For ~$60k you can buy vehicles like the Li Auto L9 that are nicer than a brand new Rolls Royce. The value for price you get blows other manufacturers out of the water.
However, I agree that Chinese EVs are a serious competition to other EVs.
But on a driver experience feature-by-feature comparison the Li-L9 actually competes with a Rolls Royce:
- flat vertical reclinable seats
- 9 point massage chairs
- Heads up display
- advanced self-driving with LIDAR
- chamber to heat and cool food
- OLED back passenger screens with gesture control
- voice control of the vehicle
- quiet closing doors
RR is about building each car for the given customer. There’s almost no limit to what you can wish.
Can a Rolls Royce turn its wheels 90 degrees to park sideways? Does it have advanced LIDAR self-driving?
Also good luck getting any replacement parts down the road wherever you live.
China is not just beating the U.S. on price, they are beating their manufacturers on quality and features. I'm not suggesting Toyota levels of reliability yet, but Tesla doesn't have a track record of reliability either. These Chinese EV's are easily as good as a Tesla, and better given advanced features like LIDAR that Elon cut from Tesla's.
It was bullshit then, and it is bullshit now. Ik fairness, I heard great reports from people that bought Chinese EVs in terms of overall quality.
Perhaps ironically, there were many reports of Teslas actually having issues with poor fit and finishing.