That will get them around the tariffs. I'm more curious how they'll pass the NHTSA & IIHS crash testing.
There's definitely a market for super-cheap cars - Malcolm Bricklin knew this when he arranged to import the Yugo GV[0] (peak sales was 48,000). But BYD has much deeper pockets that Malcolm had, so they may be able to invest in safety, a dealer network, and the market research to produce an EV that Americans will buy.
The pace of new model introductions from BYD may actually work against them - the cars may be regarded as disposable, with environmental concerns over recycling the plastics and batteries. If the Han[1] is only on sale for a few years, to be replaced with an entirely different model, that also creates a brand identity problem. Compare that with Honda who has been selling the Accord since the late 1970's.
Yes, a US plant is a necessary pre-requisite to not have import tariffs on the finished vehicles.
I would not make the link that BYD == "super-cheap cars"
BYD Han, EU price €69,990. High price.
BYD Seal, EU price €44,900 and up. Not cheap, lower-middle of the pack.
BYD Dolphin, E Price €29,990 and up - that's at the cheap end. But not "super" cheap.
BYD Sea Lion, coming soon, around €24K / USD $26K maybe?
BYD and other might (and hopefully will) go below €20K / USD $25K into the "super-cheap" category. But that's hardly the whole of or current reality of the brand.
Your video link has the title calling the Han a "luxury Sedan" so I don't know why you would talk about "super-cheap", or invent concerns about model name longevity.
YEs, BYD seems likely to be _in_ the super-cheap category. So will others.
https://en.byd.com/news/byd-and-the-city-of-lancaster-announ...
https://en.byd.com/bus/about/
But BYD seems more advanced in getting consumer automobiles into EU markets than US markets.
They also make electric busses: https://en.byd.com/news/byd-receives-largest-battery-electri...