00:00
I didn't even realize I was wasting $415 a month until I downloaded Rocky Money.
00:05
I thought I had my finances under control until the app laid out all my spending and
00:09
categorized it for me.
00:11
Takeout, shopping, and unused subscriptions were quietly draining my account.
00:15
And as a result, my savings took a backseat.
00:18
But Rocky Money doesn't just tell you what you're wasting money on.
00:21
It takes action to save you money.
00:23
First, the app looks at your income and monthly expenses and calculates how much you can safely
00:28
spend each day to stay under budget.
00:30
Rocky Money also finds and cancels unwanted subscriptions for you and even negotiates
00:35
better rates on your bills so you have more money in your pocket.
00:38
On average, Rocky Money members can save up to $740 a year when using all the app's premium
00:44
Users love the app, with over 186,000 5-star ratings.
00:48
It's time to simplify your finances and take control of your money.
00:52
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
00:55
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
00:57
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
01:00
Your business is one of a kind.
01:01
So your website should be too.
01:03
With Wix, it's easy.
01:05
Almost too easy to create a website that's perfectly yours.
01:09
Just tell AI what kind of site you want to build or choose from thousands of templates.
01:14
Change whatever you want whenever you want and get everything you need to start running
01:18
your business your way.
01:19
No matter what you sell or what you aspire to be, you can do it all yourself on Wix.
01:26
Say what you want about AI, but it's here.
01:29
And it's helping businesses get more done in a day.
01:32
Wix's website builder is infused with AI so you can stay ahead.
01:36
Create a beautiful, functional website just by describing your idea.
01:40
Track how your site appears in AI search results.
01:43
Create custom images on demand or launch an entire campaign in a matter of minutes.
01:48
Wix gives you AI wherever you need it.
01:51
Try it now for free at wix.com.
01:54
Wix is the website builder that just keeps on giving.
01:59
I just built my whole site in under an hour.
02:02
I actually made that.
02:05
Our sales are through the roof.
02:07
So whether you need help expressing yourself or just need something to make your life easier,
02:13
Wix has you covered.
02:15
Try it out at wix.com.
02:18
Welcome back to the podcast.
02:19
Today, BYD overtakes Tesla, Geely's Galaxy MPV and NEO's Millionth vehicle.
02:27
Later in the show, I'll tell you why we shouldn't be laughing at the Chinese vacuum maker
02:31
that just showed up at CES with the hypercar.
02:33
Welcome to EV News China, the podcast dedicated to the world's largest electric vehicle market each day.
02:39
We bring you the latest headlines, insights and analysis from the heart of China's booming EV industry
02:44
and decode how fast moving developments in the east are shaping the global EV landscape.
02:48
BYD is overtaking...
02:50
overtaking Tesla in some big markets in Europe.
02:54
We're looking at Germany in the UK today.
02:56
Europe's two biggest EV markets underlining China's push into the region in Germany.
03:01
BYD registered more than twice as many new vehicles as Tesla in December,
03:05
according to the Federal Motor Transit Authority.
03:08
Over 2025 as a whole, BYD sales in Europe's biggest EV market jumped more than eight-fold.
03:15
To 23,306 cars, Tesla's German registrations halved to 19,390.
03:23
The picture is similar here in Britain, Europe's second largest market for EVs.
03:28
BYD, whose European range has things like the Dolphin hatchback,
03:32
moved the head of Tesla in September and has stayed there ever since.
03:35
It ended the year with 51,422 registrations compared with Tesla's 45,513,
03:42
according to the trade lobby here.
03:45
And globally, Tesla has already lost out on the crown as the top seller of electric cars to BYD.
03:51
Tesla posted a 16% drop in fourth quarter deliveries and its second yearly decline in a row.
03:58
BYD, despite weaker demand and a clamp down on discounting at home,
04:03
expanded overseas and delivered 2.26 million EVs last year against Tesla's 1.64 million.
04:10
Chinese makers have gained traction, particularly here in Britain,
04:13
actually, which hasn't copied the European Union tariffs on Chinese made EVs.
