This chapter discusses the rise and subsequent failure of electric vehicle (EV) startups in China, as well as the manipulation of the subsidy system by car makers and ride-hailing companies. It highlights the massive amount of money spent on subsidies for EVs, the existence of abandoned EV graveyards, and the missed opportunity for recycling valuable metals and components from these cars.
Growing sales of electric vehicles around the world have also come with growing pains. In China, outdated models no one wants pile up in vast EV graveyards. In Norway, tax breaks for electric car buyers have been so successful that the government faces a revenue shortfall.
Bloomberg’s Linda Lew and Businessweek contributor Willem Marx join this episode to talk about the upsides—and downsides—of the EV boom. And Oslo city councilman Eivind Trædal explains why electric cars can sometimes make the problem of traffic-clogged streets even worse.
Read more: China’s Abandoned, Obsolete Electric Cars Are Piling Up in Cities
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