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Plus, stay tuned because later in the show I’ll tell you about a new budget Roadster aimed at Europe.
Welcome to EV News China — the podcast dedicated to the world’s largest electric vehicle market. Each day, I bring you the latest headlines, insights, and analysis from the heart of China’s booming EV industry — and decode how fast-moving developments in the east are shaping the global EV landscape.
BYD TESTS ARGENTINA’S EV RULES WITH RECORD CAR ARRIVAL
A BYD vehicle carrier has unloaded about 5,800 hybrid and electric cars at Terminal Zárate in Buenos Aires province, in what local coverage casts as Argentina’s biggest single landing of electrified vehicle imports so far. The Changzhou, a next-generation car carrier 199.9 metres long with capacity for up to 7,000 vehicles, brought the load from China.
The docking comes in the middle of a political fight over President Javier Milei’s market-opening push and how far incentives should go for “new energy” vehicles. Economy minister Luis Caputo has stoked the argument. Opposition figures such as Miguel Ángel Pichetto now ask what mass imports on this scale mean for local manufacturing.
Argentina is putting in place an import framework for EVs and hybrids built around quotas and eligibility rules. The scheme includes FOB price caps that vary by powertrain category, a structure meant to shape which models qualify for more favourable treatment and in what volumes.
BYD presents the shipment as logistics, not politics. The firm hails it as a milestone in its shipping operation and a step-change in its expansion plan for Argentina. Stephen Deng, BYD’s country manager, says the group’s shipping capacity lets it operate at scale, improve efficiency and cut emissions, even as it adds dealerships and broadens the local model mix.
BYD SEAL U TOPS EUROPE’S PHEV CHARTS ON PRICE
BYD’s Seal U ended 2025 as Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrid, shifting 72,667 units in its first full year on the continent. It pushed past Volkswagen’s Tiguan PHEV on 65,899 units, Volvo’s XC60 PHEV on 60,088 and Ford’s Kuga PHEV on 41,983, despite arriving later and with weaker headline specifications.
The upset matters more in China than in Europe. It shows that BYD can sell volume on price and “good enough” tech, not cutting-edge hardware, on the home turf of its Western rivals. That scale strengthens the brand at home. The Seal U’s Chinese twin, the Song PLUS, racked up 400,920 units in 2025, making it BYD Group’s second-best-selling model range of the year and deepening its domestic production base.
On paper the Seal U trails the Germans. Its 18.3kWh lithium iron phosphate pack yields roughly 80km (50 miles) of electric range. Volkswagen’s Tiguan eHybrid uses a 19.7kWh ternary lithium battery for up to 126km (78 miles). Yet in Germany the entry-level Seal U starts at €39,990 ($46,800), well below the Tiguan eHybrid at €52,215 ($61,100), Volvo’s XC60 PHEV from €67,990 ($79,600) and Ford’s Kuga PHEV at €47,100 ($55,100).
The incumbents did not collapse. Tiguan PHEV sales jumped 177.9% year on year, while the XC60 PHEV slipped 1.4% and the Kuga PHEV fell 3.8%. BYD simply grew faster.
CHINA’S CHARGERS OUTRUN ITS EV FLEET
China now runs more than 20 million charging points, the largest network in the world and, on paper, enough to serve over 40m new-energy vehicles. The build-out is speeding up even as vehicle sales keep climbing.
The grid is now growing faster than the fleet. In December alone, 770,000 charging points came online — 92,000 public and 678,000 private. Public infrastructure reached 4.717m units by year-end, up 31.9% on the year. Private points totalled 15.375m, more than three-quarters of the network and up 56.2% year on year.
Power capacity is rising as fast as plug counts. Public charging offers 220m kilowatts of combined rated power, an average of 46.53kW per unit. Private facilities add about 134m kilovolt-amperes of installed capacity. Average charging power per public connector climbed to 46.5kW as high-power DC fast chargers spread. Charging efficiency improved by roughly 33% over the year, a gain users will notice.
The pace of construction has shifted up a gear. China took 13 years to get from its first station in 2006 to 1m points. The move from 1m to 10m took five years. The jump from 10m to 20m needed just 18 months.
MACRON BETS ON CHINESE CASH TO SAVE EUROPEAN EVS
French presidents once warned of Chinese overcapacity. Emmanuel Macron now courts Chinese capital. At the World Economic Forum he called for more Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe in batteries, electric vehicles and solar panels, where Europe’s technological gap with China keeps widening.
The invitation comes with strings. Investment must include technology transfer, not just exports of subsidised products that fail to meet European standards. France also backs a European preference rule that would force all vehicles sold in Europe to contain at least 75% locally sourced components, matching current levels in internal combustion engine cars.
The timing is awkward. In mid-December the European Commission partially reversed its 2035 ban on sales of internal combustion engine vehicles. Macron had warned in October that any retreat from the 2035 target would doom Europe’s battery plants. His wager is that firm local-content rules and access to Chinese know-how can still anchor the value chain in Europe.