04:17
Their lower prices pull in more buyers in the market and
04:20
pushed Britain's new car registrations over 2 million.
04:24
Tesla is, meanwhile, facing headwinds across Europe.
04:28
Competition has sharpened as Volkswagen, Renault and BMW broadening their EV lineups with
04:33
genuinely innovative Vic was like the BMW iX3, their no-classer platform,
04:39
500 plus miles on the iX3, out innovating the once-leaded Tesla.
04:45
A consumer backlash as well against the CEO and political activities have added
04:50
reputational drag to the firm's sales in Europe.
04:54
If it was ever in doubt after losing its global crown to BYD,
04:58
which is now outgunning it in Germany and Britain, Tesla simply has to work harder,
05:04
and perhaps speak more softly if it wants to regain momentum in Europe's big EV markets.
05:15
Geely's Galaxy is a sub-brand of Geely Auto, and they've opened pre-sales for their V900.
05:21
That is an extended range MPV, up against things like BYD's Denzer D9 and similar rivals.
05:27
The V900 is the first model in Galaxy's V series, and comes in three all-wheel drive versions,
05:35
Pro Max and the Collector's Edition. A pre-sale prices start from $45,000 for the Pro,
05:41
and go up from $320,000 to $390,000 RMP. The V900 is an MPV, as I mentioned,
05:47
6-seater MPV. It's a big boy, 5.36 meters long, 2 meters wide, 1.94 meters high,
05:53
and a big wheelbase, 3.2 meters long. That puts it in the large premium people carrier segment.
06:00
The Chinese brands used to challenge the joint venture, the imported models as well,
06:06
all those. The MPV segment. Really interesting in China. Power comes from a range extender,
06:11
with batteries provided by CALB. Buyers can choose either a 43 kilowatt-hour pack or a 50 kilowatt-hour
06:20
pack. On the CLTC cycle, at least, electric only range 260 kilometers, and with a full fuel tank
06:28
and a fully charged battery, they side all do 1,220 kilometers. What's really impressive
06:34
about these EVs, though, the E-Revs, I should say, is the DC fast charging, 80% in 24 minutes.
06:40
Do you need to fill it with fuel? Very often depends how you drive it. 24-minute top-ups,
06:47
1,200 kilometers of potential range. If you do need to shift six people in a lot of comfort and
06:53
very high-tech long distances, Denza D9 could be facing some competition from the V900.
07:00
Now, NEO has made its one millionth mass-market vehicle a little over 11 years after its founding.
07:05
The car was a third-generation ES8 SUV, rolling off the line at their NEO Park in Hafei,
07:12
in China's Anhui province. NEO held a ceremony at the factory to mark the occasion.
07:15
The company said it would donate the milestone ES8 to a foundation for use by experts working in
07:22
quantum technology. The gesture links the brand to one of China's favoured high-end fields.
07:30
The million-vehicle mark comes roughly 20 months after NEO made their half-millionth car.
07:36
Does that make sense or not? You know what I'm trying to say.
07:39
Underscoring how fast its output has risen, despite a choppy market for EVs, the Hafei facility
07:45
known as the F2 factory in NEO Park is being central to their growth. During the event,
07:51
they unveiled a limited-edition sedan of the ET9. The firm presented this special
07:55
ET9 as a celebration of their milestone and their 11th anniversary as well. That was back in
08:01
after the 1 millionth ES8 rolled off the line at NEO Park. What matters now is whether the
08:08
factories can keep humming and whether 2026 can keep the growth going for NEO.
08:13
Now, Morgan Stanley expects grid-scale and energy storage installations to grow from 350
08:19
gigawatt hours last year to 600 gigawatt hours as it is presently, and more than 900
08:27
gigawatt hours by the end of the year. Well, capacity on paper is racing ahead,
08:31
but the real performance of many battery systems falls short of claims, they say.
