Plus, stay tuned because later in the show I’ll tell you what Americans say stops them buying an EV in 2026.
On EV News China today we’re talking about: NIOs New Flagship, Xiaomi Upgrade SU7 and BYD Plans Long Range Hybrids
Join me later for a bonus show called The Spec Sheet – Kia EV2. 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.
MERCEDES CLA WINS 2026 EUROPEAN CAR OF THE YEAR
Mercedes-Benz has won the 2026 European Car of the Year award with the new CLA, announced at the Brussels motor show. The CLA scored 320 points, finishing 100 ahead of the Škoda Elroq on 220, with the Kia EV4 third on 208 and the Citroën C5 Aircross one point behind.
It is Mercedes’s first win since 1974, when the 450SE took the title. The CLA succeeds last year’s winner, the Renault 5 and its Alpine A290 sibling.
This year’s shortlist made a point without meaning to. All seven finalists arrived with electrified powertrains, and most were fully electric, in a competition that has often rewarded clever, low-cost transport more than big engineering swings.
The voting system leaves little room for tactical games. The jury of 59 motoring journalists from 23 countries began with 35 eligible cars, cut that to seven finalists, then handed each juror 25 points to distribute, with a maximum of 10 points per car and at least five cars requiring a vote.
Mercedes has not won by nostalgia. The CLA’s case rests on its electrical architecture and efficiency-minded hardware, including 800-volt charging, a silicon-carbide inverter, a heat pump and a two-speed transmission intended to keep the motor working in a sweeter part of its range more of the time.
Mercedes claims up to 484 miles (779 km) of range from an 85 kWh battery, plus DC charging of up to 320 kW. The company also says the CLA can add 200 miles (322 km) in 10 minutes, and that the mid-range CLA 250+ can manage 4.97 miles per kWh (8.0 km per kWh).
https://evne.ws/4qfRwEX
TESLA CUTS COST WITH CHEAPER MODEL 3
Tesla has launched a cheaper Model 3 Standard at £37,990, that’s £2,000 (about $2,700) below the previous entry-level Rear Wheel Drive version. This is the same feature-trim we’ve seen elsewhere around the world coming to the UK.
The savings start where owners will notice them. Faux leather becomes cloth, the enclosed centre console becomes open storage, and the audio system loses its subwoofer. AM and FM radio disappear too, a supply chain inconsistency as other models retain a radio.
The cost cutting reaches the parts drivers touch. Tesla makes the driver’s seat and steering wheel adjustments manual, removes the rear passengers’ touchscreen and does not supply a physical key. Entry depends on the Tesla phone app, which feels modern right up to the moment your battery dies.
The essentials stay largely intact. Autosteer remains standard as Tesla’s lane-keeping system, and the car still sits on 18in alloy wheels that should help residual values and shave finance and leasing costs. As usual these days Tesla has not disclosed battery capacity, but the Standard is rated at 332 miles (534km), which suggests the same basic hardware as the Rear Wheel Drive car.
Tesla has, however, slowed it down. Top speed drops from 125mph (201km/h) to 110mph (177km/h), pushing the Standard into a lower insurance group at 32. Deliveries in Britain begin in February, when buyers can decide whether fewer frills feel like a fair trade at £37,990.
https://evne.ws/49wDSpG
TESLA’S CHEAPER CANADIAN MODEL Y
Tesla has slipped a cheaper Model Y into its Canadian line-up. It surfaced on the company’s online order page on Thursday evening: the Model Y Standard starts at C$49,990 (US$35,923), C$15,000 less than the Model Y Premium All-Wheel Drive at C$64,990 (US$46,702).
Tesla rates the Model Y Standard at 463 km (288 miles) of range. Unlike the other Canadian Model Y versions, it comes from Giga Berlin rather than the United States.
That matters because it avoids the tariffs now hitting US-built cars entering Canada. It also leaves the car about C$5,500 (US$3,952) cheaper than the equivalent US Model Y Standard once exchange rates are counted.
Options are sparse as ever with Tesla. Buyers get three paint choices — Stealth Grey at no extra cost, Pearl White Multi-Coat for C$1,300 ($934) or Diamond Black for C$2,000 ($1,437) — and one wheel set: 18-inch Aperture rims.
Berlin-built cars also bring FM radio and Autopilot, both of which are omitted from the US Model Y Standard. So the cheaper Canadian Model Y arrives not just C$15,000 below the AWD version, but slightly better equipped — and built an ocean away.
https://evne.ws/4qdIrMG
TESLA’S STILL-IN-CHARGE OF USA
Tesla’s grip on the American electric-car market stayed firm in 2025. The Model Y was again the country’s bestselling battery-electric vehicle, topping the EV charts for the fourth year in a row. The Model 3 took second place, giving Tesla the top two spots in a market crowded with rivals but still led, in volume and visibility, by Elon Musk’s firm.
Just below Tesla the picture was livelier. The Chevrolet Equinox EV emerged as the leading non-Tesla electric car in the United States in 2025, with nearly 58,000 units sold. That edged past the Ford Mustang Mach-E, at around 52,000 sales, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5, at about 47,000.
