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The Korean govt is fine with Korean car companies licensing battery tech from Chinese companies due to existing investments in the space (eg. Samsung has a minority stake in BYD), but Japan's METI has been pushing the Japanese ecosystem to build their own semi-domestic battery ecosystem that is independent of Li-ion batteries.

That's why Toyota and Idemetsu are rolling out sulfide Solid State Battery manufacturing in NC with production starting in 2026.

I had the Kona EV for a while. The back seats are for ants (I was otherwise reasonably happy with it). We are currently running my wife's ICE into the ground, then a Kia is certainly on the short-list.

Also a good choice. But I’m too brown to drive a Korean car. My mom would not approve!

But Japanese cars are ok?

I know you're being funny, but I don't understand the joke: why does brown culture avoid Korean cars?

Prestige consciousness.

Thanks for the explanation