen was the future of zero-emissions transportation - I’ve come around on electric cars as newer models can make it hundreds of miles on a single charge. I don’t know if my next vehicle will be electric, but the one after that almost certainly will be.
In a way, the fact that so many relatively young EVs have been abandoned shows just how far the technology has come in such a short time. State-of-the-art in 2018 is hopelessly obsolete in 2023.
…which makes me think we’ll soon have a problem with used electric cars. A ten-year-old Honda Civic will do pretty much everything a 2023 model will, though maybe not quite as well. But a first-generation Nissan Leaf has only about half the range of the newest model.
(Mind you, they’re Nissans so both will end up travelling the same distance on tow trucks, but that’s another post.)
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