Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Is the global transition to electric vehicles now unstoppable—and can Western automakers survive China’s rapidly growing lead?
Michael Liebreich, founder and Senior Contributor to BloombergNEF, Managing Partner of EcoPragma Capital and CEO of Liebreich Associates, joins Tim Burrows to examine the two races reshaping the global automotive industry.
Michael explains why electric vehicles can represent nearly one-third of new vehicle sales while remaining a relatively small share of the cars already on the road. He also discusses:
• Why the shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles will take decades
• How China became the world’s leading vehicle exporter
• Why Chinese automakers pose an unprecedented challenge to legacy manufacturers
• Whether tariffs protect Western automakers—or allow them to delay
• Why the United States may be driving in the wrong technological direction
• What Western automakers must accomplish within the next three years
• How Chinese manufacturing investment could help rebuild competitiveness
• The security, data and sovereignty safeguards that must accompany Chinese EVs
In Part 2, Michael turns specifically to Canada: where the country can still compete, how it should approach Chinese EV investment, and what both EV optimists and sceptics are getting wrong.
WATCH PART 2: youtu.be/w-v4-oQzkpg
ABOUT MICHAEL LIEBREICH
Michael Liebreich is Managing Partner of EcoPragma Capital and CEO of Liebreich Associates. He is the founder and a Senior Contributor to BloombergNEF and the founder and host of Cleaning Up—Leadership in an Age of Climate Change.
Liebreich Associates:
liebreich.com
EcoPragma Capital:
http://www.ecopragma.capital/
Cleaning Up:
http://www.cleaningup.live/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Two races threatening Western automakers
00:30 Is the global EV transition unstoppable?
00:58 Why EV sales and the vehicle fleet look so different
02:47 What could accelerate—or delay—the transition?
03:30 EVs versus combustion—and China versus the West
04:16 Combustion-car sales have fallen since 2017
04:48 How China became the leading vehicle exporter
05:08 What Japan’s automotive rise can teach us
06:34 Are Western automakers being protected—or enabled?
06:46 Is the US driving the wrong way on EV technology?
08:08 A three-year ultimatum for legacy automakers
09:04 The EV battery supply-chain challenge
09:20 How international investment saved Britain’s auto industry
10:19 Why manufacturing speed will determine the winners
10:56 Chinese EVs, data security and sovereignty
12:23 Coming in Part 2: Can Canada still compete?
Hosted by Tim Burrows
Produced by the Electric Vehicle Society
evsociety.ca
Subscribe for expert conversations about electric vehicles, batteries, charging, automotive technology and the global transition to electric transportation.
#ElectricVehicles #ChinaEVs #MichaelLiebreich
Is the global transition to electric vehicles now unstoppable—and can Western automakers survive China’s rapidly growing lead?
Michael Liebreich, founder and Senior Contributor to BloombergNEF, Managing Partner of EcoPragma Capital and CEO of Liebreich Associates, joins Tim Burrows to examine the two races reshaping the global automotive industry.
Michael explains why electric vehicles can represent nearly one-third of new vehicle sales while remaining a relatively small share of the cars already on the road. He also discusses:
• Why the shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles will take decades
• How China became the world’s leading vehicle exporter
• Why Chinese automakers pose an unprecedented challenge to legacy manufacturers
• Whether tariffs protect Western automakers—or allow them to delay
• Why the United States may be driving in the wrong technological direction
• What Western automakers must accomplish within the next three years
• How Chinese manufacturing investment could help rebuild competitiveness
• The security, data and sovereignty safeguards that must accompany Chinese EVs
In Part 2, Michael turns specifically to Canada: where the country can still compete, how it should approach Chinese EV investment, and what both EV optimists and sceptics are getting wrong.
WATCH PART 2: youtu.be/w-v4-oQzkpg
ABOUT MICHAEL LIEBREICH
Michael Liebreich is Managing Partner of EcoPragma Capital and CEO of Liebreich Associates. He is the founder and a Senior Contributor to BloombergNEF and the founder and host of Cleaning Up—Leadership in an Age of Climate Change.
Liebreich Associates:
liebreich.com
EcoPragma Capital:
http://www.ecopragma.capital/
Cleaning Up:
http://www.cleaningup.live/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Two races threatening Western automakers
00:30 Is the global EV transition unstoppable?
00:58 Why EV sales and the vehicle fleet look so different
02:47 What could accelerate—or delay—the transition?
03:30 EVs versus combustion—and China versus the West
04:16 Combustion-car sales have fallen since 2017
04:48 How China became the leading vehicle exporter
05:08 What Japan’s automotive rise can teach us
06:34 Are Western automakers being protected—or enabled?
06:46 Is the US driving the wrong way on EV technology?
08:08 A three-year ultimatum for legacy automakers
09:04 The EV battery supply-chain challenge
09:20 How international investment saved Britain’s auto industry
10:19 Why manufacturing speed will determine the winners
10:56 Chinese EVs, data security and sovereignty
12:23 Coming in Part 2: Can Canada still compete?
Hosted by Tim Burrows
Produced by the Electric Vehicle Society
evsociety.ca
Subscribe for expert conversations about electric vehicles, batteries, charging, automotive technology and the global transition to electric transportation.
#ElectricVehicles #ChinaEVs #MichaelLiebreich
