CHINA: BYD Next Gen Tech, New Xiaomi SU7 and 900-volt Zeekr 009 | 06 Mar 2026

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Hello America, it's your new favourite podcast here.

Yes, it's James and Andy, two-fourths of the British podcast, no such thing as a fish.

That's right, we do facts, we do weird facts, fun facts, facts you've never heard before. James, give us a fact.

Did you know you may be able to cure chronically blocked noses with a snot transplant?

Lovely, lovely facts.

If you want to hear us go to wherever you get your podcast and search for no such thing as a fish.

That's right, we'll see you there.

The new Xiaomi Su7, a 900 volt Zika 009.

Plus stay tuned and later in the show I'll tell you about RoboSense, a LiDAR supplier that's unveiled their new sensor,

which is over twice as powerful as the next best available technology in LiDAR.

Welcome to EV News China, this is the podcast dedicated to the world's biggest EV market and every day.

You get the latest headlines, insights, analysis right from the heart of China's booming EV industry.

An ID code, what it means for the global EV market.

Alright, let's get into it.

Now, BYD's March 5th Shenzhen Tech Day revolved around their next-gen blade battery, their new flash charging,

and the cars that can work at the maximum speeds.

They're talking about the new five-minute refuelling routine being the new standard.

Now, there is so much to go into.

I'm going to make a special standalone podcast episode for you.

It could be 10, 15, 20 minutes long.

I don't know how it ends up.

I'll get my notes together and I'll run through all the details for you.

But a separate podcast in your feed, it'll go into the Patreon feed first,

and then something that we do for our Patreon supporters.

They get the shows a week in advance, the bonus ones we do anyway.

And then I will go into the ad supported free feed in seven days time.

But I don't want you to have to wait for the information, obviously.

That's for our, we dig really deep into the kind of chemistry and what it means

and all the different ins and outs.

I will keep it a bit top-line on this podcast, but I will give you all the key information

so you don't have to listen to that spin-off show, by the way.

So, new Blade 2.0 battery pack.

It's LMFP, so lithium manganese ion phosphate chemistry,

boosting energy density by 5% over the original blade battery,

and a 10 to 70 charge rate in five minutes.

Now, I wish they gave 10 to 80,

because just 10 to 80 should be the industry standard in terms of how fast it takes to charge an EV,

but they've gone for 10 to 70.

And I know the reason why it's because they can say it's five minutes,

and it's coming in at that five-minute number.

Which, frankly, let's not argue about 10 to 70 or 80.

Let's focus on a five-minute charge stop to get to 70%.

That's deep into the pack.

But they're also, this is new,

also gave all of the charge times for 10 to 97%.

Now, I've never ever talked about the 10 to 97% charge time.

I was fascinated why they gave figures for all of the new cars that have this new technology,

10 to 97, because obviously this technology still does taper down at the end.

Now, there are some battery chemistries coming in that have a more linear charge curve

that don't taper towards 100%,

but maybe this battery pack, when it gets to 97%, it slows right down.

Now, there's no point sitting there twiddling your thumbs at a charger, just leave at 97%.

If it really does take a decent amount of juice that deep into the pack,

I mean, it's fascinating, isn't it?

But anyway, the 10 to 97%, which is basically a full charge,

it is basically a full charge at nine minutes,

and that's regular temperatures.

They also talked a lot about minus 30, minus 40 degrees Celsius.

That's a handful of use cases, but still they were talking about the durability.

BYD says up to 50% faster charging than their conventional EV packs on the existing public chargers

and highlighting long cycle life, plus the nail penetration safety tests

to preserve the reputation that they have.

On the infrastructure side, BYD launched what it calls the world's most powerful mass produced charger,

a 1500 kilowatt, that's 1.5 megawatt single gun solution

at a thousand volts.

Now, that's important because if you wanted the existing flash charging,

which was just a megawatt plus, you had to find a charger with two cables, two guns,

and you had to be either driving a hand L or a tang L built with two inputs,

two sockets that you could plug into.

This is a more conventional single cable, single gun, single socket on the side of your vehicle solution.

Each stall has a high discharge battery and supercapacitor

to ensure that the energy storage system can deliver megawatt class power,

but not need crazy grid connections.

And so a relatively small grid connection always topping up the bucket.

And if you like the tap just turned on dripping into the bucket all the time, filling it up.

