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Juan Enrique's avatar

Just one thing. Some of the chinese innovatios you talk about are not great. Screen-based controls makes for worse control overall, being more distracting and less easy to manage without looking at them. There is a reason that controls have rugged surfaces, and it's so that you can feel them while you keep looking on the road. In europe car manufacturers are already trying to go back to old fashion controls because it also makes cars less safe, as you cannot use them if you run out of battery. Screens for driveless cars or for the passengers are a good add to the car, but they shouldn't replace everything and that's what many chinese carmakers are doing. It makes sense for them cause they can integrate everything in one screen, which in the end can make it cheaper and easier than having multiple different buttons, and it even looks "cool" and futuristic. But we should look a bit deeper and see they don't bring much benefit to the consumer

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Robert Merkel's avatar

Noah, the key issue with Chinese-developed cars and cybersecurity isn’t where the chips are made, it’s who controls the software and administers the servers that store the extensive telemetry that all EVs (and modern ICE cars) send back to their manufacturers and sundry other companies.

Even if a BYD is made in America with 100% American components, if BYD control the servers that receive the telemetry and provide software updates, Chinese intelligence can mine that data, brick the cars, and a variety of other movie-plot possibilities.

I just can’t see any way in which the Chinese car manufacturers can supply complete cars to the American market in a way that mitigates the risks of the Chinese government using their access for malign purposes.

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