Federal funding for Chinese buses risks our national security

[Bill]

China is America’s single largest strategic rival, working to undermine U.S. authority on the global stage by taking control of a variety of critical emerging industries — the electric vehicle (EV) industry in particular. Beijing has declared capturing the EV supply chain to be a strategic priority, but Congress has a chance to counter this threat in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It must seize this opportunity.

As states and cities nationwide search for ways to reduce operating costs and meet emissions goals, falling battery costs in tandem with federal programs that defray purchase prices have made electric buses an attractive option. This has pushed electric buses to the forefront of a wider EV switch that is estimated to be worth up to $420 billion worldwide as early as 2025.

However, China is alive to the opportunity that the manufacture and sale of electric buses will have on the wider EV market, and has wasted little time in scaling up its manufacturing and market ambitions. There are already 421,000 electric buses in China, compared to just 300 in the United States.

As outlined in its “Made in China 2025 strategy,” Beijing is intent on capturing the entire EV supply chain for global strategic gain, as owning the next generation of transportation technology will give them significant economic and foreign policy leverage for generations to come.

To achieve this, China has spent years — and approximately $60 billion dollars — subsidizing its domestic companies in order to capture overseas markets while the EV industry is still developing, helping Chinese companies to submit bids for major contracts that are as much as $20 million cheaper than its North American competitors.

If we allow transit agencies to use federal funds to buy Chinese electric buses, then these companies are in effect being subsidized twice. What’s worse is that we would be actively assisting Beijing in its goal of U.S. EV dominance, by allowing them to build their EV industry and cement it in first place with American taxpayer dollars.

Permitting federal funding for transit agencies to buy Chinese electric buses would support Beijing’s objectives and place the United States at significant economic and national security risk. Our current transportation system is 92 percent dependent on oil: A volatile and fungible commodity, in which a disruption anywhere affects prices everywhere — regardless of how much the United States produces.

As a result, if China achieves its goal of capturing the EV supply chain, we risk switching our reliance on a volatile oil market to a dependence on Chinese EVs and batteries for our future transportation needs.

Fortunately, the NDAA can help us counter China’s strategy, as it contains provisions introduced in the House by Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.) and in the Senate by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to prevent the expenditure of federal funds by transit agencies to buy Chinese rail cars or buses.

But while the Senate version includes the bus provision, the House version limited the restriction solely to rail rolling stock. This must be amended, and the House must adopt the Senate’s electric bus provision.

The switch from a petroleum past to an electrified future is handing the United States an opportunity to own its transportation future. However, we will only have one attempt to realize this chance. If we do not counter China’s EV ambitions now, we risk losing this golden opportunity to bolster our energy security — and place our transportation needs for the foreseeable future into the hands of our greatest strategic rivals.

[PostmodernProphet]

If we allow transit agencies to use federal funds to buy Chinese electric buses, then these companies are in effect being subsidized twice.

thanks for sharing this.....

[Bill]

Well a good selling point for the expensive CCP buses is they are great for the los angeles environment when they break down & when they occasionally work..


Los Angeles keeps buying electric buses from China and they keep breaking



The wheels on the bus roll toward communism in Los Angeles.

To eliminate public transit emissions by 2030, the California metropolis has retired its fleet of big diesel buses, started retiring their cleaner natural gas-burning buses, and replaced them with brand-new, zero-emission electric buses. The problem? They don’t run, they are expensive, and they’re Chinese.

Those problems didn’t cross the mind of Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti when he hailed the buses he thought would carry Los Angeles into the future. "We have two choices," Garcetti said last July. "We can wait for others, and follow, at the expense of residents' health — or lead and innovate, and reduce emissions as quickly as possible. I'd much rather do the latter."

It’s been a rocky road ever since, and that could complicate Garcetti’s political future as he considers a presidential bid in 2020. That’s because the buses are awful even by public transit standards.

They run quiet when they run at all. An investigative report by the Los Angeles Times detailed how the buses can’t climb hills, how the buses break down frequently, how the buses aren’t reliable after being driven more than 100 miles. The first five buses were so bad that they had to be pulled off their routes after less than five miles.

Other cities like Albuquerque, N.M., experienced similar problems when they tried switching to electric buses. The city ordered a fleet of 20, but the AP reports that their performance was so poor the city quickly canceled the order and switched back to natural gas and clean diesel.

Los Angeles didn’t learn that lesson. Despite the obvious and systematic drawbacks, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation announced in April a $36 million grant to purchase 112 zero-emission electric buses. And the state of California either doesn’t know that those buses break down or the state of California doesn’t care. According to the California Energy Commission, the state has spent nearly $80 million on electric vehicle infrastructure.

But while that is bad news for commuters trying to catch the buses, it’s great news for the Chinese company that builds the 60-foot lemons.

