DAILY: Volvo Warns EU, Tesla Rebounds In China and E-Transit Gets Range Boost

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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.

Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.

Download Rocket Money to stay on top of your finances.

The app pulls your income, expenses, and upcoming charges into one place

so you can get the clearest picture of your money.

It shows how much to set aside for bills and how much is safe to spend for the month

so you can spend with confidence. No guesswork needed.

Get alerts before bills hit. Track budgets and see every subscription you're paying for.

Rocket Money also finds extra ways to save you money by cancelling subscriptions you're not using

and negotiating lower bills for you.

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Welcome back to the podcast.

Today, Volvo warns the EU.

Tesla rebounds in China and the e-transit gets a range boost.

Stay tuned.

Later in the show, I'll tell you why Zika is eyeing up two big new markets.

On EV News China today, our spin-off podcast, we're talking about November's EV sales,

showing fresh monthly records for many big names.

Let's kick off.

Volvo and Polestar are urging Brussels not to dilute Europe's 2035 deadline for

ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars, arguing that a retreat would slow

electric car uptake and give Chinese rivals more room to grow.

Germany's Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has asked the European Commission President,

Ursula von der Leyen, to soften the rules.

He wants hybrids and what he calls highly efficient engines to remain on sale

after 2035, saying many buyers are still wary of fully electric cars.

Berlin presents this as a tech-neutral way to protect the climate.

From Gottenberg, Polestar's chief executive Michael Loschler calls the idea a bad, bad one.

If Europe doesn't take the lead in the transformation, be rest assured,

other countries will do it for us.

He says he adds that Polestar has twice asked to join EU's strategic dialogue

on the car industry, but had no reply.

Volvo's boss, Hacken Samuelson, takes a similar line, saying,

I don't see the logic in slowing down, likening today's pushback to earlier resistance

to catalytic converters and seatbelts, which only became standard once rules were forced.

Samuelson also argues that loosening the 2035 target would help Chinese brands

expand in Europe.

He says the Chinese will set up factories in Hungary and Slovakia and Romania

in low labour cost markets, warning that tariffs are likely to unlikely to keep them out.

Instead, he says European carmakers need to meet them, face on and compete.

Green MEP, Michael Bloss says Mr Mertz's plan would gut the hard-won EU law

and effectively give combustion engines a free pass after 2035.

And Loschler is starker still.

The Chinese will not pause, they will take over.

The choice for Brussels is whether to reopen the 2035 law or stand firm.

Let's move on.

Tesla's sales in China jumped in November, even as some Model Y buyers are being told

to wait until next year.

The China passenger car association reports the Tesla Shanghai plant

shipped 86,700 vehicles last month for domestic deliveries and exports.

That was almost 10% higher than the 79,000 units recorded for the same month

a year earlier and 41% above October's tally.

On a year-to-date basis, though, this recovery looks less robust.

From January to November, Tesla's wholesale volume out of China reached 754,000 vehicles.

That's down over 8%.

The decline underlines how much fiercer competition and price pressure have become in China's market.

At the same time, waiting times for Tesla's best-selling SUV are getting longer.

In the latest update to Tesla's Chinese online configurator,

the estimated delivery date for rear-wheel drive Model Y is now January next year.

Two other versions of the five-seat Model Y now carry February estimates.

Only the six-seat Model Y L, that's the long wheelbase,

says you could get it sometime before the end of the year.

Prolonged delivery windows can reflect strong demand,

tight production capacity, or possibly both.

They also hand rivals a chance to win over shoppers who are not willing to wait,

especially in the crowded mid-market crossover segment.

Now, Ford is giving its mid-sized electric van a big upgrade,

with more battery capacity, more range quicker charging.

The all-new e-Transit custom vans and the e-Torneo custom people carriers

will move to a usable capacity of 70 kilowatt-hours up from 64,

lifting the WLTP range from 337 to 370 kilometres.

The six kilowatt-hour gain doesn't sound a lot, does it?

But actually, overall terms, that's 13% more range,

50 kilometres of extra in real-world language.