08:36
The bank argues that the gap comes largely from a failure to focus on cells aging over time under
08:42
real conditions and on how their safety margins shift as they age. Weak understanding or poor
08:49
validation of long-term degradation, which we don't know because you can't simulate that in a lab
08:55
until the time literally goes by, can erode the economics of certain projects, inflate costs,
09:03
undermine trust, and Morgan Stanley frames deregulation control as the main competitive
09:08
battleground for storage manufacturers. The crucial metric will not be kilowatt hours
09:13
cost-installed, but cost per useful cycle over the life of the asset, they say. And on measuring
09:20
different batteries, they say that CATLs have the best degradation, or that should be the least
09:27
degradation. The way they put it is they lead degradation resistance. That's a critical indicator,
09:35
they say, for judging the quality of individual cells and full energy storage systems in which
09:40
they're in, and also it's a vote of confidence for the EVs that have CATL batteries as well.
09:47
Now, Lee Orto have had a bumpy 2025, so they're reorganizing, confirming a sweeping shake-up
09:57
of its product development structure after falling short of their sales target last year,
10:01
underlining pressure on what was once China's fastest growing maker of EREVs, extended range
10:09
electric vehicles. On January 1st, the company reported their deliveries for December,
10:16
44,246 vehicles. That took four-year deliveries to 405,943. The result was just 63% of their publicly
10:27
stated goal for the year, though, a 230,000-vehicle gap between ambition and reality. The miss
10:34
capped a year of strain at Lee Orto. At the start of 2026, the executive in charge of their product
10:43
line left to launch a new venture, his exit prompted a review of how the company's been running
10:49
product lines. Lee Orto acknowledged that their structure has led to overlapping functions,
10:54
splinter decision-making, the restructuring aims to pull these things together, cut duplication,
10:58
and centralize key choices. The company is betting that tighter design will support faster,
11:05
more coherent product development as it tries to close the gap between its sales targets and what
11:11
it can actually deliver. Now, Western carmakers are defying China's request to cool things down.
11:19
Carmakers and their dealers in China have begun this year with another round of sharp discounts,
11:25
ignoring Beijing's latest attempt to cool down the price war that gripped the market for the last
11:29
three years. BMW last week cut their official list price on 31 models they sell in China,
11:36
at the biggest reduction on the pure electric i7, that's the M70L version of the i7. They took
11:45
42,000 US dollars off the asking price. The steepest percentage cut, though, was for their little iX1,
11:56
sticker price dropped to 24%. The company called the move part of just regular price management,
12:02
stressing that final transaction prices are often independently negotiated and determined between
12:08
the dealers and the customers. But local media reporting that dealers for brands under VW Group
12:14
and GM joint ventures are moving as well to match fiercer competition, offering new discounts and
12:18
fixed price deals on selected models. The pressure is no longer confined to the premium segment either.
12:23
While buyers in America are facing high prices, China's problem is actually the reverse list
12:28
and transaction prices for new cars keep sliding, as manufacturers want to shift stock in at times
12:35
a sluggish market. The China passenger car association says retail sales fell in November,
12:41
second consecutive month I think for the drop, and China's state regulators responding with rules,
12:49
draft rules, to put a floor underneath prices. The proposals would ban selling vehicles below
12:55
production cost and outlaw dealer rebates that push transaction prices under cost.
13:00
Officials fear a deflationary spiral through the supply chain, leading parts makers to use
13:07
cheaper parts, lower quality components, putting more pressure on worker pay.
13:13
After three years of the press war and BMW's hair cut on the i7, Beijing's challenge is not
13:20
persuading car makers to sweeten the deal, it's to persuade them to stop. We'll take a break and
13:27
when we come back, more on the podcast, back in a sec.
13:50
On top of that, it also sends you alerts when subscription prices go up,
13:54
so you always know the price you're paying. If you decide you no longer want a subscription,
13:58
you can cancel it right from the app. No customer service needed, and the best part is,
14:03
RocketMoney even reaches out and tries to get you refunded for some of the money you lost.
14:08
On average, people that cancel their subscriptions with RocketMoney save $378 a year, and overall,
14:14
RocketMoney has saved its members $880 million in canceled subscriptions.
