California Should Allow Sale of Chinese EVs Amid High Gas Prices, Says Ripple Co-Founder

California Should Allow Sale of Chinese EVs Amid High Gas Prices, Says Ripple Co-Founder · Image via Shutterstock

Badar Shaikh

Thu, September 10, 2026 at 1:45 PM GMT+3 5 min read

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Investor and co-founder of Ripple Labs, Chris Larsen, thinks that California should allow the sale of low-cost EVs from China in the state for low-income people to help make vehicle ownership accessible.

$10,000 BYD Seagull in California?

During an appearance on the podcast "On with Kara Swisher" on Monday, Larsen argued against not allowing low-cost EVs made by Chinese automakers like BYD Co. Ltd. into the U.S. market.

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"The BYD Seagull, $10,000 car, fabulous car," Larsen said. "We should be letting that into California at least for our low-income folks," he said, pointing to high gas prices in the state as the Iran war continues. He also pointed to the California tax levied on gas, which is roughly 70 cents a gallon.

"That's the most regressive tax in the world," he said. "That's hurting the guy that can't afford to live in Silicon Valley adding "Let him buy a Chinese BYD Seagull."

Ford Hits Back At Trump Over China Ties

Ford Motor Co. hit back at the President Donald Trump administration after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reportedly wrote a letter to the company's CEO Jim Farley, urging the automaker to wind down its ties with Chinese companies like BYD, citing national security risks.

Ford called the letter a "wrongheaded attempt" to capture headlines and also denied that it wanted to set up joint ventures with Chinese automakers to let them gain access to the U.S. market. Notably, Canada had earlier shared that it would allow the entry of up to 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into the market at a reduced tariff rate as part of a deal with Beijing.

Image via Shutterstock

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