France has started to build that chain. In mid-2023 Automotive Cells Company, a joint venture between TotalEnergies, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, opened its first EV battery factory in Billy Berclau. In June the Sino-Japanese group AESC-Envision launched a gigafactory near Douai to supply batteries to Renault, with capacity to power 200,000 electric vehicles per year.
Macron hailed the Douai plant as the start of a new chapter in French industrial history and the fruit of eight years of effort. His new push seeks to ensure that the next plants are built with Chinese capital, but filled with European content.
CHINA’S EV LEAD RIDES ON POLICY STABILITY, RIVALS SAY
China leads the electric-vehicle race. Its rivals blame not just Chinese firms, but their own governments.
Stella Li, BYD’s executive vice-president, says frequent policy shifts in many countries slow the global EV transition. Inconsistent rules, she argues, confuse manufacturers. Clear, stable regulations let carmakers focus on execution and investment. Stop-and-start policies instead snarl capital spending, product planning and supply chains.
Politicians echo the point. Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, says fluctuating national policies make it hard for industries to invest and scale at home, unlike in China. Elaine Buckberg, former chief economist at General Motors, notes that carmakers plan launches years ahead and so need long-term regulatory clarity, not rules that swing with short political cycles.
China offers the counter-example. Industry leaders point to strong and steady support that has helped domestic firms build scale, technology and infrastructure. The state reportedly invested over $230 billion between 2009 and 2023 to back local EV manufacturers. That backing, plus rising consumer demand, rapid technological gains and dense charging networks, has given China a tight grip on the EV market.
Ford’s boss, Jim Farley, concedes China’s dominance, citing its low-cost innovation and hefty subsidies. RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s chief executive, argues that the real edge lies in compounding gains from lower capital costs, not in any single clever policy.
The lesson is stark. Where governments chop and change, investment hesitates and the transition slows. Where they set clear, durable rules, firms commit for the long haul.
ZEEKR 8X PHEV TARGETS PREMIUM FAMILY SUV BUYERS
Zeekr has released new images of its 8X plug-in hybrid SUV, due to launch in China in the first half of this year in five and six-seat layouts. The car sits on Geely’s new SEA-S modular platform and pushes the brand further into the crowded premium family SUV segment.
The 8X leans heavily on design as well as drivetrain. A waterfall chrome grille meets C-shaped headlights with 25,368 diamond-shaped facets, topped by a roof-mounted lidar. At the rear, full-width lights carry 54,894 facets and use 630 nm ultra-red light technology. Wheel and tyre options run from 255/55 R20 and 255/50 R21 to 275/40 R22, with red brake calipers signalling intent.
It is a large car. The 8X measures 5,100 mm long, 1,998 mm wide and 1,780 mm tall, with a 3,069 mm wheelbase. Curb weight ranges from 2,660 kg to 2,820 kg across variants. The body hides several practical touches: electric side steps, conventional door handles and an electrically retractable towing hitch rated for up to 2,000 kg (4,409 lbs).
Power comes from a 2.0-litre turbocharged plug-in hybrid system producing 205 kW (275 hp), the same engine used in the Zeekr 9X. Batteries from the CATL-Geely joint venture use ternary lithium chemistry and come in 55.1 kWh and 70 kWh capacities. Under WLTC protocols, pure electric range runs from 256 km to 328 km (159 to 204 miles), depending on specification.
Earlier reports in China point to a future three-motor megawatt electric drive with 1,030 kW (1,381 hp) and 6C fast-charging battery technology. Zeekr has yet to confirm this.
HONGQI TESTS CHINA’S FIRST ALL-SOLID-STATE EV PROTOTYPE
FAW Group’s Hongqi brand has put its first all-solid-state battery car, the Tiangong06, on the road, moving the technology from lab validation to real‑world testing. The launch caps 470 days of work at FAW’s research institute and opens a new round in China’s race for next‑generation EV batteries.
On paper the gains are sharp. FAW says its sulfide-based solid electrolytes reach ionic conductivity above the industry benchmark of 10mS/cm, lifting ion transport efficiency. The 66Ah cells reach an energy density of 380Wh/kg, well above the 180-250Wh/kg range of conventional liquid lithium-ion packs. In thermal abuse tests at 200°C the pack avoided thermal runaway, addressing one of the industry’s biggest safety doubts over both today’s chemistries and solid-state claims.
Through 2026 FAW plans road tests across wide temperature swings and varied charging regimes to probe reliability and durability. Small-batch output is due to start in late 2027, with first commercial use in Hongqi’s flagship saloon and SUV models. FAW aims to finish mass-production groundwork by 2030, extend the technology to mid and high-end lines, and cut costs by more than half.
The politics matter almost as much as the chemistry. Xinhua News Agency confirmed the project two weeks after early leaks and disclosed the 380Wh/kg headline figure, just above Dongfeng’s 350Wh/kg solid-state battery now under test.
LI AUTO PIVOTS BACK TO RANGE-EXTENDED BET
Li Auto entered 2026 on the back foot. It delivered 406,800 vehicles, down on the previous year, despite an all‑electric pivot that was meant to secure its future.