The company in question is BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams.” Thanks to Garcetti, Los Angeles has definitely been the Chinese company’s California dream. Poor performance hasn’t hurt their profits. To meet the subsidized demand, the company has even shipped some production to the United States. Industry magazine Clean Technica reports that BYD has “expand[ed] its Lancaster factory in hopes of booming orders in the coming years, having recently tripled the square footage in the factory and, more recently, adding a parts warehouse to the facility.”

By the time 2020 rolls around, Garcetti will have to explain why his government paid millions to a Chinese company for buses that barely run.

[Gonzomin]

The option is to manufacture electric buses here. But that does not happen. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...a-town-of-3-00 China, of course, has embraced them.

[PostmodernProphet]

we should import Chinese buses and steal their technology........

[PostmodernProphet]

The option is to manufacture electric buses here. But that does not happen. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...a-town-of-3-00 China, of course, has embraced them.

????.....what do opioids have to do with Chinese buses?......

[Bill]

The option is to manufacture electric buses here. But that does not happen. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...a-town-of-3-00 China, of course, has embraced them.

It seems no American company is interested in making them here, eventhough there is a huge & growing market moving forward........

[countryboy]

China is America’s single largest strategic rival, working to undermine U.S. authority on the global stage by taking control of a variety of critical emerging industries — the electric vehicle (EV) industry in particular. Beijing has declared capturing the EV supply chain to be a strategic priority, but Congress has a chance to counter this threat in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It must seize this opportunity.

As states and cities nationwide search for ways to reduce operating costs and meet emissions goals, falling battery costs in tandem with federal programs that defray purchase prices have made electric buses an attractive option. This has pushed electric buses to the forefront of a wider EV switch that is estimated to be worth up to $420 billion worldwide as early as 2025.

However, China is alive to the opportunity that the manufacture and sale of electric buses will have on the wider EV market, and has wasted little time in scaling up its manufacturing and market ambitions. There are already 421,000 electric buses in China, compared to just 300 in the United States.

As outlined in its “Made in China 2025 strategy,” Beijing is intent on capturing the entire EV supply chain for global strategic gain, as owning the next generation of transportation technology will give them significant economic and foreign policy leverage for generations to come.

To achieve this, China has spent years — and approximately $60 billion dollars — subsidizing its domestic companies in order to capture overseas markets while the EV industry is still developing, helping Chinese companies to submit bids for major contracts that are as much as $20 million cheaper than its North American competitors.

If we allow transit agencies to use federal funds to buy Chinese electric buses, then these companies are in effect being subsidized twice. What’s worse is that we would be actively assisting Beijing in its goal of U.S. EV dominance, by allowing them to build their EV industry and cement it in first place with American taxpayer dollars.

Permitting federal funding for transit agencies to buy Chinese electric buses would support Beijing’s objectives and place the United States at significant economic and national security risk. Our current transportation system is 92 percent dependent on oil: A volatile and fungible commodity, in which a disruption anywhere affects prices everywhere — regardless of how much the United States produces.

As a result, if China achieves its goal of capturing the EV supply chain, we risk switching our reliance on a volatile oil market to a dependence on Chinese EVs and batteries for our future transportation needs.

Fortunately, the NDAA can help us counter China’s strategy, as it contains provisions introduced in the House by Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.) and in the Senate by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to prevent the expenditure of federal funds by transit agencies to buy Chinese rail cars or buses.

But while the Senate version includes the bus provision, the House version limited the restriction solely to rail rolling stock. This must be amended, and the House must adopt the Senate’s electric bus provision.

The switch from a petroleum past to an electrified future is handing the United States an opportunity to own its transportation future. However, we will only have one attempt to realize this chance. If we do not counter China’s EV ambitions now, we risk losing this golden opportunity to bolster our energy security — and place our transportation needs for the foreseeable future into the hands of our greatest strategic rivals.

Thanks. I agree in principle, but I have to look into the details to make sure the Devil isn't in there.

[Gonzomin]

we should import Chinese buses and steal their technology........

We import them. Do you think we would not steal their technology? The Chinese are capturing the technology of the future.

[PostmodernProphet]

The Chinese are capturing the technology of the future.

yes.....from whereever they can steal it.......that's the problem........

[Bill]

Thanks. I agree in principle, but I have to look into the details to make sure the Devil isn't in there.

Pls do & pls let me know what you find....

I would love to hear others opinions on this & the CCP moves to create their own rival world order & cut the USA & Canada out..

[Gonzomin]

America is still pushing ICEs. Did you ever see a Volt or Bolt commercial? How many electric car commercials do you see? Our corporations want the profit per vehicle that pickups and huge ICE cars provide. This is typical for our manufacturers. They were still making huge cars and vans when the small car revolution hit after the oil blockade. We have to be forced to invest in the future.
American auto companies are judged by 1o day, monthly and yearly metrics. If they buried money into future vehicles, the stockholders would be pissed off.

[Bill]

They are making what ppl will buy, it would be stupid to do otherwise.