The hardware itself is unchanged.

Ford says there are no new cells, and there's not a new pack design,

but the company is unlocking more of their existing gross energy content.

As a spokesperson put it, the physical battery stays the same,

you just get access to more of it.

Charging performance is being revised at the same time.

On a 125 kilowatt DC fast charger, 10 to 80 is now down to 29 minutes.

Existing vehicles won't gain the higher capacity, though.

It's not like you can over-the-air update, and you can use more of the battery.

But they will get an over-the-air update to unlock faster charging speeds.

That'll bring it down by about 10 minutes to get to 80%.

That's a real quality of life improvement.

So, single-motor line-up in the transit family is still 100 or 160 or 210 kilowatt outputs.

Ford Pro is also adding an all-wheel drive e-transit custom

with a second electric motor on the front axle.

A dedicated control system will balance the torque between all four wheels.

Now, Hyundai is next in the news.

Hyundai Motor Group is making one of its biggest technology bets on electric vehicles.

Announced today, they're committing 1.2 trillion won.

That is 817 million US dollars equivalent to a new future mobility battery campus.

It's going to be in South Korea, finished by the end of next year.

Covering 200,000 square meters, it'll be the group's main hub for battery innovation.

Energy engineers will validate their own in-house cells with new chemistries

before they go into production using what Hyundai calls continuous process validation.

In effect, intensive real-world durability tests.

New battery designs that pass the trials will be cleared to power future Hyundai's

Kia's and Genesis vehicles.

Those that do not can be then reworked on-site.

The campus will focus on next-gen high-performance lithium-ion batteries for full-bears

and, they say, extended-range electric vehicles,

handling several cell formats and replicating each key step in the production process.

Hyundai's already been testing battery materials at its Namyang and Alwang R&D centres.

This new campus, though, greatly expands that work and pushes the group further

into more vertical integration of its battery supply chain.

It gives it more control over a technology that is central to performance and cost and safety.

And car makers around the world are doing the same.

Tesla, GM and China's BYD all invest heavily in in-house battery development

while still working with big suppliers.

Toyota, they say they're setting up their efforts, stepping up their efforts, too,

including plans for a new battery campus in North Carolina for their hybrids

and eventually EVs as well.

Hyundai and Kia are also winning more of the American car market,

just as EV demand cools following the end of the federal tax credit.

In October, the combined US market share of the group,

so including Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, reached a record 10.9%.

That's up from 7.5% just a few years ago.

And it's a big jump amongst the major car makers.

The push has come less from pure battery electric cars at Hyundai, Kia, Genesis,

and more from hybrid SUVs.

Models like the Tucson, Sorento, Telluride, Santa Fe and Palisade all doing really well

and none of those are pure electric, of course.

Battery electric sales have stumbled a bit since many Korean-built models

lost access to the $7,500 federal tax credit.

Hyundai sold 1,600 Arnic Fives in October.

That was down 63% from the same month last year.

And far below the $8,500 they delivered in September.

Kia selling 600 or so EV-9s and 500 or so EV-6s in October.

Again, decreases on the same month last year.

The companies are preparing for a bit of a reset.

Tariffs on US career vehicle trade have dropped from 25% to 15%.

Hyundai's ramping up local EV production in Georgia

and both brands are leaning into heavy discounting,

$10,000 off the Arnic Five and some of the lease deals

I've seen about $190 per month.

That's very attractive, regardless of powertrain.

Now, Opel or Vauxhall are lining up to go racing

with the Opel Mokka GSE Rally Cup.

It's all electric and electric rallying takes a big step forward.

From next year, the One Make series will move from the Corsa

to the more powerful Mokka GSE Rally Electric

and adopt a charging plan built for real-world rallying.

The rally championship will also race under a new name,

replacing the old Opel Electric Rally Cup powered by GSE name.

This will be the sixth season of the all-electric brand cup

with seven rounds planned in six European countries.

The centerpiece of the revamp is the Mokka GSE Rally,

according to the new FIA eRally 5 regulations.

