If I specifically don’t want touch screens, what then?

Western culture is built on delivering value to shareholders first and foremost.

Higher profit margins.

Europeans get the bulk of cheaper and smaller EVs. Meanwhile in North America, Ford stopped selling sedans. It’s a niche that car makers could fill if they wanted to.

That's why I snatched up a Bolt before Chevy (temporarily, they say) discontinued the line. I even did upgrade it a little to get heated/cooling front seats and a heated steering wheel plus the extra safety features. $32.5k with a $7.5k rebate from the federal Clean Vehicle Credit. So $25k for a car with a 175-280 mile range. (175ish in winter when the battery is less efficient, 280 in summer).

Of course the IRS fucked up the point of sale rebate when I was purchasing, but it's finally incoming with my taxes this year.

It's a combination of issues. In no particular order;

• precursor availability: All the stuff that EVs are made of, is made in China. If you want to build EVs it's easier and cheaper to get all the parts in China than it is in the US
• logistics: China has more modern roads, railroads, ports etc. That makes it much easier to get parts in and finished products out
• government aid: China has prioritized EVs for a long time and has all kinds of policies to encourage EV production
• EV infrastructure: China has more EV charging stations than the US and EU combined
• limited ICE competition: China doesn't have any big ICE vehicle companies. There are no significant groups in China advocating against EVs

Labor costs don't seem to be a factor at all. EVs are made in modern factories that are almost completely automated. The biggest part of "precursor availability" is likely batteries. The main innovation in EVs was the batteries. The electric motors, chassis, computers, etc are all secondary to batteries that can safely hold a lot of charge and discharge reliably. China dominates that market too.

I imagine China is subsidizing the R&D of their EVs while American car companies are trying to recoup those costs

I am sick and tired of people claiming that BYD are unsafe They have crash tested better than my current vehicle.