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What a kick in the nuts for someone who paid $8K+ for a promise of FSD and now learn that they'll never receive it as their car is too old for it and they can no longer transfer it to a new tesla whenever the day FSD will come. (10+ years and counting) I think it's fraud
It's an expensive computer. Going the way of Microsoft and Apple. lol.
Motor Trend takes a Zeekr 7x for a very short spin and notes that even with Mexico's 50% tariff that it'd only cost a couple grand more than an equivalent Model Y. Presumably in Canada it'd be a lot cheaper than a Model Y (and all the competition).
I test drove the 7X multiple times. They're comfortable, fast, and Volvo-like on the inside but with Lexus-levels of cushioning. Like most Chinese EVs, there are a ton of creature comforts inside.
In HK where I test drove the 7X, their lineup was priced around the Model Y but the 7X has last-gen Lexus RX levels of comfort and build quality. Biggest questions are around long-term reliability, durability, and parts support given how fast these Chinese OEMs churn out facelifts or new models.
They would make perfect lease models in Canada if pricing is aggressive, but then they would also eat Volvo's lunch.
I wouldn't be opposed to a Chinese EV later in the future, but to your point, I would be genuinely curious how the Chinese EV companies will set up shop and adapt to North American needs, and to develop their supply chain, parts, and service network. There are a lot of examples in various industries where Chinese companies failed because of the language barrier. English is not their strong point. My experience is limited to Huawei.
I wouldn't be opposed to a Chinese EV later in the future, but to your point, I would be genuinely curious how the Chinese EV companies will set up shop and adapt to North American needs, and to develop their supply chain, parts, and service network. There are a lot of examples in various industries where Chinese companies failed because of the language barrier. English is not their strong point. My experience is limited to Huawei.
Zeekr already expanded to the EU (and soon UK) so there shouldn't be a language barrier. You can argue they have some supply chain data and dealer network experience via Volvo / Polestar Canada so they can piggy back off of that knowledge.
VinFast arrived in North America with a lot less foreign-market experience but somehow managed to make it work here, so I imagine Zeekr would have the necessary experience and know-how to succeed as well.
I don't know if you can call Vinfast working here, Vancouver is already very EV and foreign maker friendly and they haven't exactly hit it out of the park.
If Carney were to cave in and back out on the Chinese EV deal, his political career would instantly be over as all the credibility he has ever amassed over the course of his career would evapourate into thin air. So on that reason alone, I can't see how he would backtrack.
I would expect him to generally stay the course -- come out to acknowledge how Canada would like to continue engaging in all the close partnerships that are mutually beneficial to both countries, while at the same time, continue to seek non-US opportunities to diversify our trade.
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Originally Posted by westopher
The whole world has gone down a road no one can recover from, and it's nothing to do with governments, it's because so much of the general public is so fucking stupid.
yah, not encouraging him to 'keep the sign out' and be subordinated by the whims of orange man at all. Trump is doing exactly what Carney described, using economics as a power and force to get others to comply or subordinate. On this issue, as a Canadian, I'd say eff you Trump. I realize it would hurt certain sectors even more ... but day to day, I'll just buy Canadian even more.
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you can quote me on that
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Originally Posted by mikemhg
Stay anonymous my friends.
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Originally Posted by bcrdukes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bcrdukes
I wouldn't be opposed to a Chinese EV later in the future, but to your point, I would be genuinely curious how the Chinese EV companies will set up shop and adapt to North American needs, and to develop their supply chain, parts, and service network. There are a lot of examples in various industries where Chinese companies failed because of the language barrier. English is not their strong point. My experience is limited to Huawei.
I'm not in the market for one anyways, but I'd want to see what longer-term support/resale/etc is like before buying one outright. For someone who leases it might be worth a shot though.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed]
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Originally Posted by maksimizer
half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF.
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Originally Posted by RevYouUp
reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z
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Originally Posted by Good_KarMa
OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry:
Zeekr already expanded to the EU (and soon UK) so there shouldn't be a language barrier. You can argue they have some supply chain data and dealer network experience via Volvo / Polestar Canada so they can piggy back off of that knowledge.
VinFast arrived in North America with a lot less foreign-market experience but somehow managed to make it work here, so I imagine Zeekr would have the necessary experience and know-how to succeed as well.
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Originally Posted by underscore
I'm not in the market for one anyways, but I'd want to see what longer-term support/resale/etc is like before buying one outright. For someone who leases it might be worth a shot though.
I know this is not the same, and a lot has changed since COVID-era, but take a read at this article where BYD had some issues in Canada.
