In the American century, perhaps nothing is more symbolic than a car. The assembly line has launched millions of Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet and Buick and has built the motorcycle city of Michigan's automotive city, the capital of the global automotive industry. But in the race to dominate the automotive industry in the 21st century, China is competing for pole position. This is the smart car that Chinese automakers will build tomorrow. The energy to refuel is electric.

Today, U.S. automakers have been arrested between a tariff trade war and the threat of the Trump administration cutting subsidies for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Beijing is trying to win the race by ensuring future electric vehicles are made in China.

Michael Dunne: China will build one million electric vehicles this year. That's a good scale. That's half of the world's electric cars.

Michael Dunne, who grew up in the American motor city of Detroit and then pursued adventures in the late 1980s, went to Chongqing in western China.

Michael Dunne: Everyone is poor, wearing gray and blues, riding a bike. No cars.

Holly Williams: No car?

Michael Dunne: There are no cars at all.

Dunne watched China develop from an isolated socialist country to a powerful country with controlled capitalism. From a bike rider to a car driver. He has been an automotive industry consultant in Asia for 30 years, including as a GM executive. Now, Dunn is witnessing the Chinese government literally inspiring its emerging automotive industry.

Holly Williams: What is the Chinese government's actions to encourage people to buy electric cars?
Michael Dunn: A lot. Without government regulations, there will be no electric vehicle industry or market here.
Holly Williams: Is this a completely created by the government?
Michael Dunne: The government was created completely. So when you buy an electric car in several cities, you get up to $10,000 in rebates.

Holly Williams: What else does the government do?

Michael Dunne: For example, in Shanghai - Usually, you have to pay $12,000-13,000 to buy a license to buy a car. That- they gave up.

Holly Williams: If you buy an electric car, they are free.

Michael Dunn: Yes.

Results: The explosion of electric car manufacturers (around one hundred) is fed in government troughs. You can buy big walls or “build your own dreams” – American billionaire Warren Buffett was an early investor.

The latest entry in the crowded Chinese auto market is Nio.

Nio's founder is William Li. A 44-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, we met in Beijing last year.
Nio is the only all-electric luxury car brand in China.

Holly Williams: It's kind of like Tesla.

The similarity to Tesla is no coincidence. Nio's ES8 is competing with Tesla made in the United States for the rich, status-conscious, Chinese. Their significant consumption makes China one of the world's largest luxury goods markets, with no import costs and the price in New York State is about half of what Tesla's price.

Holly Williams: Did I hear you are the one who calls him a Tesla killer?

William Li Chinese: OK, OK.

Holly Williams: Maybe it's you.

William Lee: Maybe. perhaps.

Holly Williams: It doesn't look like a killer.

Holly Williams: Should we bring it to the spin?

William Lee: Yes.

Holly Williams: How is this acceleration?

Lee claimed his car increased from zero to 60 in 4.4 seconds.

Williams and Lee: 650 horsepower

Full charge is about 220 miles.

Plus the car has a built-in personal assistant called "nomi".

Holly Williams: Can we try NOMI?

William Lee: Yes

Who will follow voice commands as long as you speak Chinese.

Holly Williams Chinese: Hi Nomi.

William Lee: Wow. Cool.

Holly Williams: She knows me.

William Lee: Yes, of course.

Nomi is the embodiment of artificial intelligence. She will use the music playlist to entertain you, adjust the temperature or take a selfie under command. This is China's innovation - a huge leap from the past of the Communist Party of China.

Holly Williams: What will Chairman Mao do with a capitalist like you (laughter)?

Li told us that Chairman Mao would say, “You did a good job.”

Holly Williams: Really? He is a communist. He hates capitalists like you!

"We are working to make a better world," Lee said.

In Chinese, Li's automobile company's slogan is "Blue Sky". One of the reasons why the Chinese government is pushing for electric vehicles is a way to reduce suffocational air pollution in the country.

Holly Williams: You are called Elon Musk of China. Is it fair?

William Lee: I (laughter) are younger than him.

Holly Williams: I've been talking to a lot of Chinese since I came here. They said they really like Tesla.

William Lee: “Yes.”

Holly Williams: How will you compete with it?

Lee said it was like fashion styles were worn in the driveway.

William Li: “It’s different.”

"The clothes may be beautiful, but you can't wear them every day," he explained.

Holly Williams: Tesla is a super model, are you the girl next door?

William Lee: Yes.

Automotive analyst Michael Dunne said the first challenge for NIO is to overcome China's reputation for building cheap, low-quality cars.

Holly Williams: Are they trying to eliminate Tesla from China and take over Tesla globally?

Michael Dunne: There are many markets here that allow Tesla to play and Nio to play. What Nio needs to do is build credibility with consumers and say, "We are legal. We - a very good car."