14:20
Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
14:25
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel. Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
15:01
Let's do the 60-second savings challenge. Step one, download RocketMoney. Step two,
15:08
link your accounts and see every subscription you're paying for. Tap one you don't use and cancel it.
15:13
That's money back every month. Step three, create a financial goal. $50 every paycheck,
15:19
or let the app automatically move small amounts of cash when you can afford it.
15:23
In a week, you'll forget you set it up. In a month, you'll see real dollars piling up.
15:28
In a year, you'll be shocked at how much money you've saved. Bonus challenge, upload an internet or
15:34
phone bill and let RocketMoney try to lower it. You only pay if they find you savings. On average,
15:39
RocketMoney members can save up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features.
15:45
Users love the app with over 186,000 five-star ratings. Make saving money the resolution you
15:51
actually keep. Start the 60-second savings challenge at rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
15:56
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel. Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
16:03
Slots, sports, blackjack, instant redemptions and it's free to play win real prizes at
16:08
legends.com. Get your 50% first purchase bonus now at legendswithaz.com.
16:13
Must be 80 plus three a plate way to recover it.
16:16
Okay, welcome back to EV News, China. I look at what's happening today in the east. Now,
16:21
one pedal driving is a feature that I wouldn't buy an EV without. My wife turns it off immediately.
16:28
She wants the car to coast and she wants to modulate the speed with her foot on the break.
16:33
On the other hand, just too lazy to move my foot. And so I love one pedal,
16:39
proper one pedal driving all the way down to a stop. Yes, please. It's how I drive the Polestar.
16:44
Familiar to many, it's going to be curbed by Chinese regulators. The system lets drivers slow and
16:51
I think on the best systems stop and people will argue me on that and say, well, no,
16:55
just down to a crawl is best and then stop with the brake pedal, which all of our other EVs have
17:01
done. By the way, this is the first completely stopping one pedal driving EV that we've had.
17:07
And I find the regen is nice and strong. Like I say, I think it's three.
17:12
Yeah, three settings on the Polestar. I think I'm right. And either way,
17:17
my wife has it on completely the lightest version of regen and she uses the brake pedal
17:21
to regen like our first Renault Zoe did 10 years ago. And so I love the regen by just letting my
17:28
foot off the pedal. It's central to how I drive from January the first next year, 2027.
17:36
A new national standard will bar car makers from shipping EVs in China with a default one pedal
17:42
setting that can bring the car to a complete stop without the brake pedal being pressed.
17:46
The function itself isn't banned. You can go into the menu and turn it on existing vehicles.
17:51
Haven't got to have a retrofit either. But other parts of the standard are going to arrive earlier
17:55
from this year. All new EVs in China must have anti lock brakes. Most would tick that I think
18:01
cars need to eliminate the brake lights whenever they decelerate faster than
18:06
it's about three miles an hour a second. It's 1.3 meters per second squared,
18:11
even if the driver isn't touching the brake that aligns with the Chinese rules
18:17
with other markets as well. And the changes follow some studies. Some look at behavior of
18:23
how EVs are driven, some actually accident investigations as well. And the Chinese regulators
18:29
feel that some drivers relying on one pedal driving have failed to, you know, signal to their
18:38
right foot, you need to hit the brake pedal because you've got to stop faster than this.
18:43
Almost that people are getting too lazy because of one pedal driving. In other cases, people have
18:48
pressed the accelerator hard thinking it was the brake pedal. Regulators in China argue that
18:54
forcing people to switch more frequently over to the brake pedal just reinforces that muscle
19:02
memory. It reminds you of where the pedals are. There will be an efficiency penalty stopping with
19:09
friction brakes turned kinetic energy into heat energy, not electricity to go back into the battery.
19:16
Mandated brake light activation during stronger regen also complicates some of the control
19:20
logic as well, but that'll be fixed. Stopping distances are defined though by the mass of the
19:28
car, the grip of the tires, the force of the brakes, not on whether energy gets recovered.