Now it plans a sharp swing back to its roots. Management targets 550,000 deliveries in 2026, a 40% rise and a bet that it can still dominate China’s range‑extended segment as rivals pile in. The new‑generation L9 sits at the centre of this plan. Li Auto expects this one model to sell more than 100,000 units while lifting the brand above the RMB 400,000 line.
The updated L9 grows in size and gets a full chassis overhaul. A battery of more than 70 kWh brings over 400 km of pure electric range. The car debuts Li Auto’s self‑developed M100 autonomous‑driving chip, paired with Qualcomm’s 8797 cockpit processor and a large continuous display that replaces the current multi‑screen layout. Li MEGA, the all‑electric flagship, will still receive annual updates, but now plays a secondary role in the line‑up.
That marks a retreat from the firm’s 2025 push into all‑electric models. The MEGA HOME, Li i8 and Li i6 failed to halt the slide in sales. On the 2026 roadmap, only one new all‑electric SUV remains, underlining the move back to range‑extended products.
Meanwhile the pressure has grown. XPeng is readying a G7 range‑extended variant and the G01. Xiaomi plans a seven‑seat range‑extended SUV. Leapmotor’s D19 comes with an 80.3 kWh battery. Against this, Li Auto’s 70+ kWh packs look modest.
SVOLT SLAMS RIVAL’S ‘SCAM’ SOLID-STATE BATTERY
Svolt Energy’s boss has branded a rival’s star turn at CES 2026 a fraud. Yang Hongxin, chairman and chief executive, called Donut Lab’s solid-state battery reveal a “scam”, saying the cell “doesn’t exist in the world” and that its headline specifications contradict one another.
Donut Lab’s claims are bold even by start-up standards. The firm touts an energy density of 400Wh/kg, 100% charge in five minutes with no taper at 80%, safe full discharges and a design life of up to 100,000 cycles. It also promises extreme thermal resilience: over 99% capacity retention at -30°C and over 99% capacity when heated above 100°C, with no combustion or performance degradation.
For China’s battery industry, already central to global EV supply chains, such promises cut to the heart of credibility in the next race: solid and semi-solid cells for both cars and low-altitude aircraft. Yang argues that combining 12C-class charging, extreme low-temperature performance and 400Wh/kg energy density in a single real-world battery “today” is not plausible.
Svolt, spun out of Great Wall Motor, stakes its own progress as proof that physics and engineering still set the pace. It says its second-generation high-nickel semi-solid battery for low-altitude aircraft has reached 342Wh/kg, and that the cells have already been installed and flight-tested in an eVTOL aircraft. The company aims to finish development of 400Wh/kg semi-solid cells in 2026 and to reach 450Wh/kg semi-solid pouch cells by 2028, but presents these as development milestones rather than “ready now” products.
XPENG BUILDS GLOBAL SALES NETWORK TO 1,000 OUTLETS
XPeng now claims more than 1,000 sales outlets worldwide as of December 31st 2025. For a firm once seen as a niche player in China’s crowded EV field, the network now looks anything but niche.
The scale-up matters because XPeng is fighting for share at home while chasing volume abroad. In China it now runs 721 sales outlets, plus 327 delivery outlets and 372 service outlets, built as an integrated sales‑delivery‑service network. The company added 41 new Chinese cities in 2025, taking its footprint to 255 cities and what it calls a 75% coverage rate.
Overseas, XPeng says it now operates across 60 countries and regions, with 380 overseas stores, up by more than 150% in 2025 alone. It entered nearly 30 new overseas markets during the year, including the UK, Italy, Morocco and Poland. Europe remains the centre of gravity: XPeng says it now covers 28 European countries with 290 stores, and has reached 100% coverage in the Nordic region.
CHINA’S SC01 EV ROADSTER TAKES AIM AT EUROPE
China’s SC01 electric roadster will land in Europe this year with numbers that shame many legacy sports cars: 430 horsepower, 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds and a Chinese price of about $32,000 (€28,000).
Built by Tianjin Gongjiangpai Auto Technology (TGAT) and manufactured by JMEV, the joint venture between Groupe Renault and Jiangling Motors Corporation Group, the car mixes low weight, strong power and strict cost control. Xiaomi backs the project. Yet the more telling move is industrial: production for Europe will shift to Italy, and output will be capped at 1,000 units for select markets.
The SC01 weighs under 3,086 pounds (1,400 kilograms), well below rivals such as the Porsche 911. A dual-motor powertrain delivers 320 kilowatts to an all-wheel-drive system that can switch between rear- and front-wheel drive. Early road tests in China praise the car’s handling and nostalgic two-door design, helped by its low mass and sharp steering.
A 60-kilowatt-hour battery from CALB underpins a CLTC-rated range of 310 miles (500 km). The pack supports fast charging from 30% to 60% in 36 minutes. Inside, the cabin stays sparse, with a minimal layout that keeps only what is needed for driver and passenger comfort, rather than the sprawling screens now common in premium EVs.
For Europe’s sports-car makers, the problem is not the volume—1,000 units is trivial—but the signal that China can build a light, fast, cheap electric roadster and sell it in Europe.
https://evne.ws/3NtqlIh
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