An E-Rev powertrain is a type of electric vehicle that can also use a gas engine to help charge the battery. This means you can drive longer distances without worrying about running out of electricity.
800-volt architecture means the vehicle can charge its battery faster than most electric cars, which usually use 400 volts. This helps you get back on the road more quickly.
A dual motor all-wheel drive system means the car has two electric motors, one for the front wheels and one for the back. This helps the car grip the road better and drive more smoothly, especially in bad weather.
The Land Rover Range Rover is a fancy SUV that can drive on tough terrain while keeping you comfortable inside. People talk about it because it's stylish and has a lot of cool features, making it a popular choice for those who want both luxury and adventure.
The Range Rover Velar is a fancy SUV made by Land Rover. It's known for its stylish look and high-tech features, making it a popular choice for people who want a luxury vehicle.
The XPeng P7 is a new electric car from China that runs on batteries instead of gas. It's known for its modern technology and stylish look, and it's part of the trend of cars that are better for the environment.
Sodium ion batteries are batteries that use sodium instead of lithium to store energy. They're cheaper and more abundant, which makes them an interesting option for electric cars.
NAXTRA cells are special battery cells made by a company called CATL. They are used in electric cars and are based on sodium ion technology instead of lithium.
Solid state batteries are a type of battery that uses solid materials instead of liquids to store energy. They can be safer and more efficient than regular batteries.
Ford is a well-known American car company that makes many types of vehicles, including cars and trucks. They have been around for a long time and are famous for their popular models.
Plug-in hybrid technology means a car can use both gas and electricity to run. You can charge it at home or a charging station, which lets you drive on electricity for a while before switching to gas.
The Dolphin Mini is a small car that's great for driving in cities. It was named the best urban car last year because it's easy to park and use in busy areas.
LIVE
Five years ago, I was paying $65 a month for my subscriptions.
Today, those same subscriptions cost $111, and I don't even use half of them anymore.
That's why now I use RocketMoney to manage my subscriptions for me.
The app gives you a list of all of your subscriptions and reminds you of upcoming payments,
so you're not hit with any surprise charges.
On top of that, it also sends you alerts when subscription prices go up,
so you always know the price you're paying.
If you decide you no longer want a subscription, you can cancel it right from the app.
No customer service needed.
And the best part is RocketMoney even reaches out
and tries to get you refunded for some of the money you lost.
On average, people that cancel their subscriptions with RocketMoney save $378 a year.
And overall, RocketMoney has saved its members $880 million in canceled subscriptions.
Stop wasting money on things you don't use.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Here's to the irresponsible, the bad sports betters and hungover masses who went big during the game
and need a big, free hangover breakfast burger from Carl's Jr. The day after.
Download the app. Join my rewards.
Get the free charbroiled cure for bad decisions.
Free because Carl's Jr. knows you could use a sure bet.
Order ahead on the app.
Limit one for my rewards member.
Only a participating restaurants on February 9th while supplies last.
Visit Carl's Jr.com slash free burger day for terms.
I didn't even realize I was wasting $415 a month until I downloaded RocketMoney.
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 back seat.
But RocketMoney 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.
RocketMoney 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, RocketMoney members can save up to $740 a year
when using all the app's premium features.
Users love the app with over $186,500 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.
Carl's Jr. knows you could use a sure bet.
Order ahead on the app.
Limit one per my rewards member.
Only a participating restaurant on February 9th while supplies last.
Visit Carl's Jr.com slash free burger day for terms.
Welcome back to EV News, China today.
X-Pong aims upmarket.
Xiaomi faces a backlash and Leap Motor sets its sights on a million.
Plus, stay tuned.
Later in the show, I'll tell you why BYD says overseas growth is crucial to its future.
Welcome to EV News, China.
The podcast dedicated to the world's largest EV 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 shape the global landscape.
X-Pong's newest model abandons the pure electric orthodoxy
that it built its reputation upon.
The new GX is a six-seat SUV measuring 5.26 meters long.
That's 17.3 feet.
It arrives in China this year with both PureBev and E-Rev powertrains.
It's a pragmatic concession to buyers who want to go electric
and still have some anxiety of long-distance trips.
The extended range version, they say, runs 452 kilometers.
That's 281 miles on electric alone under the China cycle.
Combined range over 1,000 miles or 1,600 kms.
That's of course using the petrol generator to recharge the battery.