In September, Neo became the first Chinese all-electric vehicle company to debut on the New York Stock Exchange. The prevalent initial public offering raised a billion dollars.

Holly Williams: Is this a racing car?

The Nio team lasted for two seasons in Formula E Circuit, including in Brooklyn, New York. Prove that electric cars are catching up with electric motors and speeds gas engines.

However, NIOS is indeed designed for tech-savvy Chinese owners who link to cars through mobile apps. Click the screen to repair or maintain. Click to order a mobile charging van to quickly increase power.

Click again to access the exchange station where the depleted battery can be replaced with a robot mechanically within three minutes.

William Li could only dream of this futuristic scene as a child.

Holly Williams: Do people in your village have cars?

William Lee: No.

Ironically, the founder of the high-tech electric vehicle company grew up in an agricultural village without electricity.

Holly Williams: So you learn about the business, raise cattle with your grandfather.

William Lee: Yes - Yes - Yes.

Holly Williams: What did you learn?

Lee explains that when you do business, “honest is very important.”

Lee has established or supported about 40 startups, including the online car market and a bicycle sharing company. His estimated net worth is $1.2 billion, and Lee put his $150 million in Nio.

Holly Williams: Americans are very slow to adopt electric cars.

William Li: Well (yes).

Holly Williams: Is there any difference in China?

"It will definitely be fast," Li told us, because the Chinese government is pushing for electric cars.

In Shanghai, China has established the world's largest database of electric vehicles.

Holly Williams: Is this a map of all electric cars in Shanghai?

Ding Xiaohua: Yeah.

Ding Xiaohua is the deputy manager of Shanghai Electric Vehicle Data Center, which collects millions of information every day, covering nearly 200,000 electric vehicles on the city’s streets.

Holly Williams: So let's find Tesla.

Ding Xiaohua: So this is just a Tesla brand.

Holly Williams: Are these Teslas?

Ding Xiaohua: Yes. All Teslas.

Every electric car in the city has a black box inside, and data is automatically transmitted to the center every 30 seconds.

Ding Xiaohua: For example, speed, mileage, battery temperature.

Holly Williams: Does this help the government’s future plans?

Ding Xiaohua: Yes, public charging points, how many public charging points are there? And it's the best place for public chargers.

There is no such thing in the United States or anywhere else. China paved the way for electric vehicles in the 21st century.

Most of the country's hundreds of electric vehicle startups will be killed by the race. But William Li believes Nio will survive, noting that his company has met its modest goal of providing 10,000 cars last year.

Holly Williams: Why are the numbers so small now?

Lee told us: “When companies increase production of new things, there are always problems and delays.” He added that Neo’s cars are made to orders.

We visited Nio's production line, where the ordered cars are dominated by spotless, automated high-tech factories and a bunch of rotating robots.

With China's massive manufacturing machines, Nio may be able to expand faster than foreign competitors.

At the company’s R&D outpost in San Jose, California, Padma Warrior (until last December) U.S. CEO Padma Warrior predicts that one day it will be on the U.S. road, but she’s about when it will be Cagey.

Holly Williams: What does this mean for the American consumers and American drivers you want?

Padma Warrior: I hope consumers can see it as the future.

Holly Williams: The future of China?

Padma Warrior: The China-oriented future.

Nio is one of nine Chinese electric cars to open stores on the West Coast, and they can attract the world's best engineers, programmers and software developers. Nio employs over 600.

Padma Warrior: We have people here working on Google, Apple, Cisco, AT Apple, and at Tesla, you can name it.

Holly Williams: I think some people might think this is transferring American technology to Chinese companies.

Padma Warrior: I can't see that. I think I think it is more like, where is the biggest market for electric vehicles, right? What is the biggest problem with pollution? Obviously, that's China. So I see it as the best talent pool and make the world a better place.

This year, the Chinese government will require all global automakers in the country to make their vehicles account for 10%. U.S. automakers have invested billions of dollars in electric vehicle technology. But unlike Chinese companies, they have no government trying to solve the game.

Automotive industry consultant Michael Dunne warned China about being determined to bend over the electric vehicle industry.

Michael Dunne: The market size alone makes China an irresistible place for any global automaker. If you are not in China, don't play. So China said: "Well, how hard do you need our market? OK. Very G-Welcome to sell as many cars as you can, as long as you are still following our new rules for electric vehicles."

Holly Williams: Is the United States already leading the leadership in this industry -

Michael Dunne: No. It's not too late. Too early. China has made electric cars for three or four years.

Holly Williams: When is it too late?

Michael Dunne: If we wait for 2025, China will produce 5 million a year, and if we are still making one million, oh, now all the technology and design engineering are concentrated in China. How do you catch up with this?

Produced by Howard L. Rosenberg and Julie L. Holstein