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Welcome back to EV News, China. Today, NIO turns a profit. Xiaomi's Su7 Ultra Hood is fixed,
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and the MG4X SUV. Plus stay tuned, later in the show I'll tell you how Li Auto has eased the
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production backlog on their i6 EV. Welcome back to EV News, China, the podcast all about the
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world's biggest EV market and every day I bring you headlines, insights and analysis from the
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hearts of China's booming EV industry and decode how fast moving developments in the east
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shaped the global EV landscape. We'll start with a big bit of news for NIO. NIO posted a
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record Q4 result in 2025, and the key number was below the line. It was in the black, the company
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reported net profit of 282.7 million RMB, that's 41 million US dollars. Total Q4 revenue was about
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34.5 billion RMB, a smidge over 5 billion US dollars, up 76% year on year and up 60% quarter
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on quarter. Deliveries rose with it, NIO delivered almost 125,000 vehicles in Q4 alone last year,
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up 72% year on year. Of those, about 67.5 thousand from the NIO brand, just over 38,000 from Envo,
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the family-oriented sub-brand, and just over 19,000 from Firefly, the compact premium brand.
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NIO ended last year with enough in the bank to push it through to more profitability,
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ending last year with 46 billion RMB in total liquidity, that's about six and a half billion
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US dollars, and that gives it room to keep pushing volume while the newer brands build out,
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where they spend money on battery-swapping networks as well, and hopefully more profit
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to come. A really big moment from one of the big names in China. Now, Xiaomi has opened appointments
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for a free aerodynamic hardware upgrade for owners of the SU-7 Ultra. For those of them that spent
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42,000 RMB, that's about 6,000 US dollars, on a carbon-fiber dual-ducted hood, or bonnet.
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The upgrade adds the actual aerodynamic veins inside that buyers thought they were getting
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in the first place. Xiaomi says the new Aero veins work with the car's active intake grille
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to regulate airflow into the front compartment. The system activates in track mode or at speeds
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above 93 mph, 150 kph. Xiaomi says it increases total downforce with a rise in energy consumption.
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Installation takes two to three hours. Owners report that the new hardware sits in plain view
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inside the carbon-fiber hood scoops. The fix follows a legal dispute. Xiaomi marketed their
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upgraded bonnet as a performance replica of the prototype Nurburgring car, and they advertise
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these dual air ducts for things like wheel cooling and battery cooling. And owners did shell out
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almost 6,000 US dollars equivalent for this upgraded Aero. But when the cars arrived, and they, well,
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lifted up the bonnet, they found that under the hood, yes it was made of carbon-fiber, but there
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was no functional internal airflow channels, it was just blank under there. Independent tear downs
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backed them up, which is what they needed to take it to court. And the Suzhou Intermediate
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People's Court ruled against Xiaomi last October, and ordered triple damages for false advertising.
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Xiaomi now making it right. Let's talk about the MG4X. SAIC has unfailed the first SUV variant of
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the MG4 family. MG4 has done good business in China, and also overseas as well. And it shifts
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the MG4 from just being a hatchback to a crossover, and pushes the brand into the high-volume SUV
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segment. The X in the name signifies what they say is infinite possibilities. All right, okay.
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If an X can really stand for anything, that may be the test for older buyers. They say that they
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want to attract younger buyers with this. SUV demand is really where the volume sits in many
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car markets around the world. Inside, a smart cockpit co-developed with the tech company Oppo
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centers on the hand car interconnection to give what they say lag-free integration between your
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phone, your smartphone, your Oppo smartphone, and the infotainment screen. We're seeing this with
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Huawei and the Huawei cars as well. Absolutely seamless integration. Xiaomi phones as well.
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The Xiaomi integration into the Xiaomi cars, where the picture of the phone, or not just a picture,
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but your phone's home screen appearing on your car's dashboard. Absolutely lag-free
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seamless integration. It's really important in China. The most notable tech change is under
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the floor, though, from the base trim upwards. The MG4X uses a semi-solid state battery chemistry,
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because I think China is going to start regulating the phrasing liquid solid state battery.
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Liquid solid. Okay, fine. MG's first introduced this technology in the MG4 and Shin edition,
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the hatchback. The 317 miles of CLTC range, which is going to be a lot less in real world,
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uses a manganese-based cell with 5% liquid electrolyte content. MG says the formula improves
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thermal stability and cold weather resilience compared to conventional lithium ion, but it's
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not like it's a range monster on that at the moment. Now, MG's also releasing the first
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official images. These aren't spy shots. These are automaker images released of the MG7,
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the MG07, actually, the all-electric fastback, which was teased in late January. The car keeps
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the design DNA of its predecessor, of its combustion version. The images also show a
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roof-mounted lidarm that marks an upgrade from the sensor suite on the current MG7,
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gas guzzler enabling not quite level 3, but certainly a very high level of level 2 urban
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navigation. Under the skin, MG07 will debut on SAIC's Nebula platform, also known as the
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Xingyun platform. SAIC engineered the platform at 800 volts and either supporting for LFP,
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NCM, or semi-solid state battery chemistries. It'll use the latest version of SAIC's battery
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pack system called the Rubik's Cube system, or one-pack system. The cells are lying flat,
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and that cuts the pack height to just 11 centimeters, about just under four inches,
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or so, just over four inches. Either way, it's a very, very low pack height, and so that reduces
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the center of gravity. Obviously, you sit lower in the car, more cabin space, and the semi-solid
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state cells target an energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram, so lots of room to move.
