CHINA: Rare Chinese Recall, ONVO L60 Updated & Big Dog | 19 Sep 2025

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I didn't even realize I was wasting $415 a month

until I downloaded Rocket Money.

I thought I had my finances under control

until the app laid out all my spending and categorized it for me.

Takeout, shopping, and unused subscriptions were quietly draining my account.

And as a result, my savings took a backseat.

But Rocket Money doesn't just tell you what you're wasting money on.

It takes action to save you money.

First, the app looks at your income and monthly expenses

and calculates how much you can safely spend each day to stay on your budget.

Rocket Money also finds and cancels unwanted subscriptions for you

and even negotiates better rates on your bills, so you have more money in your pocket.

On average, Rocket Money members can save up to $740 a year

when using all the app's premium features.

Users love the app with over 186,000 five-star ratings.

It's time to simplify your finances and take control of your money.

Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.

That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.

Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.

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.

Well, the China Automobile Dealers Association predicts passenger vehicle

retail sales for September are going to shake out around a 2.15 million unit

month-on-month up 6%, year-on-year up 2%.

What about EVs, though?

Well, they predict new energy vehicles, so that's anything with a plug.

That's plug-in hybrids and purebevs and hydrogen.

There's none of those.

Are expected to make up 1.25 million of the 2.15 million sales

that lifts any V-penetration early data suggests in China for the month at 58.1%.

We were talking about China hitting 50% as being this big milestone all of five minutes ago.

September could shake out almost 60% market penetration for plug-in vehicles.

That's enormous.

For clarity, the passenger vehicles referenced are anything made,

produced, built on the Chinese mainland.

As the market enters traditional golden September, silver October,

selling season, car makers themselves are going to increase

end-of-quarter promotions to support volumes.

Regional trade-in subsidies have been tightened and adjusted,

which could add some volatility to demand.

Because last year's comparable period benefited from strong trading incentives,

analysts are going to watch whether September's year-on-year growth narrows.

Taken together, the projections point to month-on-month gains led by EVs

and a smaller year-on-year increase because of last year's incentive-driven high base this time last year.

Let's talk about a refreshed car.

That's the Envo L60.

Earlier today, Envo unveiled the L60.

The 2025 L60 is priced from 207,000 yuan, about 29,500 US dollars,

but of course it's Neo, where Envo is their family brand.

The battery-as-a-service purchase option starts at 150,000 yuan.

That's 21,500 US dollars.

Deliveries begin mid-to-late October for a very accomplished vehicle.

The new model brings changes for energy efficiency, new cockpit software,

new cabin comfort, energy and smart cockpit updates.

Will come to some of the L60 owners via Over the Air.

There is the Coconut 2.05 update scheduled to come later this month.

The rear-wheel drive version that's out there already, the existing car,

with an OTA update and the new software should hit a CLTC consumption

of 119 watt-hours per kilometre.

That is 5.23 miles per kilowatt hour if you prefer your money that way.

CLTC, of course, not real world, but very good efficiency.

Customers who placed a deposit and lock in their vehicles before the end of September

get reduced pricing.

They get premium paint, special wheel options, napper leather.

This is special, I told you.

Additional early buyer benefits include zero down payment,

three years interest-free financing, 144 complementary battery swaps,

five years of NOA, that's their navigate on autopilot,

comfort accessories and some neo-loyalty points.

The exterior keeps are the closed front grille and split headlight layout

with L-shaped daytime running lights.

A new exterior colour option is called Dawn Gold.

It can be paired with bright silver window trim and 20-inch bright silver wheels.

The new update adds new wheel designs and accessory options like a folding rear table.

The vehicle's AI systems are updated with spatial question-answering functions.

There's also improved rear-wheel drive assistance when you're on slippery services.

The powertrain is Envoe's 900-volt silicon carbide-based EV system,

that doesn't change.

The all-wheel drive version, 340 kilowatts, 0-62, 4.6 seconds.

So what's this up against?

Well, I'll tell you.

The top competitors of the L60 are obviously the Tesla Model Y.

Now, the Tesla Model Y comes in significantly more expensive.

The Envoe L60 starts at 250,000 yuan, if you're going battery swapping.

The Model Y is 250,000 yuan.

You could argue what with the shape, the more sedan size of the Envoe L60,

that we should be comparing this to a Tesla Model 3.

But the L60 does sit up a little bit.

I think it's generous to call it a crossover design.

I think many people would because they want to tap into that segment.

Very much like the BYD Seal U as well that's on sale in China.

So similar to that.

