Plus, stay tuned because later in the show I’ll tell you why the United States could follow China and force Tesla to redesign it’s door handles.
On EV News China today we’re talking about: SAIC Reports 1.64M EVs, Smart 6 and China’s NEV Market Accelerates In December.
Join me later for a bonus show called Can The Tesla Cybertruck Be Saved By Going Global? It will be live tonight for Patrons, and all Patreon exclusives go onto the free feed after 7 days. If you want the content first, it’s just one of the member benefits.
VOLVO BUCKS TREND WITH MORE EVS SOLD IN U.S.
Volvo Cars was one of the first big names to bet its future on the proposition that the internal combustion engine is dead. In 2025 that wager looked like it could have been a little premature. Global sales fell by 7% to 710,000 vehicles, dragged down by a 13% drop in demand for its pure electric models. The company cited “market turbulence”.
The pain was acute in China. In the world’s largest EV market, Volvo’s battery-electric sales fell by 46%. Europe, too, saw a sharp contraction. Yet amidst this general gloom, the company found salvation in an unlikely place.
In the United States, a market supposedly turning cold on batteries, Volvo’s electric sales surged by 91%. The divergence is striking. While Chinese consumers abandoned the brand’s electric offerings for plug-in hybrids—which jumped 116%—Americans rushed to buy them.
UK BUYERS GIVE BYD A SEAL OF APPROVAL
BYD ended 2025 with a sharp jump in UK sales, registering 51,422 vehicles. December was especially strong, lifting the Chinese group to sixth place among all car brands by monthly sales.
The surge backed BYD’s claim to leadership in Britain’s New Energy Vehicle market, defined as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). In December the company took a 12.01% share of this combined segment, making it the country’s top-selling NEV manufacturer for the month.
The SEAL U DM-i, a plug-in hybrid SUV, was central to this performance. It was BYD’s best-selling model in Britain and the highest-selling plug-in hybrid in the UK market in 2025. That result gives BYD a foothold in a plug-in segment still dominated by European and Japanese brands.
On the battery-only side of the range, the compact Dolphin Surf city car led BYD’s UK BEV registrations. Its December tally made it the fourth best-selling BEV in the country that month.
https://evne.ws/452znBV
NEW YORK CITY’S BIGGEST EV-CHARGING HUB IS COMING TO JFK
New York City is getting its largest public electric‑vehicle charging site beside one of its busiest transport hubs. The new facility will sit just north of JFK Airport, between the Nassau Expressway and Rockaway Boulevard, and will be the biggest publicly accessible EV‑charging site in the city.
Plans call for 65 EV‑charging stations and public parking spaces at launch, including at least 12 DC fast chargers. The site will operate 24 hours a day and can expand as demand rises, with room for more hardware and power over time.
Unlike many early urban charging projects, it is being built to handle larger vehicles, including electric trucks. That reflects the city’s growing focus on commercial and logistics fleets as well as private cars.
The project is part of New York City’s Green Economy Action Plan, unveiled in 2024, which seeks to expand EV‑charging infrastructure and shift transport to lower‑carbon options across the five boroughs. By linking high‑capacity charging to a major airport and freight corridor, the scheme aims to support both everyday drivers and operators of heavier vehicles, and to anchor future growth in the city’s electric‑mobility network.
For JFK, long defined by jet fuel and traffic jams, becoming home to the city’s biggest public EV‑charging site is a small but telling sign of how New York’s transport system is beginning to evolve.
https://evne.ws/3YrvB1p
WORLD CAR AWARDS NAMES 2026 FINALISTS
The 2026 World Car Awards has begun, with jurors narrowing the field to ten contenders for the World Car of the Year title. The list mixes combustion, hybrid and battery-electric models, but the balance has tipped towards electric power. Of those ten, six are fully battery-electric, underlining how central EVs have become when cars are judged on merit.
A global panel of automotive journalists runs the programme and will now move through the final evaluation stages. The overall winners, along with champions in five additional categories, will be announced on Wednesday April 1st 2026 during a live ceremony at the New York International Auto Show. That timing keeps the awards aligned with a major international showcase and lets carmakers turn any success directly into showroom and media attention.