It's built on an 800-volt architecture with 5C charging, so it's ultra-fast.
Dual motor, all-wheel drive system, 62 miles an hour in four seconds.
Okay, elephant in the room on this.
High-tech, big six-seater, an SUV shape.
The styling borrows liberally from Range Rover.
Now, I've long said multiple times we are light years past the accusations
that the Chinese names are just copying Western stuff,
which you can't deny has happened, used to happen, probably still happens in some sectors.
Automotive, though, I think we've seen so much innovation coming out of China
that we can learn in the West a lot from the East.
However, this is one of those cases where I'm not falling back on a lazy stereotype or cliche.
This is a Range Rover.
This is a Range Rover Velar.
From the front, it's a Range Rover Velar.
From the side, it's a Range Rover.
From the rear, it's got a full-width light bar,
because, you know, it's an EV and all EVs seem to have this light bar thing.
But, yeah, this is pretty much one where they've got the tracing paper out and just done a copy.
I'm sure under the skin, it's obviously very different.
And inside, I've not got pictures of the inside.
It could be wildly different.
And Range Rovers, of course, 120, 150,000,
depending on how you spec them, are going to feel incredibly special inside.
This one sits on its SPA3 platform.
So rear-wheel steering, steer-by-wire technology,
loaded with the high-tech Turing chips.
There's four of those for 3,000 tops of power, level four autonomy ready.
But get this, the pricing starts at $400,000 RMB.
That's $55,000 US dollars equivalent.
So if you want a Range Rover with its upright profile,
all-wheel drive, pronounced shoulder lines, that premium feel,
then the X-Pong GX is arriving this year.
Now we obviously have EVs already from the P7 Plus and the G7 SUV in China, at least.
The calculation they're making must be simple.
Chinese buyers want electric efficiency for daily use.
Let's make it an EV as well if people want it.
And let's give them a Range Rover for half or a third of the price.
That's the new X-Pong GX, and it's coming this year.
Now Xiaomi's Su7 is facing another backlash.
An Su7 sedan caught fire in Liaoning province on the 1st of February,
sparking more viral videos that show dramatic fireworks bursting as flames engulfed the vehicle.
The company, which entered the EV market two years ago,
really, at least with cars on sale, they've been around a bit longer.
But otherwise known as a consumer electronics company,
quickly acknowledged the incident and opened up their own investigation.
Now Xiaomi's official response on the 4th of February, three days later, clarified things.
It was a residual ignition source left inside the vehicle, whatever that could be.
But that's what ignited the cabin materials.
The company emphasised that the battery and the vehicle's systems
were all functioning normally throughout the event.
What people could see, which they claim were fireworks on social media,
were actually airbags deploying under the intense high temperature.
The incident highlights, though, challenges facing new EV manufacturers in China's competitive
market, where tech credibility and safety perceptions are mattering.
Without initial technical details, online speculation for the first three days
filled the void, as you can imagine, with rivals amplifying the footage.
Xiaomi's transparent response I think is a good thing.
It demonstrates improved safety communication standards,
not trying to brush it under the carpet,
explaining what happened here. It was an isolated case.
It was a rental vehicle, no injuries, of course.
But for manufacturers in this space, it's incredibly difficult
to fight that online spread of misinformation,
disinformation as well, if it is intentionally being spread.
for 20% of Leap Motor, and established Leap Motor International,
a joint venture 51% owned by Stellantis to market and even produce vehicles overseas.
This arrangement gives Stellantis access to affordable electric models.
Leap Motor gains the dealer network.
But reaching a million vehicles this year would elevate Leap Motor from its
second tier existence at the moment to a global mass manufacturer within a decade.
The company achieved profitability last year and more than doubled their annual deliveries.
Success requires good software, good design, good pricing in multiple regions,
all at the same time.
The ambitious target establishes a clear benchmark, though Leap Motor
either emerges as one of the global competitors going forward in the next few years,
up to the end of the decade, or will probably face some consolidation pressure
in China and overseas as well.
China's Nevo A06 is a turning point in the EV industry,
and certainly the beginning of 2026 is a time we'll look back and remember.
This is the world's first mass-produced passenger car with sodium ion batteries,
now rolling off Chinese assembly lines.
So Chang'an's Nevo A06 uses the NAXTRA cells from CATL.
It's a relatively small battery pack.
It's 45 kilowatt hours.
It'll deliver 250 miles or 400 kilometers on the China cycle,
so not a lot in real-world terms.
