BEIJING Motor Show

[jayapple]

Whoa!! Now that's interesting. Back in 2018 my family & I were in Beijing for a couple of weeks and I didn't see a single North American style pickup. My daughter-in-law, a native Beijinger, asserted that they weren't permitted in China.

Pickup trucks are banned from urban areas in China, so they can only be seen in the countryside. But in recent years, policy seems to have eased.

 

[amirm]

Pickup trucks are banned from urban areas in China, so they can only be seen in the countryside. But in recent years, policy seems to have eased.

Didn't know this. What was the motivation for the ban?

 

[AudioJester]

Didn't know this. What was the motivation for the ban?

Improve air quality in big cities. Has made a difference.
Now there is a new generation of electric pickups

 

[GaryH]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tall-trucks-suvs-are-45-deadlier-us-pedestrians-study-shows-2023-11-14/

 

[jayapple]

they all look beautiful, even if very similar to each other. But it's a problem for every brand: the watchword is "conformity"!!

Of course, long gone are those days where cars were cars. Each brand had its own peculiarity, its own personality. You could recognize them even in the fog, some had a characteristic "voice". Let's say that modern cars are increasingly "appliances" with wheels.
For those who have a passion for driving, there is very little left: we have to settle for tablets on wheels, because the world wants this, sadly, and, for those who dreamed of an engine or a very specific mechanical feature, there is very little left to look for....
There is very little left of romance in the world of cars....

At car shows, you can still see a bunch of gas cars, but they're not the main attraction anymore. Gasoline cars have also become more and more alike in recent years, and it feels like there hasn't been much technological progress.

You often hear news about Tesla owners dozing off while driving, and electric cars leave gas cars in the dust when it comes to acceleration.

I love driving too, but gas cars have kind of hit a plateau lately, whereas electric cars bring intelligent driving to the table. The mind-boggling array of assisted driving features definitely makes things easier, and the super quiet cabin and comfy seats provide a way better experience than your average gas car.

 

[amirm]

Improve air quality in big cities. Has made a difference.

I don't think I have seen worse pollution than the last time I was in Beijing. OK, LA rivals that but boy, was it unhealthy when I was there.

 

[jayapple]

I don't think I have seen worse pollution than the last time I was in Beijing. OK, LA rivals that but boy, was it unhealthy when I was there.

Big cities do have very serious air pollution problems, so electric cars do have some role to play. But the main problem is industrial pollution, as far as I know, many factories have been shut down or moved.
But I still get a sore throat every time I go to Beijing.

 

[JeffS7444]

It should be hard to see an EV car in the United States, with the exception of a Tesla. Times are changing, electric vehicles have accounted for more than 40%, and fuel cars are no longer the protagonist at auto shows.

That's probably true in parts of the USA where average driving distances are long, climate is cold, or the charging infrastructure simply doesn't exist. But in my urban area, electric vehicles have been a common sight for years. But "city cars" are not not yet a thing on USA streets (but rental e-scooters from firms like Lime are, to the annoyance of many), so what I mostly see are medium-sized (Tesla Model 3 et al) to large vehicles (Rivian, etc including Amazon delivery vehicles).

 

[Gorgonzola]

Pickup trucks are banned from urban areas in China, so they can only be seen in the countryside. But in recent years, policy seems to have eased.

What you say confirms what we saw in 2018 -- no pickups at all in Beijing, Xi'an, Ping Yao, or Datong where we visited. Passing quickly thru the countryside, I didn't see any either. We did see various trucks of similar carrying capacity but none in style of the pickups we see in NA.

I can only speculate that the size & weight of pickup vehicles was an aspect. EVs are favored by the Beijing government and it is much easier and cheaper to get a license for an EV. Maybe worth mentioning, in Beijing we saw plenty of higher-end Mercedes Benz, a few Bentleys, a Rolls Royce, and other posh marques, so the cost of pickups would not have been a factor.

 

[Mikig]

At car shows, you can still see a bunch of gas cars, but they're not the main attraction anymore. Gasoline cars have also become more and more alike in recent years, and it feels like there hasn't been much technological progress.

You often hear news about Tesla owners dozing off while driving, and electric cars leave gas cars in the dust when it comes to acceleration.

I love driving too, but gas cars have kind of hit a plateau lately, whereas electric cars bring intelligent driving to the table. The mind-boggling array of assisted driving features definitely makes things easier, and the super quiet cabin and comfy seats provide a way better experience than your average gas car.

that electric cars are excellent cars, there is no doubt! as indeed all the latest internal combustion cars are. As an enthusiast, however, I find one major flaw. The total lack of personality; both in guidance, content and form. A few years ago I still had my beautiful BMW Z4, and I took a tour of Europe, with an obligatory stop at Nurburing. The guided part of the Alpine passes was for me, passionate, an integral part of the tour. In short, I doubt that I can have that much fun with a modern electric car, apart from the 3 seconds on 0-100 km/h and the assisted driving... I miss this nowadays...