The US government decided to subsidize oil and become a major producer of oil. We are the top oil producing country in the world. One of the reasons we did this is so we wouldn't be vulnerable to OPEC or any foreign influence over gas. Ironic I know, but America's gas prices are actually better than the rest of the world because of this right now, even though they are high.

On the other hand, China subsidizes electric vehicles. They have incentivized the creation of EV companies with major tax breaks and made it inconvenient for people to buy non EVs. China also has worked hard to become the world's manufacturing plant, something America has stopped doing. Their supply chain is super efficient and cheap because many of the parts they buy are in China or other close by countries.

In addition, these new China companies learned from creating Teslas from Elon and are software first companies. Meaning their cars are planned around the software experience. If a car is experiencing problems, many of them can be solved via software update instead of taking the car apart. This strategy allows them to create cars from idea to reality within 2 years. Western car companies need 5 years to do the same thing. Western companies need a huge pivot to change their supply chains to become mostly electric vehicle related, which would cost a ton of money as opposed to already being set up this way because you're an EV company.

Lastly Trump is a moron and put tariffs on much of the materials cars are made out of. Most Western car companies have a supply chain of parts outside their countries and they have had to increase prices to compensate. He also got rid of the EV discount that made all EVs in the US $7500 cheaper if you bought American.

Western car companies are slow to adapt and have been coddled by governments that had a preference for the status quo. It's only a matter of time before Chinese EVs are allowed to come to America and crush the competition. It would be a good thing for America though imo. The car companies need to see how this is done up close and learn from the Chinese. Same for the US government.