But it pulls sodium ion chemistry out of the lab bench,
and actually there's been some motorbikes with sodium ion in,
and into the mainstream car market.
Sodium ion batteries contain a better mix of ingredients,
if you like, that overcomes some problems we have at the moment.
The big one is cost.
So sodium ion batteries cost less.
They also tolerate the cold way better than their lithium alternatives,
operating quite happily down to minus 30 degrees Celsius,
that's minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.
Those temperatures are unheard of in most parts of the world,
but if you do live somewhere in Northern China, Northern Europe,
places where the temperature gets down to that,
then you will certainly appreciate a battery
that is still fully operational.
The compromise is lower energy density.
But I will add a caveat if I may editorialize just briefly.
Yeah, the lower energy density is 175 watt-hours per kilogram,
but that's where we were with things like lithium ion phosphate,
maybe five years ago, and lithium ion technology, maybe 10 years ago.
And so those timelines, by the way, not exact.
What I'm illustrating there, though, is this is the beginning
of the journey for sodium ion in mainstream car transport.
And so when you're at the beginning of a development curve,
you can iterate and improve much quicker
than when you're working with a technology
that has had maturation over decades.
And so that, yes, is lower.
And of course, with more modern batteries,
we're talking about solid state.
We're looking at 400, 500 watt-hours per kilogram and upwards.
But it matches lithium ion phosphate from not so long ago, actually.
Chang'an placed the A06 in China's high volume segment.
So there's a reason for that.
Price sensitivity drives purchases.
And lithium carbonate costs bite hard.
The placement signals a strategic split.
Sodium ion for affordable urban mobility,
maybe for ride hailing or cars that recharge often
with a small battery pack.
And then lithium ion or LFP for other vehicles,
maybe longer range, maybe export.
For CATL, which has poured $1.4 billion
into developing sodium ion batteries,
the A06 is their commercial proof they needed.
For Chang'an, the differentiation
offers a competitive edge against those
that perhaps have had some headlines recently
for their own battery technology.
Rightly so, BYD, Geely, the emerging startups as well.
While the Western regulators are still mid-debate
about how to move away from lithium, nickel, and cobalt,
China not only pioneered using LFP,
firstly in commercial vehicles, then road transport,
and now a new technology, sodium ion in the Nevo A06.
We're going to see lots more of this technology.
And it's only the beginning of you and I talking about it
really on this spin-off show.
We'll take a quick break, we'll come back, we'll talk Neo
and IM Motors.
Stick around, back in a bit.
Five years ago, I was paying $65 a month for my subscriptions.
Today, those same subscriptions cost $111,
and I don't even use half of them anymore.
That's why now I use RocketMoney
to manage my subscriptions for me.
The app gives you a list of all of your subscriptions
and reminds you of upcoming payments,
so you're not hit with any surprise charges.
On top of that, it also sends you alerts
when subscription prices go up,
so you always know the price you're paying.
If you decide you no longer want a subscription,
you can cancel it right from the app.
No customer service needed.
And the best part is, RocketMoney even reaches out
and tries to get you refunded for some of the money you lost.
On average, people that cancel their subscriptions
with RocketMoney save $378 a year,
and overall, RocketMoney has saved its members $880 million
in canceled subscriptions.
Stop wasting money on things you don't use.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
My shopping style is more stay-at-home than try and store,
so my AmEx Blue Cash Everyday card is my go-to accessory.
When I shop, it's easy to earn
by getting 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases.
Each order brings me closer to more cash back.
So go ahead, add the card and shop the latest styles.
Re-invent your look and reward yourself with AmEx.
And try on the Blue Cash Everyday card.
Learn more at americanexpress.com slash explore dash b-c-e.
Terms and cash back cap apply.
You can cancel it right from the app.
No customer service needed.
And the best part is, RocketMoney even reaches out
and tries to get you refunded for some of the money you lost.
On average, people that cancel their subscriptions
with RocketMoney save $378 a year.
And overall, RocketMoney has saved its members
$880 million in canceled subscriptions.
Stop wasting money on things you don't use.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Hey, welcome back to the show.
Now, Shanghai-based IM Motors are expanding overseas.
The IM5 and IM6, which other overseas markets have had for a while,
now expanding to the UAE and Tunisia,
moving into the Gulf and North Africa.
The UAE serves as their primary regional beachhead,
following a flagship showroom opening in Dubai last year.
