The cost, quality, and technology of Chinese EVs exceeds what Jim Farley has seen ‚in the West.‘ He would know, because he drove a Xiaomi SU7 for six months and didn’t want to give it back.
This might be hard to hear, but China’s electric car industry is running laps around the US, which Ford CEO Jim Farley describes as „the most humbling thing I have ever seen.“
Seventy percent of electric vehicles are made in China and „they have far superior in-vehicle technology“, Farley said at the Aspen Ideas Festival, according to Business Insider. „You get in, you don’t have to pair your phone. Automatically, your whole digital life is mirrored in the car.“
Meanwhile, the cost and quality of the vehicles „is far superior to what I see in the West.“
Farley has been open about the US auto industry’s inability to compete with China for a while. In August 2024, Ford cited it as the main reason it killed plans for a 3-row electric SUV and pivoted to hybrids. The biggest issue is China’s access to cheaper batteries.
„The electric vehicle market is rapidly evolving as Chinese competitors leverage advantaged cost structures“, Ford said at the time. „An affordable electric vehicle starts with an affordable battery. If you are not competitive on battery cost, you are not competitive.”
China is the dominant global player when it comes to battery minerals mining and production. Its companies bankroll new plants around the world, including one in Indonesia that’s set to open in 2026, Reuters reports.