A car turns up, you dump all the power from the batteries and BYD are obviously so vertically integrated

that that's an easy thing for them to do.

Easy enough thing to do with their battery technology.

As of today, they have 4,239 of their existing flash chargers in the ground.

They want 20,000 by the end of this year.

They're going to forex it.

That's so impressive.

New vehicles showcase the tech and a thousand kilometers.

That's 600 miles becomes the new normal.

And so a sub 10 minute charge.

So it's a nine minute something, maybe nine minutes 24 to get to 97% on a thousand kilometers or 600 miles.

China cycle, it's optimistic.

It's not real world and we can make adjustments and dial that down for real world.

But anyway, the the the cars they announced, I won't go into all of them now.

At the top end, luxury young one brand, the young one, you seven is a new luxury sedan new blade battery,

150 kilowatt hours over a thousand kilometers of range and a 10 to 70 charge in five minutes.

The denser Z nine GT, that's that gorgeous shooting break.

That has the new battery technology, 1036 kilometers CLTC, the longest range Bev that I report on.

And again, fully supporting their new flash charging 2.0.

Across the lineup, BYD published the 70% times, the five minutes and the 97% times of anywhere between

eight minutes 45 and nine minutes 24 for the new flagship, the great Tang SUV or the DATANG SUV.

That's kind of a big Range Rover competitor.

The SEAL 07, the song Ultra and many more cars in their lineup all getting this technology.

Some of it very mainstream as well.

So not confined to a single super expensive million you on kind of vehicle.

Check out the separate podcast.

If you want more details, if that's enough for you, then by all means, don't let's move on.

Xiaomi has sent physical units of the next generation.

Su seven, their saloon sedan to stores nationwide yesterday ahead of an official launch in April.

The showroom push targets almost 500 locations in 143 cities by the middle of this month,

giving buyers something solid to look at pre-orders start at 229,000 you on.

That's around 31 and a half thousand dollars.

Xiaomi offers eight exterior colors and safety kit comes baked in.

Every trim gets a steel roll cage and four door impact beams and nine airbags sweet and rear side airbags as well.

It's not surprising with some of the negative press that Xiaomi's had recently what with accidents and door handles and people getting out of the vehicle.

They're leaning really hard into safety.

They talk about crash protection and the cross beams and high strength coating, 10 fold improvement in things like scratch and tear resistance.

So really going on durability on safety on iterating.

Xiaomi learning more about how to make make a high high end product door handles were addressed.

They did address the door handles a triple redundancy system across the whole lineup.

They say both interior and exterior mechanical releases, the automatic fallback.

If the for some reason, electronic switches don't work.

Standard version, 320 horsepower, max trim, almost 700 horsepower.

Standard and pro variants, almost 800 volt architecture.

The max one is at 900 volts and so they say a range of 560 miles for the pro pack and every model including LiDAR and 40 millimeter wave radar is standard.

Now let's talk about a big mileage claim.

X-Pung has expanded the G6 lineup with a new e-rev.

That's extended range electric vehicle, e-R-E-V.

We say e-rev and it's priced from $186,000.

That's $26,000.

The new range is the max ultra and ultra SE trims.

X-Pung pitches the e-rev around some core pillars in their marketing.

Range charging, intelligent driving, space handling and safety.

The big pitch is it's an e-rev so it's got a fuel tank but it's also got a 56 kilowatt hour battery pack and a CLTC range.

So if you fill it up with electrons and you're going to be a gas gobbler as well, they say 1704 kilometers on the China cycle.

That's 1,059 miles when do you ever need that?

However, this is in China the current marketing war that's happening with e-revs and the current one-upmanship that's happening there.

Everyone's just going for a bigger and bigger and bigger total number.

And even on the pure electric number, it's 267 miles, which is arguably more than my Polestar does.

They're getting this China cycle so it won't be but still.

Charging sits at the center of the new X-Pung G6 e-rev.

They say it's the only vehicle in its class of 27, 28,000 US dollars with an 800 volt architecture 5C ultra fast charging battery on every trim level.

Adding 200 miles or 315 kilometers in 12 minutes of charging.

So those cars are in the showrooms heading towards showrooms.

You can go and have maybe you can't but buyers can go and have a look at that and see how it works out.

And if they want to maybe put off a purchase of something else or maybe go for this, very interesting.

The chassis uses a front double wishbone and rear five link independent suspension with standard dynamic chassis control.

