Sinica Podcast

China's EV Explosion, with Ilaria Mazzocco of CSIS

Dec 12, 2024

Ilaria Mazzocco, Deputy Director at CSIS and a seasoned expert in China's electric vehicle landscape, dives deep into the rapid growth of the EV industry in China. She reveals how state subsidies and strategic policies played pivotal roles in this explosion. The conversation highlights international responses to China's model, comparing U.S. and EU approaches. Mazzocco also touches on the fierce competition among Chinese firms and their aspirations for global expansion, alongside the implications of U.S. protectionism on this dynamic market.

01:14:17

Episode guests

Ilaria Mazzocco

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

China's remarkable growth in electric vehicle manufacturing is driven by a combination of state subsidies and supportive local policies.

The global automotive landscape is shifting as countries like the U.S. and EU craft strategies to respond to China's EV dominance.

Regional disparities in EV adoption within China highlight the significant impact of local government actions on the electric vehicle market.

Deep dives

China's Electric Vehicle Surge

China has seen an astonishing increase in electric vehicle (EV) production and adoption in recent years, with roughly half of all electric cars globally now found on Chinese roads. This rapid growth can be witnessed in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, where EVs dominate taxi fleets and are becoming commonplace among personal vehicles. Observations suggest that while the infrastructure for EV charging is still developing, user experiences lean towards satisfaction and acceptance of electric vehicles. This transformation highlights not only consumer preferences but also the broader implications for global automotive markets and China's leadership in the EV sector.

Intro

3min

China's Electric Vehicle Revolution

26min

Navigating Geopolitics in the Automotive Industry

13min

Navigating the Electric Vehicle Landscape

22min

The Value of Novels in Understanding Human Experience

3min

Exploring Fiction and Historical Narratives

3min

Literary and Historical Reflections

3min

China's rapid surge in electric vehicle manufacturing, adoption, and export has variously encouraged, delighted, impressed, frightened, and even enraged people around the world. What did China get right in facilitating the explosive development in this industry? Was is just subsidies, or were there other important policies that helped jumpstart it? How have other geographies responded? And what can they learn? Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) joins me to share her rich insights into the Chinese EV industry.

3:49 – How Ilaria became interested in green industrial policy

5:59 – The reality of progress in EVs in China

11:21 – The role of state subsidies and other things that tend to get missed in trying to understand EVs in China

16:51 – How other countries are trying to adopt China’s approach

19:21 – The differences between the EU and U.S. approaches

24:17 – The outlook for competition in the Chinese market

26:08 – Business models in the Chinese EV sector and the example of BYD

30:53 – Chinese firms’ push for internationalization and how the rapidity of becoming multinationals [multinational companies?] may pose challenges

35:54 – Alignment between host countries and Chinese companies

39:58 – What the U.S. is doing and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)

42:27 – How U.S. protectionist measures may affect third markets, and whether restrictions may backfire

48:57 – The coming shift to next-generation batteries, and the potential for international collaboration in advancing more circular practices

55:43 – How Ilaria’s fieldwork shifted her perspective on the EV industry

59:38 – How we can improve industrial policy

Recommendations:

Ilaria: My Antonia by Willa Cather; the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel; The Army of Sleepwalkers by Wu Ming (an Italian novelist collective) about the French Revolution

Kaiser: The Wolf Hall audiobooks read by Ben Miles; the HBO series Rome (2005-2007)

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