For General Motors, the Equinox EV is both a mass-market crossover and proof that its Ultium-based line-up can compete on price and scale with Tesla’s older but efficient platforms. The Equinox EV’s performance helped transform GM’s position in the electric market.
GM total EV sales in the United States jumped 48% year on year, cementing it as the country’s second-largest seller of battery-electric vehicles, still well behind Tesla but now clearly ahead of most legacy rivals. After another year in which the Model Y topped the EV charts, the real contest is no longer who leads, but how fast those just below Tesla can close the gap.
https://evne.ws/4q63G32
UK ELECTRIC CAR SALES TO HIT 29% IN 2026
Electric cars will take a bigger slice of the pie in Britain’s new-car market in 2026.
Electric car registrations in Britain are forecast to reach 580,000 in 2026, equal to 29% of a 2m-vehicle new-car market, on projections from leasing firm DriveElectric. That would be up from 23.4% in 2025, when 473,348 battery-electric cars were registered and December’s share briefly climbed to 32.2%.
DriveElectric expects the full-year share in 2026 to rise by a further 5.6 percentage points, even if the pace of growth is uneven through the year.
On those numbers, EVs would fall short of the 33% Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate target for 2026.
The rules are looser than they appear, however: manufacturers that outperformed their ZEV obligations in 2024 can bank that surplus, and many are expected to repeat that in 2025. Electric vans also count. Each electric light commercial vehicle is treated as two ZEVs for compliance purposes, so rising ELCV sales should help several brands stay on the right side of the mandate next year.
DriveElectric points to three supports for further EV growth. First, more compact and cheaper electric models are arriving, broadening the market beyond early adopters. Second, the government’s Electric Car Grant offers either £1,500 or £3,750 off, depending on how sustainably the vehicle is made, with carmakers layering on their own incentives where models do not qualify. Third, competition is intensifying as established groups flesh out electric-only and mixed line-ups and more Chinese manufacturers enter Britain, while falling battery costs are slowly feeding into list prices, bringing EVs closer to petrol and diesel cars on upfront as well as running costs.
BEVs may miss the 33% ZEV share in 2026, but on 580,000 registrations—and with double-counted electric vans—the industry may well avoid paying fines for missed targets once again.
https://evne.ws/4jw4Out
ELECTRIC CAR SALES RECOVER IN GERMANY
Electric-car uptake in Germany accelerated last year after a setback. Registrations of purely battery-electric cars in 2025 were 43% higher than in 2024, according to the motor vehicle authority, KBA. The jump followed a sharp dip after the abrupt end of purchase subsidies for buyers.
Over a longer period, though, growth looks modest. Compared with 2023, sales in 2025, at around 545,000 purely electric cars, were only about 4% higher. The latest figures are more a rebound from disrupted incentives than a fresh surge in demand.
Battery-electric vehicles made up 19.1% of all new registrations last year. This higher share of electric models cut the average CO2 emissions of newly registered cars by almost 12%, to 105.8 grammes per kilometre.
The government plans to introduce a new subsidy scheme for electric cars this year to sustain the recovery in demand and support climate targets. Industry associations and researchers expect the share of battery-electric vehicles in new registrations to keep climbing, forecasting a rise to about 25% in 2026. Whether the 43% leap in 2025 proves a turning point or just a temporary spike will depend on how deftly Berlin designs those new subsidies.
https://evne.ws/4sv9Wmz
FORD AIMS FOR THE WORLD’S CHEAPEST EV MOTORS
Ford says it is building the world’s cheapest electric motor set for a midsize pickup due in 2027. The project is called “Universal EV”, and the price ambition is blunt: about $30,000 to get in the door.
The bet sits in the drive units. Doug Field, Ford’s chief of EVs, digital and design, says his team benchmarked motors worldwide and expects Ford’s in-house units to beat even China’s high-volume, low-cost rivals on price.
About 500 engineers are assigned to the programme, most of them in a dedicated facility in Long Beach, California, kept apart from Ford’s Michigan machine. Mr Field says the savings will not come from exotic breakthroughs, but from giving good engineers permission to redesign the car like it is not burdened by the past.
The truck is set to launch as a four-door crew cab with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The rear axle uses a single permanent-magnet motor, while an added front induction motor provides all-wheel drive, a pairing Tesla once used on the Model 3 when Field worked there.
https://evne.ws/4jwC7xu
GEELY’S NEW HYBRID SUV TAKES AIM AT KOREANS
Geely will introduce the Starray EM-i Super Hybrid to the UK next month as its first plug-in hybrid model, with prices starting at £29,990 to undercut several established mid-size SUV rivals. The Starray combines strong electric range, long overall touring distance and a chassis tuned for British roads to push Geely deeper into the UK market.