They say with AI algorithms because everything is AI algorithms.

Now in a live demonstration, it's held its body stability during a tire blowout at 112 miles an hour, 180 kph.

And the system achieved full stops.

They say from 81 miles an hour.

I don't know why blowouts tests are so big in China.

Not a thing that really happens overseas.

But a lot of Chinese companies with advanced kind of traction control and safety systems give the blowout test speed.

The car totally under control, which it's a safety message.

And so obviously, obviously resonates.

But I've noticed a few of them do this.

Right, let's move on.

Zika has teased the 009 flagship MPV.

And that is coming in sometime Q2.

The update shifts the car from an 800 volt to a full stack 900 volt architecture.

They say using Nvidia's drive for you driving chip for autonomy, the 900 volt architecture lifting the charging efficiency and the performance of it as well.

But no official configuration details.

The 009 from Zika debuted in 2022 and then deliveries started not long after in 2023.

Zika says it's led MPV sales in the 400,000 Yuan segment and above in China for two consecutive years.

And this is, well, it's an MPV.

There's something so much you can do with the shape of an MPV.

But it is a very large, very comfortable way to move a bunch of people around.

Zika plans updated 007 and 007 GT models as well again with the same 900 volt architecture.

We're just about to get the 7 GT overseas and yet at home already updating that car.

The pattern fits with China's high end EV fight where brands use tech upgrades and product tiering to chase premium.

Buyers.

Okay, we'll take a break and there's a couple more stories to go on a really busy podcast to end the working week for EV news China back in a moment.

Making it a snap to hitch up this electric truck and hit the road.

Wherever the road leads, Chevy trucks are right there with you. Click to learn more.

Chevrolet Together Let's Drive.

Hello America, it's your new favourite podcast here.

Yes, it's James and Andy, two-fourth of the British podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right, we do facts, we do weird facts, fun facts, facts you've never heard before. James, give us a fact.

Did you know you may be able to cure chronically blocked noses with a snot transplant?

Lovely, lovely facts.

If you want to hear us go to wherever you get your podcast and search for No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right, we'll see you there.

Hello America, it's your new favourite podcast here.

Yes, it's James and Andy, two-fourth of the British podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right, we do facts, we do weird facts, fun facts, facts you've never heard before. James, give us a fact.

Did you know you may be able to cure chronically blocked noses with a snot transplant?

Lovely, lovely facts.

If you want to hear us go to wherever you get your podcast and search for No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right, we'll see you there.

All right, welcome back to the podcast.

GAC ION plans to launch a battery swap version in April.

The car, the ION RT, will come in for variants starting at 100,000 UON.

That's 15,000 US dollars.

And the battery swap will deliver a 99 second swap experience.

And so that is a full charge.

That's not a 97% charge that we talked about earlier.

That is a pack that's probably been slow charged, maybe overnight on cheap rates.

And it's been at the swap station and it's been conditioned and you know it's in good condition.

And it's a 99 second full charge.

There's a wider push by CATL.

The battery maker aims to build over 3,000 battery swap stations in China by the end of this year alone.

By the end of last year, CATL had built over 1,000 of their swap stations in 43 key markets.

BAC's ARC Fox will unveil a new battery swap sedan using the CATL system.

Got long-term partnerships with GAC and BAIC as well already testing the model.

It launched the ION UT Super last year in November with battery swapping.

Prices start with the battery rental scheme at 50,000 UON for that vehicle.

Not just NEO having it all their own way with battery swapping.

CATL and their automotive partners getting it on the action as well.

99 seconds and a full charge and off you go again. It's just incredible.

Now, let's talk about Qi Jing, the Huawei slash GAC collaboration.

The Qi Jing will unveil its first vehicle next week.

Maybe just over March 17th, the brand launched last September as a premium EV brand.

It'll take a shooting brake style coupe shape targeting a launch for June.

It also wants a flagship that can compete with vehicles priced around a million UON.

That's $145,000 US dollars equivalent.

The segment has momentum in China.

The Zika 001 is proof that buyers will pay for that format.

Qi Jing claims they mass produced LiDAR system of 896 channels.

That's a very high definition LiDAR system.

They say it's the world's highest specification LiDAR in a production car,

recognizing tiny objects from over 120 meters away and of course in any weather as well.

Let's talk a little bit about Great Wall Motor.

Before we finish off, a couple more stories.