Why BYD’s first manufacturing foothold in Canada was a bust
Jason Kirby
Published January 23, 2026
Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
With Canada opening the door slightly to Chinese electric passenger vehicles, Shenzhen-based carmaker BYD has been cited as one company that could benefit and be a potential investor in the sector.
But the Chinese auto giant has already made one foray into vehicle manufacturing in Canada that ended poorly: an electric bus assembly plant in Newmarket, Ont., that closed its doors after a handful of years, a victim of quality issues and political tensions between Ottawa and Beijing.
In 2019, BYD, now the world’s largest EV maker, trumpeted the opening of a 45,000-square-foot bus assembly plant in Newmarket, with a focus on producing an initial trial run of 10 electric buses for the Toronto Transit Commission – which would ultimately be the sum total of the plant’s output.
The Ontario plant was BYD’s second in North America after a bus assembly facility in Lancaster, Calif., and the first bus rolled out the door the following year.
Today the company’s name is stripped from the building, which has since been sold, marking the end of what the company saw as a foothold for its expansion into Canada.
Even in the U.S., where the company’s California plant produces electric school buses, the BYD name, which stands for “build your dreams,” is gone. In 2022, the company’s North American operations rebranded as RIDE, an acronym for “real innovation delivered with excellence.”
The company retains a “handful” of employees in Canada, said Frank Girardot, RIDE’s senior communications director. After the Newmarket facility completed the project for the TTC, it ceased operations, he said, declining to elaborate on the closing, or the status of any outstanding contracts.
What’s clear is that from early on, there were signs of quality issues with BYD’s buses in Canada.
“A big problem the TTC had when they were running the BYD buses was getting parts,” said Steve Munro, a Toronto transit watcher and blogger. “BYD didn’t have the whole supply chain that you’d expect anybody in the automotive industry would have to service people who own their product.”
Replacement parts and language issues were among the challenges with the BYD buses, according to a 2022 TTC report.
Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The TTC documented the challenges posed by the vehicles in a 2022 report, which stated it was extremely difficult to obtain replacement parts. According to the report, it took BYD 73 days to source a replacement rear axle for one bus.
“BYD has not provided sufficient engineering support on site and remotely,” the report stated. “Repair manuals and procedures are of poor quality and BYD’s diagnostic tool is currently not available in English.”
Other municipalities that acquired BYD buses faced similar problems.
In 2017, St. Albert, Alta., became the first municipality in Canada to add long-range electric buses to its transit fleet, eventually buying a total of seven BYD buses by the following year. The vehicles were built at the California plant.
However, in 2023, the city revealed three of the seven vehicles required full battery replacements within the first five years of operation, while all seven required replacement of propulsion components like drive motors and gearboxes, according to the St. Albert Gazette. The battery replacements each took 80 days to complete.
Meanwhile, Montreal’s transit authority bought four buses from BYD in 2018 and 2019 that were never put into use because the battery range proved to be insufficient and the buses were not suitable for customers with reduced mobility, according to Amélie Régis, a spokesperson for Société de transport de Montréal. The buses are now used for day camps and corporate contracts.
Ted Dowling, the Canadian executive who served as vice-president of BYD Canada at the time, but who left the company in 2022, acknowledges that “at the start the buses had some issues, but if you talk to the TTC and other operators they’re very happy with them.”
In an e-mail, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said because the BYD buses have a charging system that is incompatible with its infrastructure they are all in storage, while the transit agency tries to find new homes for them.
Rising tensions between Canada and China compounded BYD’s struggles in Canada, Mr. Dowling said, citing Beijing’s detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.
The pandemic also presented challenges, he said, though with the TTC order completed, BYD shifted gears at the facility in 2020 and used it to instead make and store personal protective equipment for the Ontario and federal governments.
A 2021 report from Ontario’s auditor-general showed that as of Dec. 31, 2020, BYD Canada had received $24.6-million for PPE gear.
Once Canada implemented a 100-per-cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024 and launched consultations about further duties, “that shut everything down” in terms of BYD’s interest in Canada, said Mr. Dowling, though by then he’d left the company and the plant had closed.
Now Canada’s restrictions on Chinese EVs are lifting, with the federal government planning to allow 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter the market each year at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent. Part of the quota will be reserved for vehicles that cost less than $35,000.
The beneficiaries of that, at least for the portion above $35,000, will likely be Tesla and Polestar, said Mr. Dowling. “If you think a big company like BYD is going to spend $10-million” to adapt its vehicles for sale in Canada “for a market share of maybe 10,000 cars a year, it’s not going to happen.”
That said, BYD’s Chinese rival Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. is positioning itself to sell its EVs in Canada.
There is the possibility BYD may eventually invest in auto production in Canada, but doing so would require BYD to build extensive capacity to service its vehicles, he said.
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