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There is the battery tech improves. Let's talk about Volkswagen in China unveiling the interior
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of their ID UNIX 08. Pure electric, mid to large SUV, and the model brings an 800-volt
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architecture to the UNIX lineup. The cabin measures on screens and comfort. The cockpit
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has a 10.2-inch, 25-inch LCD instrument display, and a 15-inch display dual, sorry,
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dual 15-inch linked displays up front. There's no getting away from the massive screens in this.
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So, this is in, it's like a giant tablet, two tablets, effectively, crossing the vehicle in
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landscape mode. There's obviously the one in the middle above the center console for the driver
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to use all the functions, and then one in front of the passenger as well. 2.4K resolution,
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so everything from ADAS interactions to nav and vehicle status, physical buttons,
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on scroll wheels, on the dual-spoke steering wheel, a little two-tone black leather and white
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leather steering wheel, which looks really nice actually in the pictures. Everything's trimmed
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in Napa leather. The driver, heating, ventilating massage seats as well, 14-way adjustment,
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and the front passenger gets an electric leg rest and 120-degree reclining as well,
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and you can switch into called big bed mode. Love the idea of big bed mode. That sounds very cool.
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Rear passengers get a 10-degree seatback recline and fold out tables. Single motor, rear-wheel-drive
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version at 230 kilowatts, that's about 310 horsepower. Dual motor adds a 140 kilowatt
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motor onto the front axle. It'll be an LFP pack coming from CATL in two sizes, 82.4 or 95 kilowatt
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hours. 800 volt system, very important. Okay, let's move on and talk a little bit about CATL.
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In fact, let's do a couple of stories about solid state, should we? So first of all,
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CATL, the world's biggest EV battery maker, has launched pilot development of their all
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solid state cells in China. That's now in pilot development. It's a sulfide-based cell,
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and it sells the battery at home as the Ningdi Shi Dai, all solid state pack. They target 500
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watt hours per kilogram. Small-scale production begins next year. The move comes as China prepares
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national technical standards for what solid state batteries are and how we talk about them.
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That's coming in July. That gives the programmer clearer frame, even if the hard part is actually
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making the cells. CATL's filed new patents for the specific positive electrode, active material,
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and the patent aims to address instability in sulfide electrolytes. That fits CATL's main tech
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focus, stabilizing the solid state electrolyte. Those interfaces have suffered contact failures,
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and that's been holding it back. The problem looks simple on paper. In practice, it's not.
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They say the science is solved. They just can't engineer it at scale yet. Near term,
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they have targeted a 60 amp hour automotive grade prototype cell. Current samples are 20 amp
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hour. The next move, that's going to be their next engineering challenge, they say. Sulfide
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solid state battery stacks need sustained compression, high tonnage compression. You
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really have to compress solid state cells to keep the ceramic-like layers in contact. If you don't
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push them together and have very high pressure and compression in a solid state pack, at least
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in this technology, then you can't get the contact needed. The layers inside are very dense and they're
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brittle. The need for sustained compression forces rigid casing designs, and those designs risk cutting
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into the weight gain promised by high energy density. CATL identifying cost still as the biggest
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barrier to commercializing this technology. Sulfide solid state is three to five times as much
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as lithium ion cells, conventional liquid electrolytes. This will start very high
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end in niche things that need the technology and the weight savings if they can overcome these
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problems. We'll take a break, and the second solid state story is next. Stick around.
