this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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638
Trump Is Obsessed With Oil. But Chinese Batteries Will Soon Run the World (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 1 day ago by UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
160 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Chinese technology companies are paving the way for a world that will be powered by electric motors rather than gas-guzzling engines. It is a decisively 21st-century approach not just to solve its own energy problems, but also to sell batteries and other electric products to everyone else. Canada is its newest buyer of EVs; in a rebuke of Mr. Trump, its prime minister, Mark Carney, lowered tariffs on the cars as part of a new trade deal.

Though Americans have been slow to embrace electric vehicles, Chinese households have learned to love them. In 2025, 54 percent of new cars sold in China were either battery-powered or plug-in hybrids. That is a big reason that the country’s oil consumption is on track to peak in 2027, according to forecasts from the International Energy Agency. And Chinese E.V makers are setting records — whether it’s BYD’s sales (besting Tesla by battery-powered vehicles sold for the first time last year) or Xiaomi’s speed (its cars are setting records at major racetracks like Nürburgring in Germany).

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Sure. But that doesn't change China's economic growth path. You aren't changing their behavior

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Oh, certainly. However, if enough nations had their heads out of their asses and spoke with engineers rather than oil tycoons, we'd have a more competitive and distributed market for these technologies and a lower future dependence on Chinese imports for said technologies.

Right now, I can see a chokehold forming on that sector, and it's a completely self-inflicted circumstance for those deadset on oil.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

we’d have a more competitive and distributed market for these technologies and a lower future dependence on Chinese imports for said technologies.

I don't see a future where at least one of the two largest populations of educated professionals doesn't lead the way on electric vehicles. And that really only leaves you with China or India.

You might have a broader distribution or more regionalized production. But there's no world in which a country with the manufacturing capacity plus the enormous population advantage doesn't come out on top eventually.

Right now, I can see a chokehold forming on that sector

I don't see a chokehold on EVs any more than Taiwan has a chokehold on CPUs.

There's a building comparative advantage, but the global market is enormous. Plenty of room to catch up.

That's why China has ten competitive major brands right now

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Regarding EVs I agree with you, but I was referring to sodium/solid state battery production.

As for Chinese production leading the charge, I also think that's apt, but I'm referring to the availability of domestic alternatives for things such as military production, which seems to only being kickstarted recently compared to say the 2010s. Currently, it seems like compromises will have to be made in order to minimize reliance on imported batteries from China, which is not necessarily a problem for the consumer market, but may be for governments seeking isolationist policies for their self-sufficiency (EU, US).

There is still plenty of time for things to change of course, but there are plenty of missed opportunities along the way.