this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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Chinese technology companies are paving the way for a world that will be powered by electric motors rather than gas-guzzling engines. It is a decisively 21st-century approach not just to solve its own energy problems, but also to sell batteries and other electric products to everyone else. Canada is its newest buyer of EVs; in a rebuke of Mr. Trump, its prime minister, Mark Carney, lowered tariffs on the cars as part of a new trade deal.

Though Americans have been slow to embrace electric vehicles, Chinese households have learned to love them. In 2025, 54 percent of new cars sold in China were either battery-powered or plug-in hybrids. That is a big reason that the country’s oil consumption is on track to peak in 2027, according to forecasts from the International Energy Agency. And Chinese E.V makers are setting records — whether it’s BYD’s sales (besting Tesla by battery-powered vehicles sold for the first time last year) or Xiaomi’s speed (its cars are setting records at major racetracks like Nürburgring in Germany).

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[–] fennesz12@feddit.dk 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Our Danish company Ørsted which produces wind power, has been in a huge legal dispute with the American administration for months over this. He wants oil, even if wind is cheaper:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/02/rsted-files-legal-challenge-against-us-government-over-windfarm-lease-freeze

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He wants oil even if the wind is cheaper, the wind farm is almost finished and already producing power

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah because it's not so much "he wants" as "oil and gas corporations are paying him for".

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[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 39 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Beyond EVs, the much cheaper sodium-ion battery is entering mass production in China. We can already buy B-grade cells on AliExpress. This will have implications for all sorts of use cases that could use batteries but don't due to cost.

[–] Rekall_Incorporated@piefed.social 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

much cheaper sodium-ion battery

To my understanding, these aren't suitable for many use cases we associate with batteries (smartphones, EVs, laptops), but it has the potential to have a massive impact on utility scale battery systems and industrial use cases.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah they can't match top of the line Li-Ion like lithium-cobalt batteries. Neither can LFP, but LFP is good enough for lower range EVs cars as they're already used in such. Sodium ion has even lower density than LFP but not dramatically so and it's still early days so their density is likely to improve. Look at these two cells currently on sale:

The first one is a CATL-made LFP. The second is some smaller manufacturer's sodium ion. The 729Whr vs 713Whr, 1944cm³ vs 2593cm³. If the sodium ones can be made cheap enough, these are already usable in low range vehicles like Nissan Leaf or equivalent. And then there's buses, trucks, other ICE powered equipment.

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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Yeah, conservatives don't think of the future except through the lens of the present. They can't imagine a world with EVs and batteries because they have oil brains. They are looking for solutions to problems with an oil first mindset. Sunk cost is everything.

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[–] Rekall_Incorporated@piefed.social 27 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I wonder if the prediction that China will hit peak oil in 2027 will come true. This will have a massive impact on oil markets.

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[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Oil companies will probably go the way of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, going broke. They’re continuing to invest heavily in oil infrastructure at a time when the market is shifting and even now there is a flattening of demand for oil products where EVs are becoming prevalent. The trend will start to hit profitability and they will most likely double down.

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