Electric vehicles are no longer treated as a niche. The World Electric Vehicle category has been narrowed to five finalists: Audi A6 e-tron/S6 e-tron, BMW iX3, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Mercedes-Benz CLA and Nissan Leaf. These models span premium saloons, SUVs and a long-running mass-market hatchback, showing how far battery power has spread across segments.
The World Luxury Car award reflects a similar shift at the upper end of the market. Its shortlist is the Audi A6 e-tron/S6 e-tron, Cadillac Vistiq, Lucid Gravity and Volvo ES90, where electric drive is taken for granted and the differences lie in range, cabin technology and brand cachet. When the winners are revealed in New York on April 1st 2026, the trophies will simply confirm what the ten-car shortlist has already made plain: the World Car of the Year is now, more often than not, an electric one.
https://evne.ws/3Z3I4IG
DONGFENG WEIGHS VEHICLE PRODUCTION IN TURKEY
China’s Dongfeng Motor is weighing whether to build vehicles in Turkey, according to its local distributor, Marcar. The move would mirror a broader push by Chinese brands to use Turkey as a base to serve Europe.
Turkey’s customs union with the European Union makes it appealing. Vehicles assembled there can enter the EU without the import duties now levied on Chinese-made electric cars. That lets Chinese makers sell into Europe while sidestepping the newest trade barriers. The arrangement offers a legal route around “hefty duties like those imposed on Chinese-made electric vehicles”, which do not apply to vehicles built inside the customs area.
Several Chinese firms are already moving in. BYD is building a factory in Manisa, due to start operations before the end of 2026. The plant is designed to make about 150,000 vehicles a year. Chery has also been working on production partnerships in the country as it expands its global footprint.
Dongfeng’s premium brand, Voyah, has used Turkish social media to trail the next step. It said preparations have begun for local assembly of the Free REV 318, an extended-range hybrid.
Technical feasibility work is under way in Turkey, with Chinese teams on the ground assessing how to set up production. After BYD’s 150,000-vehicle plant in Manisa opens, whether that number proves a foothold or the beginning of a flood will depend on how many more makers like Dongfeng decide that Turkey is their route into Europe.
https://evne.ws/4qH8FqP
ARNOLD CLARK CHARGE: SCOTLAND’S ULTRA-RAPID UPSTART
Arnold Clark Charge, the charging arm of the Scottish dealer group, claims to be Scotland’s largest ultra-rapid electric-vehicle network. Launched in 2024 as part of a £30m investment, it already spans more than 50 ultra-rapid hubs at Arnold Clark branches across the country. All are open to the public, not just the firm’s own customers.
Each site offers up to 12 ultra-rapid chargers, with individual units delivering up to 150kW. The company says the layouts serve both passing traffic and local users, using forecourts and dealership land near main routes and population centres.
The group plans to expand beyond Scotland into “key” locations across the United Kingdom, though it has not yet named sites. It says the strategy is to support long-distance EV travel on major corridors while also filling gaps in local charging.
Arnold Clark prices ultra-rapid charging at 55p per kWh, which it calls “significantly lower” than the current UK average of 76p per kWh. Drivers can pay via the Arnold Clark app, through roaming partners or by contactless at every hub. The network has already drawn notice in the Zapmap 2025 Awards, where it was named “Up-and-Coming Rapid/Ultra-rapid EV Charging Network”.
Whether 55p per kWh proves a genuine competitive edge or merely an introductory offer will decide how far Scotland’s largest ultra-rapid network can grow beyond its home turf.
https://evne.ws/4qHwD5l
BRUSSELS SHOW AIMS TO OVERTAKE PARIS
The Brussels auto show opens on January 9th with record exhibitor demand. Organisers expect it to become Europe’s largest car exhibition in 2026, overtaking the Paris show that takes place in October.
Space for the 102nd running sold out well before opening, despite extra capacity. Some exhibitors are on a waiting list, said Christophe Dubon, head of communications for the organiser.
In all, 64 passenger-car and commercial-vehicle brand have signed up, “from Alfa Romeo to Zeekr”. All major German and French manufacturers will attend. They will share floorspace with a growing line-up of Chinese brands including BYD, Chery, Leapmotor, MG and Xpeng, as well as European groups such as Stellantis.
The organisers present Brussels as “neutral” territory between established European makers and fast-expanding Asian rivals. They say this gives both sides a common stage for model launches and positioning.
