Western governments love EVs. The European Union and the U.S. do everything possible to promote them to consumers. But you know who loves EVs even more? China.

China is the planet's EV power center. Because China is the world's leading auto market and the government is pushing EVs there too, BYD beat Tesla to become the No. 1 EV car maker in 2023.

Henry Ford invented the automobile and Elon Musk popularized battery-powered cars, but the Chinese will come to dominate the post-gas automotive market the West created. The support China gives to this segment of the auto market means domestic manufacturers there have the incentives to flood the zone with product.

Americans will find it hard to compete with that kind of capacity. As imports rise, the native auto industry will whither at a time when a new auto industry is being born.

Call it an opportunity lost.

Good luck building a Ford F-150 Lighting, or even some Teslas, without a Chinese battery powering it. There is no such thing as an American EV battery company. Tesla's home-grown 4680 battery is not produced at scale yet. And unless a U.S. company can invent a better, longer lasting battery........

© Newsweek