Geely, already familiar to European buyers through its ownership of Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, entered the UK in 2025 with the EX5 electric SUV and aims to have 100 dealerships open by the end of 2026. The Starray will be the brand’s second UK model and its first plug‑in hybrid, aimed squarely at buyers considering a Kia Sportage, Toyota RAV4, MG HS or Chinese newcomers such as the Chery Tiggo 7.
At 4.7 metres long, the mid-size SUV pairs a 1.5‑litre four‑cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor for a combined output of 255bhp. Two battery choices — 18.4kWh and 29.8kWh — deliver up to 84 miles of electric‑only driving and a claimed 618‑mile total range, with fuel economy of up to 201mpg. That electric range outstrips the Kia Sportage PHEV’s 43 miles and the Chery Tiggo 7’s 56 miles, giving the Starray a clear advantage for drivers who spend much of their time in town.
Lotus Engineering has tuned the chassis for UK roads, which should help the car feel composed on broken tarmac as well as motorways. Three trims — Pro, Max and Ultra — will all launch below £30,000, keeping the Starray within reach of mainstream family buyers.
https://evne.ws/4aPts6V
GM TAKES $6 BILLION HIT ON EV BETS
At GM’s Orion plant in Michigan, the lines that were meant to build electric vehicles will instead gear up for the sort of petrol-heavy metal that still sells itself: full-size SUVs and pickups.
General Motors says it will record about $6bn of impairment charges tied to its electric vehicle push, after returns fell short and the company began unwinding earlier expansion plans. Of that total, $4.2bn will be cash charges, largely tied to supplier settlements and the cost of terminating contracts linked to the old build-out.
GM blames a colder policy climate for the slowdown. The US clean-vehicle tax credit ended in September, and looser emissions rules have taken some urgency out of EV buying, especially in North America.
The operational response is blunt. Orion will pivot away from planned EV output and towards full-size SUVs and pickups including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, where GM says demand remains strong.
The company is also slimming its battery ambitions. GM has sold its stake in the Ultium Cells joint-venture site in Lansing, Michigan to LG Energy Solution, and it has cut shifts at Factory Zero in Detroit-Hamtramck as it reassesses near-term EV volume.
This is not the first bill from that reassessment. GM previously recorded a $1.6bn EV-related charge in 2025 tied to unused equipment and cancelled supplier contracts, and the latest move adds another large down payment on plans made when policy, capital and consumer all looked more generously on EVs than they do now.
GM reports fourth-quarter results on 27 January 2026.
AMERICANS WANT THE RIGHT-SIZED EV
Americans will buy battery-electric vehicles when carmakers offer models that fit their needs and budgets, not government targets. That is also the blunt view from HSBC Global Research. The bank expects the US EV market to cool as incentives thin out and cautious consumers stop treating early adoption as a badge of honour.
HSBC also sees Washington stepping back. It points to the end of EV credits, the removal of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) fines and proposals to relax Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mileage targets.
With less regulation and fewer subsidies doing the heavy lifting, the sales pitch moves from lawmakers to households. Higher interest rates and higher vehicle prices have made buyers choosier, and the ones who once stretched for premium EVs now hesitate.
Two obstacles keep showing up: price and range. HSBC’s survey suggests many drivers want cheaper EVs that also go farther than most mass-market models manage today.
Carmakers have started to adapt in the only way that counts: by building what people will actually pay for. That means lower-cost platforms, smaller batteries, simpler cabins and ranges aimed at ordinary daily driving rather than brochure bravado.
After years when policy pulled demand forward, the next phase looks less heroic and more commercial. EVs will win the American market the old-fashioned way, one satisfied customer at a time.
https://evne.ws/4pxKme8
DELOITTE STUDY SAYS AMERICANS STILL WANT MORE EV RANGE
American drivers still see electric cars as a hassle first and a bargain second. Convenience, not cost, is the hurdle that will decide how fast electrification spreads in the United States.
American drivers see electric vehicles as less convenient than they are affordable. A new Deloitte study finds that worries about range and charging time now outweigh price, even as tax credits and falling purchase costs make battery cars more competitive.
Nearly half of United States respondents, 47%, cite driving range as the main deterrent to buying an electric car, with 44% pointing to charging time and 40% to cost. Stronger batteries, more public chargers and generous policy incentives have not yet shifted those perceptions, so convenience concerns still dominate.
Purchase intent is creeping up rather than surging. Some 7% of respondents say their next car will be fully electric, up from 5% last year, while interest in hybrids and combustion models is largely unchanged. Electric-car adoption slowed after a prominent tax credit expired, underlining how dependent demand remains on incentives.
Charging access is splitting the market into winners and sceptics. Drivers with home chargers save time and running costs, whereas those without tend to favour hybrids to avoid relying on public networks. Even so, 72% of potential electric-car buyers highlight lower running costs, especially when charging at home, as their main reason to switch.
Deloitte’s findings suggest that American electrification will keep growing as soon as charging convenience catches up with cost parity. Once drivers trust that they can recharge as easily as they refuel, price may no longer be the decisive argument — just the excuse that has already fallen away.
https://evne.ws/451kksm
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