New flagship coming for Abu Dhabi.
Customer deliveries begin March and April,
joining the IM LS7.
From its UAE base,
IM aims to establish a regional hub
and expand into the Middle East.
Tunisia extends the brand's North African presence.
After an entry into Egypt,
the combined Gulf and Maghreb operations
create a north-south axis across the region.
The IM5 and IM6 function as their kind of global spearheads.
They're very good vehicles, not the cheapest,
but they emphasize things like intelligent systems.
And at its core sits their drive-resistance system.
That's the one that was developed with Momenta.
It has automated parking,
handling more than 30 challenging situations.
It says from tight streets to underground garages,
recognizing hundreds of parking space configurations.
We'll see how they sell in those markets.
NEO had some really big news for us.
NEO expects to deliver their first ever quarterly profit
under both non-gap and gap accounting standards,
marking significant achievement in China's EV sector
and a loss-making company.
They've provided investors with specific profit guidance,
showing non-gap adjusted operating profit
between 700 million and 1.2 billion yuan,
while gap operating profit should range from 200 to 700 million yuan.
This milestone stems from delivery growth,
better product mix they say,
and cost cutting.
Well, let's call it cost optimization.
Reaching profitability strengthens NEO's position
with global investors who typically scrutinize
these Chinese names that are expanding overseas
and struggling for profit sometimes.
And that allows them to fund new models to access new capital
to match the aggressive product cycles by their competitors.
In China's crowded market,
where dozens of brands compete amid falling prices
and state-backed rivals,
it demonstrates a financial viability
that's long been missing from NEO.
Owner confidence, of course,
holds a lot of weight in China,
where concerns, rightly so by the way,
about brand survival directly impact purchase decisions
and residual values, servicing and software support.
NEO's profit guidance positions the company
among the credible long-term players in the industry,
while one profitable quarter
does not fix everything at NEO.
Cash is still strapped.
They provided at least stakeholders
and drivers of the vehicles with some tangible evidence.
The company delivered 326,000 vehicles last year,
up 40% year over year,
demonstrating the scale necessary to get profitability.
Now Brazil has ended tariff breaks for BYD
after domestic and foreign car makers pushed back
against preferential treatment for the Chinese EV maker.
The government restored full 35% duties
on imported electric and hybrid vehicle kits,
accelerating a tariff increase scheduled for mid-2028 to today.
With immediate effect, BYD has secured temporary relief
while converting Ford's old plant
into its largest production facility outside of China.
It's a 4 million square meter site
and it's a huge investment
of about 1.1 billion US dollars equivalent.
They began producing vehicles with kits in October 2025,
made about 25,000 out of the factory so far.
They're racing to localize their supply chain
as well, targeting 50% Brazilian content
by the end of this year.
Current capacity is for 150,000 units annually
by the end of this year.
Brazil already ranks as BYD's largest overseas market,
more than 130,000 sold since 2021.
Sales jumped 328% in 2024
and the first quarter of last year
saw deliveries exceeding 20,000 vehicles
for the very first time.
They sell the DMI there,
which is their plug-in hybrid technology.
They run it on Brazil's ethanol
petrol infrastructure, by the way.
BYD, we'll finish off with them today,
have been talking and giving an interview
that I found on EuroNews, actually,
and EuroNews profiling BYD
with their boss, Stella Lee,
talking about why fast charging
and European factories are the key
to continued growth.
As a reminder, BYD sold 2.26 million
BEVs last year, Tesla did 1.63 million.
BYD now easily the world's biggest pure EV maker.
Once the chief executive of Tesla scoffed
and laughed at waving away competition
a few years ago,
the idea that BYD could ever grow.
The Chinese company started as a battery maker
but moved into building cars
and the executive vice president, Stella Lee,
who's been giving this interview,
she was named the world car person
of the year in 2025,
leading the company that employs
110,000 engineers in their R&D department.
And I've said this fact before,
this has come again out of the EuroNews interview with her.
I had somebody push back on that previously,
a listener to the podcast going,
you've actually got that stat wrong.
It would be impossible to have an R&D department
of 110,000 engineers.
Well, I had not been there
and I've not knocked on the door
and counted them all personally.
But that's the official data that I've mentioned before.
Somebody said it's kind of incredulous
that a company could have that many people
working just in a R&D.
And once again,
this has been talked about in this article.
So I don't know what to say.