19:35
So that's probably going to be a byproduct. We'll lose a little bit of efficiency. One pedal driving
19:41
is also easy. I think in dense traffic, it can be less tiring. These are first world problems,
19:48
aren't they? But less tiring than shuttling your foot between two pedals, often producing,
19:52
I think, smoother progress. Look, China's new rules won't remove any benefits of one pedal
19:58
driving and regen, but it will be critical to how the brake pedal is going to be impossible to ignore.
20:06
Now, let's talk about why one Chinese company could be laughing on the other side of their face,
20:12
because plenty of people have poked fun at a vacuum cleaner company making an electric vehicle.
20:20
Two things come to mind here. Well, Dyson had a go at this and decided that it was going to be
20:24
very expensive. And also, if you look at the big Chinese companies now, look at Geely. Like,
20:30
Geely is now a mega corporation world famous. Well, they started off making replacement bits
20:36
for fridges in the 1980s. And so everyone's got to start somewhere, right? Now, Dream makes
20:42
vacuum cleaners and home appliances. They've been at CES this week with a four door hypercar
20:47
called the Dream Nebula One, the first public product of its automotive ambitions announced
20:53
last August. Dream was founded by Yu Hao and folded into the Xiaomi chain back in 2017.
21:02
It had previously confused enthusiasts with some rather generic digital renders
21:07
that looked like they'd been, let's say, heavily inspired by a Bugatti Chiron or a Rolls-Royce
21:13
Cullinan. Well, they actually put out some specific teasers a couple of weeks ago. We didn't talk about
21:17
it and confirmed that its first car would be on the show floor of Las Vegas. And now it is.
21:23
And actually looks a lot different. It's a very low slung four door sports car. They had it painted
21:28
green with some exposed carbon fiber. The bonnet slopes sharply. The headlights form kind of an L
21:35
shape. And the car rides on six spoke wheels with yellow brake calipers. The front pillars are made
21:39
of carbon fiber. And Dream claims the car uses four electric motors combined peak output of
21:44
1,400 kilowatts. That's almost 2,000 horsepower. Right. It says the car will do 0 to 62 miles an
21:52
hour in 1.8 seconds with active aero. And it puts the dream concept ahead of other Chinese
21:57
EP flagships like Xiaomi's SU7 Ultra. That's still a sub two second car, remember. For now,
22:05
all that they have shown though is concept. They didn't disclose production timing or pricing
22:13
or technical data. But hey, dream. Yes, the next step is obviously to prove that it's the Nebula one
22:19
will move from being a show floor spectacle to something more substantial and certainly not
22:24
vaporware. We'll wait and see what they come with. Thanks for listening to AV news, China. See you on the next one.
22:31
I didn't even realize I was wasting $415 a month until I downloaded Rocky Money. I thought I had
22:38
my finances under control until the app laid out all my spending and categorized it for me.
22:43
Takeout, shopping and unused subscriptions were quietly draining my account. And as a result,
22:48
my savings took a backseat. But Rocky Money doesn't just tell you what you're wasting money on.
22:53
It takes action to save you money. First, the app looks at your income and monthly expenses
22:58
and calculates how much you can safely spend each day to stay under budget.
23:02
Rocket Money also finds and cancels unwanted subscriptions for you,
23:06
and even negotiates better rates on your bills so you have more money in your pocket.
23:10
On average, Rocket Money members can save up to $740 a year when using all the app's premium
23:15
features. Users love the app with over 186,000 five star ratings. It's time to simplify your
23:21
finances and take control of your money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
23:26
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel rocketmoney.com slash cancel
23:56
legends.com for more information. Legends with a Z.com is legendary fun.
24:05
Legends, the greatest social casino and sportsbook experience has arrived at legends.com. With
24:10
thousands of the best free to play casino style games, chances to earn millions of bonus coins
24:14
and win real money. Legends is revolutionizing the Vegas experience wherever you are. If you love
24:20
winning, then you'll love playing at LEGENDZ.com. Legends is a free to play
24:26
social casino void where prohibited play responsibly visit legends.com for more information.
24:29
Legends with a Z.com is legendary fun.
25:12
For limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska,
25:16
and California and for delivery.