That is a proper crossover, more of an SUV shape.

That's 190,000 yuan.

The Zika X is probably right in this wheelhouse as well.

Again, that's hard to pinpoint down.

They call it a luxury SUV crossover.

The Zika X is pretty low and slippery.

It does sit up a little bit.

It has got that crossover-y styling to it.

That's the same price as the BYD Seal U.

190,000 yuan for both.

That's 26,000 US dollars equivalent.

Other vehicles that you could probably draw a line to to the Envoe L60.

Well, that would be the X-Peng or Chaopang G6.

Outside of China, so here, so we get the G6 here,

it's a 40,000 pound car.

In China, it's a 25,000 US dollar equivalent car,

which is like 20,000 pounds.

It's 180,000 yuan.

BYD Song Plus EV, Leap Motor C11.

So yeah, this kind of segment which is, it's got the hatchback.

It's not a full blown SUV shape in my mind,

but the segment gets pretty confusing.

And so really interesting car at insanely good value.

Starting at 21,000 US dollars equivalent.

Let's talk about a rare recall.

Now China's market regulator said

Xiaomi's highway assisted driving system

lacked sufficient recognition, warning,

and handling capability in extreme driving conditions,

creating a collision risk if you don't intervene.

The regulator's findings follow a fatal crash

involving a Xiaomi Su7, that's the saloon sedan,

that raised concerns about how cars are marketed

as autonomous capable.

Xiaomi said in a Q&A on Weibo,

it will issue a remote software upgrade

for standard Su7 models made before August 30th this year.

Xiaomi places user safety as its top priority, they said.

The company added,

adding that no physical parts need to be changed.

It is a recall that covers 117,000 vehicles,

but you haven't got to take them back.

Remote recalls are common in the EV world.

The announcement renewed attention though

to the March crash in which three

college students died when their Su7 hit a concrete barrier.

In Anhui province, there's a lot of conversation

around whether younger buyers are particularly

paying attention to the warnings that come with autonomy features

and some of the promises made by autonomy,

not being questioned by younger buyers.

Let's talk about Dongfeng announcing a joint venture

to develop Dongfeng's M-Hero Premium Off-Road

NEV brand and adopt a cooperation model with Huawei.

That would put it between Huawei's high model

and the smart selection partnership.

Dongfeng is going to bring a lot of the technology to it.

So they're going to bring 3.5 billion RMB

in what they say is intangible assets.

So for that, think things like licensing rights

for the M-Hero trademark.

Vehicle platforms, intelligent driving technologies.

Plus they bring 920 million RMB in physical assets

from tooling and buildings and equipment as well.

Using the M-Hero brand for a new joint venture.

That is something that would be a big off-road 4x4

kind of vehicle with a ladder down the side of it,

a side-swinging door that opens at the back.

Very utility vehicle.

What I think is the original definition of a sports utility vehicle.

Some call them off-roaders.

Now China has committed $6.5 billion to a battery hub

to expand into Morocco.

Africa is a really interesting battleground

in the world of electric vehicles.

Goshen, Goshen high-tech plans a battery complex in Kenitra

described as Africa's first battery gigafactory

with a 20 gigawatt hour phase targeted by the end of next year

and a roadmap to 100 gigawatt hours.

The project is aimed at the European market.

The Kenitra park is planned to include

cathode and anode material production

to reduce import reliance and control costs.

Moroccan officials expect most output to ship

to the European Union via the Tangier med port

and to link with Morocco's auto cluster built around Reno and Stellantis.

The location and vertical integration are meant to shorten supply lines

to Europe lower logistics costs

and meet EU battery supply rules

that stress traceability and recycling.

You see the EU's policy locking in a 2035 phase out

of pure combustion vehicles increases the near-term demand

for a reliable cell supply.

Obviously, there's trade tensions with China.

So Chinese policy has supported their own outward expansion

of NEV manufacturing since the 14th five-year plan.

Morocco for its part offers political stability.

It offers investor zones.

It offers a free trade agreement with the United States.

Doesn't it?

And it offers close ties with the European Union

physically.

I mean, it's just across the Gibraltar Strait, isn't it?

I've only been to Morocco once,

but what an incredible place just as a tourist to go to.

And not that far.

So to fly down from London where we are,

it was just a reminder of how close it is

for European holidaymakers of which there were plenty there

by the way.

Lots of sights and sounds and history to see in Morocco.

It's pretty useful for us to get to.

A flight for us to go to the sunshine would be like the Canary Islands

or something.

So the Tenerife and Gran Canaries and stuff.