Among the global premieres, Kia will unveil the EV2, a small battery-powered SUV that will be its cheapest electric model in Europe and a rival to the Renault 4 and Citroën e-C3. Kia expects annual output of the EV2 to reach about 100,000 units at its Zilina plant in Slovakia in 2027, CEO Ho Sung Song told Automotive News Europe in October.
https://evne.ws/49cGH0n
CATERHAM LAYS PLANS FOR ELECTRIC FUTURE
Caterham brought its Project V show car to CES in Las Vegas this week for its first appearance in the United States. A few days later the first running Project V prototype is due to be unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday. The near‑simultaneous reveals underline how central this car is to Caterham’s future. The niche maker, long associated with lightweight, minimalist fun, wants Project V in production and on sale globally by 2027.
The firm aims to build an electric car without losing its core values. Instead of a dense, feature‑laden EV, Caterham is keeping the interior simple and using proven parts. Project V uses an off‑the‑shelf Yamaha Motor 200kW, 400‑volt e‑axle that integrates the inverter, reduction gear and permanent‑magnet synchronous motor in one unit, driving only the rear wheels. The cabin avoids the sprawling screens and heavy trim that many rivals treat as essential.
The battery layout is more unconventional. Rather than a skateboard pack under the floor, Project V uses two liquid‑cooled packs from Xing Mobility, each just over 27kWh. One sits between the front occupants’ legs, the other beneath the rear seat. This keeps the seats low and pushes mass towards the centre of the car. Caterham says the resulting weight distribution is close to that of the classic Seven, which should make the car lively on track.
This approach has limits. Safety and regulatory demands will force Caterham to add more complexity in software and hardware. Even so, the company is betting that a compact, rear‑drive EV, using standardised powertrain parts and a twin‑pack battery layout, can carry its purist philosophy into the electric age and onto roads well beyond its British base from 2027.
https://evne.ws/4qGUVfA
LUCID TO SHIFT BATTERY SUPPLY TO THE US
Lucid Motors plans to use batteries built in America by mid‑2026 to avoid tariffs on components imported from Asia and to root more of its supply chain in the United States. Interim chief executive Marc Winterhoff set out the timetable in a Bloomberg interview on Tuesday, saying the company would start taking US‑made cells from Panasonic Holdings Corp. around that date.
Lucid now assembles all its cars in the United States but still relies on battery imports from Asia. The shift to local production with Panasonic is meant to cut exposure to trade frictions and meet tightening rules on domestic content for electric vehicles. It also gives Lucid a clearer path to lower costs and simpler logistics as volumes rise.
The two companies first disclosed a supply deal in December 2022, covering lithium‑ion cells for the Lucid Air sedan. Lucid extended that relationship in January 2025, saying its Gravity Grand Touring SUV would also use Panasonic’s lithium‑ion cells.
Those vehicles will be the first to benefit when Panasonic’s US cell output for Lucid comes on stream by mid‑2026, replacing Asian‑sourced packs that now power every Lucid built in America.
After that mid‑2026 switch, Lucid’s American‑built cars will at last be backed by American‑built batteries too.
https://evne.ws/4pznRFF
US LAWMAKER TARGETS ELECTRIC DOOR HANDLES
A Democratic member of Congress wants carmakers to add simple mechanical back-ups to complex electric door systems.
Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois has introduced a bill that would oblige new vehicles with powered doors to include a clearly marked manual release that is “intuitive to use and readily accessible for the occupant”. The proposal also demands a way for emergency crews to open such doors when a vehicle has lost power.
Ms Kelly’s measure, filed late on Tuesday, is the first sign that the safety risks of electrically actuated doors have reached America’s national legislature. Concern has grown alongside the spread of flush, powered handles popularised by Tesla and now used on many new models. Investigations and media reports have linked serious injuries and deaths to cases where people could not work out how to open doors after a crash or power failure.
The bill would force regulators to write new rules within two years if it becomes law, tightening federal safety standards on door operation. Abroad, policymakers are moving in the same direction. In China, transport authorities have proposed new safety standards to tackle hazards from flush electric door handles, again singling out the now-common designs first pioneered by Tesla. After years in which Tesla’s sleek powered handles symbolised automotive modernity, a few simple, clearly marked levers may now come to define what regulators consider progress.
https://evne.ws/4sLj3jk
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