Great Wall Motor has unveiled the Tank 700 High 4 Z.

It's a plug-in hybrid SUV, roof mounted LiDAR and 118 miles of pure electric range.

The reveal follows a tease from the chairman of Great Wall Motor.

Last week, his social media post showed a silhouette of a car under the cover

that pointed back to the being a Tank 700 lineup.

The High 4 Z keeps the headlight clusters and grille from the Tank 700.

High 4 T tweaks the bodywork a bit.

The hood adds some ventilation openings.

The front bumper switches to a three-section layout with a front lip on the spoiler

and some wider fender flares kind of beef up the sides rolling on 21s.

Looks pretty cool as well.

The back roof spoiler and a centrally mounted camera sit above the horizontally opening tailgate.

A spare tire mounts on the tailgate which all leans into that kind of off-road vibe,

that off-road look which does look very, very cool.

The numbers match the scale because it's over 5.1 meters long.

That's over 201 inches and over 2.06 meters wide with a 3-meter wheelbase.

This thing looks ready for business.

This is Toyota kind of mini land cruiser territory for towing.

Two and a half thousand kilograms or five and a half thousand pounds break.

It's a plug-in hybrid system.

So it's a two-liter engine and a 60 kilowatt hour battery pack on this one, by the way.

Quick mention for a report which claimed Mercedes-Benz.

We're going to use a new global platform partnered with Geely.

The platform carries the codename Phoenix and production would be 2030 onwards.

Mercedes-Benz denied the claim, saying that the reported cooperation was entirely fabricated and untrue.

This report framed the plan as a shift in how Mercedes-Benz develops small city cars.

It said the Mercedes-Benz China R&D center acting as the global headquarters for compact vehicle development.

It described this as the first instance where Mercedes-Benz allowed an external R&D team

to independently develop a new platform.

But as I say, the good people of Mercedes-Benz saying a thousand percent not true.

Finally, we'll finish off the day on the podcast.

I just told you about a car coming with the greatest LiDAR which they can get and stick inside the thing.

And now that's been blown out of the water.

So this is RoboSense, a BYD backed ADAS supplier, has unveiled, as part of BYD's tech day,

the EM4 LiDAR sensor with 2,160 beam support.

That is just one day after Huawei talked about their 896 line LiDAR, which at the time was the world's best.

And this one just blows it out of the water by two and a half times.

RoboSense offers the EM4 in four beam configurations from a lower end up to that higher number as well,

aiming it at passenger cars and robotaxies.

RoboSense has not published detailed detection specs yet.

And the timing matters because RoboSense now sits deep inside BYD.

It has secured the position of exclusive LiDAR supplier for 11 new BYDs, unveiled all part of the tech day.

Again, we'll go into it on the spin-off podcast.

BYD Song Ultra EV, C906C, CL07, there EVs, the SEAL 08, the DATANG, big SUV,

Denzer Z9, YUNG1U7, YUNG1U8, YUNG1U8L, FUNCHENG BOWS and others.

BYD is invested in RoboSense's ADAS capabilities.

BYD also pushes ADAS down market.

The SEAL can be had with God's IB and that's an ADAS package for less than $10,000 on a mass market.

More cars with more sensors, raises the stakes and thanks to scale lowers the costs.

RoboSense already deploys the EM4 on some of the IM vehicles and the Zika 9X as well in a partnership with Geely's Zika brand.

And that's your podcast for today.

And indeed, this week, back on Monday morning. Have a great weekend. See you then.

Hello, America. It's your new favourite podcast here.

Yes, it's James and Andy, two-fourths of the British podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right. We do facts. We do weird facts, fun facts, facts you've never heard before. James, give us a fact.

Did you know you may be able to cure chronically blocked noses with a snot transplant?

Lovely. Lovely facts.

If you want to hear us go to wherever you get your podcast and search for No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right. We'll see you there.

Hello, America. It's your new favourite podcast here.

Yes, it's James and Andy, two-fourths of the British podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right. We do facts. We do weird facts, fun facts, facts you've never heard before. James, give us a fact.

Did you know you may be able to cure chronically blocked noses with a snot transplant?

Lovely. Lovely facts.

If you want to hear us go to wherever you get your podcast and search for No Such Thing as a Fish.

That's right. We'll see you there.

CHINA: BYD Next Gen Tech, New Xiaomi SU7 and 900-volt Zeekr 009 | 06 Mar 2026

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