And so Morocco, it's not a big holiday in comparison

to something like that.

Or if I don't know, you're going to somewhere like the Malta level

flights a little bit further to get to Morocco and stuff.

But if you go to the south of Spain,

we'll just make the short hop down to North Africa.

Interesting, isn't it?

We'll take a quick break.

And when we come back, we're talking about big dogs

and battery tie-ups.

Stick around back in a mo.

New Year, same extra value meals at McDonald's.

Now get a savory sausage McMuffin with egg,

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For the limited time only, prices and participation may vary.

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and for delivery.

The holidays are expensive.

You're paying for gifts, travel, decorations, food.

And before you know it,

you've blown way past what you were planning to spend.

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This week, Great Wall Motor introduced the HaVal Big Dog Plus

with five trims priced from $135,801.

That's $19,100 US dollars,

going all the way up to $183,800 US dollars.

That's $25,800 US dollars.

And a limited time trading offer

that begins at $110,000 US dollars.

That's $15,500 US dollars equivalent.

So what's a big dog?

Well, I was gonna say Suzuki Jimny,

if that, but it's not as stylish or as quirky as one of those.

But it's a smaller vehicle.

I think that offers probably some resemblance

to a midsize SUV.

It sits pretty high.

Lots of black plastic trim around the wheel arches

and roof rack bars.

You get the idea of where I'm going with this.

It's a long, high bonnet that then goes straight down.

So an SUV, high line bonnet, two big round headlights.

I'm not gonna say it looks GP,

but certainly it's like that.

The model is a facelift of the second generation HaVal Big Dog.

The Big Dog Plus is a family-oriented,

all-terrain, four-wheel drive midsize SUV.

The exterior uses HaVals,

what they call the aesthetics of armor power.

It has the illuminated HaVal HAVAL letter badge on the grille.

Some side creases that suggest a kind of utility off-road style.

Conventional door handles, 19-inch wheels.

The SUV includes Level 2 ADAS, 11 functions in that,

12 ultrasonic radars for surround view cameras.

They call it the Fusion Parking Assist.

Remote parking, reversing memory, and 360-degree dash cam.

There's a plug-in hybrid version

that uses great wall motors, high four, four-wheel drive system,

a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid engine.

Then there's front and rear electric motors.

So combined output of 268 kilowatts or 359 horsepower.

CLTC electric only range of the plug-in

is either 65 or 93 miles.

So that's either 105 or 150 kilometers electric only range,

depending on specs.

Couple of Li Auto stories today.

Li Auto and CATL signed a five-year agreement yesterday.

The Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang,

and the CATL founder, chairman and CEO Robin Zheng,

attended the signing ceremony.

This agreement covers work on battery safety,

ultra-fast charging between CATL and Li,

and expanding into overseas markets.

CATL will supply battery systems across Li's vehicles.

So the ternary batteries, the lithium-ion phosphate,

even sodium-ion batteries for Li Auto vehicles.

Total deliveries for Li Auto vehicles,

equipped with CATL batteries, is now over a million units.

And CATL has said there's been a zero thermal runaway

incident on their packs.

CATL said it will continue to prioritize

innovation and safety.

Both companies call the deal significant,

deepening of their cooperation.

And Li also also releasing interior images of the Li i6.

Now this is going to have a full reveal next week.

I'll tell you all about it on EV News China.

It's a five-seater, follows the company's current layout,

two connected screens on the dash,

and a rear entertainment display for the second row occupants.

Panoramic glass roof, electric queen seat in the passenger.

Wonder how much the passenger is having a say

in the Chinese finances of car purchasing.

Because I'm seeing this increasingly.

A dual temperature refrigerator, so heating and cooling.

The wrist screen is 21 inches.

Privacy shades on the side windows.

Li Auto calls the model a new form of five-seat SUV.

I told you all the definitions are being blurred.

I love you, but anyway, they show the inside of it.

And it looks like a beautiful, beautiful place to be,

by the way, big speakers in the back as well.

And that big fold-down screen.

So you've got the little screen

for your rear passengers to do your climate in control.

But the big screen, the 21-inch screen,

folds down from the roof

before the panoramic display starts, the glass roof.

So if you've got kids that you like,

and I'm not sure I would treat mine to such a massive screen,

but I jest, of course,

then they're going to have so much fun

watching the screen from the back of the car.

Li says this is a new form of five-seat SUV, as I say.

The Li 6 is their third bev,

and their second pure-bev SUV.

After the i8, the first bev was the Li Mega MPV.

Price single start at $250,000 RMB,

that's $35,000 US for a very premium vehicle.