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Hey, welcome back to the podcast. Next solid state story today is CALB, the chairwoman Liu
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Jingyu, using China's two sessions. It's a two sessions is a political summit in China, in Beijing,
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and using that event to unveil CALB's 60 amp power, all solid state cell, which is, they say,
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the route to 621 mile or 1000 kilometer range vehicles. I understand why the headline says that,
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and why you'd say that headline to politicians. But it means nothing, right? So you shouldn't
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talk about solid state cells as delivering X amount of range in an EV. So you can't say, well,
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if this cell comes off, we'll get an EV going 600 miles, would you could invent one now,
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just have a really big battery pack with current technology. So it's a very inaccurate way of
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describing a technology saying, wow, this cell allows for 1000 kilometers. So that's great. Well,
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but you need some other, the other variables need to be included in that, like how big is the battery
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pack. So they did mention the energy density of their cells at CALB. It's 450 watt hours per
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kilogram. That's about double, more than double compared to some commercialized technology in
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cars right now. It weighs under 500 grams. And the firm says it cuts weight by 75% versus the
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cheapest LFP mainstream tech that's out there right now. That saving comes from the chemistry
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change. CALB replaces graphite anodes with lithium metal or silicon composite systems
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for true solid state. The firm said it sulfide electrolytes offer 15% higher connectivity,
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conductivity and CALB said supporting over 6C charging rate, which would be a 10 to 80 charge
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in seven minutes or so. But very interesting technology that will go into things like
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robotics, drones, Evitol first before it ends up in automotive. Now, BYD's ride hailing and
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corporate focused sub-brand Lin Kui has confirmed that its flagship E7, that's a sedan, will use
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their latest flash charging technology. BYD unveiled it just under a week ago, the BYD
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BladeBattery 2.0 with its nine minutes charge time to 97% LFP technology. Of course, that
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matters because flash charging no longer sits within the premium brands like the young ones and
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the densers of the world. This is a ride hailing fleet, getting access to flash charging. But
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BladeBattery 2.0. It's a midsize sedan, is the E7, built on the C-Lions EV platform,
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the C-Lion 06 platform and BYD positions the E7 for ride hailing, for taxis, for business fleets
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as well. And that's very important because it proves that BYD want to make this incredible
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technology, which many overseas, by the way, still view as alien technology because it's 1.5
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megawatt charging for an average ride hailing vehicle, not just your absolute top end stuff
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being made available to as many people and BYD want to roll that out to 20,000 flash charges
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by the end of this year and who would bet against them. BYD also joining a task force, the International
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Automotive Task Force, as its newest member. It's the first Chinese car maker inducted
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into the newly established legal entity, the AISBL. So this is a piece of
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maneuvering by BYD in the background, which I don't think will get reported
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at all outside of China. But this is very important. And if you're following me this far
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into a podcast all about the Chinese EV market, then I'm guessing you're interested in it. So
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this, for me, is utterly crucial for what it signifies. The move gives BYD voting rights in
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setting standards for the global automotive supply chain. It secured membership through a vote of
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the existing members. And BYD now sits alongside Volkswagen, BMW, Geely and more. And it puts
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it in the heart of the industry's rulemaking. So the membership lets Chinese EV expertise
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shape future quality frameworks internationally. BYD operates in 120 countries. So that's
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engineering is very important. Geely was the first Asian voting member in 2021. And this is what
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I've talked about a little bit on the podcast. And I'm getting ahead here of the mainstream curve.
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But I think, you know, I think you and I are going on this journey together. If you're still
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listening at this point in the podcast, China went from copying the West, requiring joint
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ventures with car makers, if they wanted to sell in China, learning from them, innovating,
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to then making, in many people's view, better products than Western car makers. And who can
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argue with BYD and, you know, Geely's 1.5 megawatt charging on their Zika brand that doesn't get
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reported as much as the BYD tech. To now, the next step, and I'm talking here like on a five,
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10 year timeframe, I'm thinking, I'm zooming right out and trying to look at where we go.
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Now the Chinese car makers have better technology, have faster rates of innovation.
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Now they want to be at the heart of the rulemaking and the industry standards and industry bodies.
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And when you have access to that and when you, when you control the rules, well, then that gives
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you a whole different level of influence over the global automotive industry and the kind of cars
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at the end of the day. Let's zoom right back in again to the kind of cars that you and I
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will be buying in five and 10 and 20 years time and our kids will be buying. And I, like, that's
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fascinating to me. So that's the bigger picture. Anyway, let's finish off by talking about Leauto.
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Leauto's pure electric SUV, the i6, which is very highly rated, by the way, and test drives that,
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at least the ones that end up on YouTube by the English speaking YouTubers that I can watch
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have raved about the Leauto i6 and some of the ADAS systems on it, but they're not ending up in
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customers hands as quick as the customers would like. Deliveries were 16,000 last month in February,
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after 17,000 in January and 15,000 in December. And it matters because February included the
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Lunar New Year as well. That cut production days. Keeping that number very high shows a peak daily
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output that's increasing. So by the time we get the March numbers in, it should show a big increase.
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So in December, monthly sales crossed 10,000 sales for the first time in the month. And they had a
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launch offer of 10,000 RMB discount. It's over $1,300 US dollars equivalent. Complementary air
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suspension, nice. Soft closed doors, 87 kilowatt hour CATL battery, an NVIDIA Drive Thor U-Chip,
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the ADMAX driver assist system, which, like I say, is rated very, very highly. Maybe not
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absolute top tier in all situations, just for the YouTubers that I watch, but very highly rated.
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Strong demand then ran into problem, batteries. A battery supply shortage became the main bottleneck
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for the I6. CATL batteries were in short supply and Liotto was waiting. So they responded in two
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ways. They added Sunwoda as a secondary supplier and changed the production scheduling as well.
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And over time, those steps reduced the supply pressure. Huatai Securities views the I6 as the
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strongest overall contender in the 250,000 RMB pure electric segment. That's about 34,000 US dollars.
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So if sales can stabilize around 15,000 units and supply constraints ease,
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the I6 will become a cornerstone of Liotto's pure electric strategy.
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And that's your podcast for today. Thanks for listening. See you on the next one.