I'm just reporting what the company themselves say
and you wonder how BYD is able
to be so vertically integrated,
making every nut bolt and washer
is how I put it in terms of the batteries,
the EVs, the software, the sensors, the components.
It's all them.
That's why they need so many people.
It's why they need scale
and they'll get that scale from going overseas.
BYD manufactures parts for a third of the world's smartphones as well.
The automaker offers 13 models
across Europe and the Gulf,
ranging from urban vehicles to the hypercar
that's the Unine Xtreme that'll do 308 miles per hour.
That's almost 500 kilometers per hour.
And then there's the Dolphin Mini.
That's the little car
that is the world urban car of the year last year.
Still Euro NCAP five-star rated.
BYD developed megawatt charging back home in China
that adds 250 miles of range or 400 kilometers
in just five minutes.
And I told you recently about some spice shots
and photos coming out of some units,
1.5 megawatts BYD charges
that they're now testing for their Gen 2 stuff.
They've got 3,000 fast charging stations
going in the ground in Europe.
That's the plan.
Trade tariffs on Chinese EVs are obviously a concern,
but Lee views them as a temporary obstacle
that hurts consumers.
She emphasizes that local production matters more.
BYD's 4.7 billion dollar investment in southern Hungary
begins production in the second quarter of this year.
Beyond Europe, the company sees the Gulf region
as an opportunity for growth,
signing a national battery storage energy partnership
with the UAE government
and targeting the Middle East as well.
And that's your podcast for today.
Thanks for listening. See you on the next one.
The number one resolution for people last year
was to save more money,
but nearly half gave up by February.
Don't let that be you.
Download RocketMoney to reach your financial goals this year.
Track your spending, cut waste,
and automate savings in one simple app.
RocketMoney shows you all your expenses
and categorizes them
so you know exactly where your money's going
and where you're overspending.
From there, the app cuts waste
by canceling your unused subscriptions
and lowering your bills.
No customer service needed.
With that money freed up,
the app will automatically set some cash aside
for your goals,
whether it's an emergency fund,
paying off debt,
or saving for vacation.
RocketMoney's got you covered.
Users love the app with over 186,000 five-star ratings.
And on average, users can save up to $740 a year
when using all of the app's premium features.
Make saving money a priority this year.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Get that MX gold card ready.
I'm too tired to cook.
We feeling five guys or the cheesecake factory?
Both.
Earn up to $120 a year in statement credits
of participating partners.
Up to $10 each month
when you pay with the MX gold card.
Learn more at americanexpress.com
slash explore-gold.
Enrollment required, terms apply.
Get that MX gold card ready.
I'm way too tired to cook tonight.
You read my mind.
With the gold card, we can get up to $120 a year
in statement credits.
Are you feeling the cheesecake factory?
Five guys?
Either of those sound good?
Yes.
Which one?
Both.
Pay with the gold card
to receive up to $10 a month
in statement credits at participating partners.
Uncover more ways to reward yourself
at americanexpress.com slash explore-gold.
Enrollment required, terms apply.
If you're an HVAC technician
and a call comes in,
Granger knows that you need a partner
that helps you find the right product,
fast and hassle-free.
And you know that when the first problem
of the day is a clanking blower motor,
there's no need to break a sweat.
With Granger's easy-to-use website
and product details,
you're confident you'll soon have
everything humming right along.
Call 1-800-GRANGER,
click Granger.com or just stop by.
Granger, for the ones who get it done.
If you're the purchasing manager
at a manufacturing plant,
you know having a trusted partner
makes all the difference.
That's why hands down,
you count on Granger for auto-reordering.
With on-time restocks,
your team will have the cut-resistant gloves
they need at the start of their shift.
And you can end your day knowing
they've got safety well in hand.
Call 1-800-GRANGER,
click Granger.com or just stop by.
Granger, for the ones who get it done.
About this episode
Xpeng is shifting its strategy with the new GX SUV, blending electric and extended range capabilities while drawing design inspiration from Range Rover. Xiaomi faces scrutiny after a fire incident involving its Su7 sedan, highlighting the challenges of safety perceptions in the EV market. Leap Motor aims for ambitious growth, targeting one million vehicle sales this year, leveraging a partnership with Stellantis. Additionally, Chang'an's Nevo A06 marks a significant milestone as the first mass-produced car using sodium-ion batteries, promising lower costs and better cold weather performance, although with reduced energy density.