This launch comes after Li faced some weaker sales

than expected this year.

And finally, let's talk about SAIC, their ROW brand.

I think I pronounced it ROW.

The M7 plug-in hybrid DMH version.

It's a sedan, launching in China, offering three trims

and starting at $85,800 yuan.

That's $12,000 US.

Now, I know you can't always draw a line

because you can't go and buy it in US dollars,

but I'll give you the number anyway.

The top trim is $14,500 US.

It's the first production car from the Rowe Pearl concept

by the former Rolls-Royce design chief,

Joseph Caban, and has a vertical waterfall front grille.

The M7 DMH is a medium to large sedan.

Certainly looks really big from the pictures as well

and the dimensions confirming that,

well, this is a very large vehicle.

If you showed me the side view, by the way,

and you only showed me the side of this saloon sedan,

with its sloping rear fastback roof line at the back

and told me, oh, this is the new Audi A6.

I would completely believe you, by the way.

If this was coming from a German car company,

it would suit perfectly in their lineup.

So the top trim has a new suspension system

that scans the Rowe 200 times a second

and looks ahead 15 meters or 50 feet

to adjust the suspension settings.

So by the time you get to the pothole

or the speed bump, it's as comfortable as it can be.

Level two ADAS is included, highway NOA,

forward collision warning,

powertrain and performance options include

their superhybrid system, 1.5-litre petrol engine,

which is powering an electric motor on the front axle

and charging up a 19.7 kilowatt hour lithium-ion

phosphate battery.

So that's 137 kilowatts of power from the motor,

and it is a CLTC pure electric range

of 100 miles or 160 kilometers.

They give the whole range, obviously,

because it's a, you know,

what they call the super plug-in hybrid system.

So they give the 2,000 kilometer figure, 2,050.

2,050 kilometers if you fill it with liquids and electrons.

Good luck with your bladder.

That's 1,300 miles that you could drive.

Nonstop, they say.

Anyway, CLTC.

Interior and exterior, well, a two-spoke multifunction

steering wheel with a heating controls,

a 10.25-inch full LCD instrument cluster, a 15.6-inch,

2.5K central touchscreen running on Qualcomm's

Snapdragon 8155 chip and smart phone connectivity

with integrations to Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Apple.

By dances, Dubau AI model powers the AI assistant,

saying the command, something like,

help me get my child to sleep.

Would then alter the temperature, lower the fan speed,

close the windows, and start a bedtime story.

Like, okay.

Well, that's AI inside our cars.

But look, this is, as I say, a very stylish, very

good-looking saloon sedan.

Yes, it's a plug-in hybrid, but with very, very big

100 miles of electric range,

which if, depending on your commute,

you may never need to put petrol in it,

apart from long trips, for $12,000.

And it's from SAIC.

So, although you can't guarantee the future

of any Chinese EV maker,

given the chaos of the industry at the moment,

even the big ones like Neo are looking over their shoulder,

they've got to sell motors.

That's just, it's not some random startup

that's selling, I don't know.

Like, all the Chinese companies

have been told not to sell below cost.

And to put an end to this price war,

there is some theory that about 25% of new EVs

are still priced below cost to get market share.

That's just $12,000.

I'm not saying this is, I'm just pointing out.

The price war is not over.

Central government may have told them, stop it.

I'm not sure they have, yes.

That's your podcast for today.

Thank you so much for listening.

I hope you enjoy EV News China.

If you do look out in the feed for the shows,

weekdays as we unpick and unravel

what's happening in the east for a global EV audience.

Thanks for listening.

I'll catch you on the next one.

Until I downloaded Rocket Money.

I thought I had my finances under control

until the app laid out all my spending

and categorized it for me.

Takeout, shopping, and unused subscriptions

were quietly draining my account.

And as a result, my savings took a backseat.

But Rocket Money doesn't just tell you

what you're wasting money on.

It takes action to save you money.

First, the app looks at your income

and monthly expenses

and calculates how much you can safely spend

each day to stay under budget.

Rocket Money also finds and cancels

unwanted subscriptions for you

and even negotiates better rates on your bills

so you have more money in your pocket.

On average, Rocket Money members

can save up to $740 a year

when using all the app's premium features.

Users love the app with over 186,000 five-star ratings.

It's time to simplify your finances

and take control of your money.

Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.

That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.

Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.

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Tesla Model

Tesla Model 3

Byd Seal

Xiaomi SU7

Suzuki Jimny

Ford Fusion

Mega Li Mega

i8 (I12)

Audi A6

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