Undergoing extensive testing right now,

the electric motor is 207 kilowatts

or just under 300 horsepower.

Opel says it is clearly stronger than the outgoing Corsa Electric,

so more performance, the series also overhauling how and where

the cars charge for the first time.

Upgraded infrastructure will let teams charge the batteries

away from central service parks,

and that extra freedom should allow organisers

to add more kilometres on special stages

and gather data on fast turnaround times

when schedules are tight.

I do love me a bit of motorsport, as you may know.

And in electric world, hasn't quite pushed all of my buttons.

Yeah, actually looking forward to the 4th Gen formulary,

not for the new season that starts this weekend,

but that'll be in a year's time.

The cars are going to be bigger and wider and more powerful.

In fact, they can't even go back to many of the existing venues,

not without the venues changing a little bit.

Maybe we'll see formulary turning up at more permanent racetracks

because the cars are, well, for Gen 4,

they're going to be a bit of a beast, to be honest with you.

Looking forward to that. Let's take a break.

We'll come back, we'll talk about BYDs,

vans being really safe,

and Zika taking a name at some big market.

Stick around, back in a moment.

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.

Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.

Download rocket money to stay on top of your finances.

The app pulls your income, expenses,

and upcoming charges into one place

so you can get the clearest picture of your money.

It shows how much to set aside for bills

and how much is safe to spend for the month,

so you can spend with confidence.

No guesswork needed.

Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets,

and see every subscription you're paying for.

Rocket Money also finds extra ways to save you money

by canceling subscriptions you're not using

and negotiating lower bills for you.

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

when using all the app's premium features.

Start the year off right by taking control of your finances.

Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.

That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.

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I invested wisely.

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Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives,

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SPY is subject to risks similar to those of stocks.

All ETFs are subject to risk including possible loss of principle.

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Hear that?

That's me with a lemonade in a rocker on my front porch.

How did I get here?

I invested to make my dream home.

Get where you're going with MDY, the original mid-cap ETF

from State Street Investment Management.

Getting there starts here.

Before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses.

Visit StateStreet.com.

For a prospectus containing this and other information, read it carefully.

MDY is subject to risk similar to those of stocks.

All ETFs are subject to risk, including possible loss of principle.

Alps, distributors, ink distributor.

All right, welcome back to the podcast.

Ford has warned that Britain's new tax on electric vehicles, the paper mile tax,

risks slowing down the shift to zero emission cars

just as tougher sales rules arrive.

Under proposals in the Chancellor Rachel Reeve's budget,

from April 28, fully electric cars are paying three pence per mile,

plug-in hybrids, 1.5 pence per mile.

The move is meant to make up for falling fuel duty

as fewer people fill up at the pumps.

Ministers are trying to soften the blow, though, with incentives.

From next April, the price threshold for the expensive car supplement,

which was £40,000,

and frankly, although that is a lot of money, don't get me wrong,

that threshold had been maintained for such a long time

you could top spec a very average family car

like a Vauxhall Astra and be more than $40,000.

That's not a luxury car tax.

That's a hard-working family car.

It goes from $40,000 to $50,000.

I was hoping somewhere around $75,000 or $80,000.

That is a luxury car, if you ask me.

But still, it's an improvement.

And that is a big improvement.

There's a whole tranche of cars now, up to £50,000 sterling.

That means that you won't pay the extra 400 quid or so

expensive car supplement tax.

And that's a real world saving.

The government also plans to fund more public charging.

And I told you yesterday on the podcast

about the EV Grant being extended.

Ford's UK chair, Lisa Brankin,

called the package a confusing message

at a critical moment in the EV transition.

Extra investment in charging and grants was welcomed,

but could not outweigh a very poorly timed paper mile charge.

The wrong tax at the wrong time is what she said.

The main industry trade body takes a similar view.

The chief executive of the lobby organization

of the car industry over here, Mike Hawes,

said that he welcomed the higher threshold

for luxury car tax and the additional £1.3 billion

for funding the grant and the infrastructure,

but said that these steps don't offset

the impact of introducing the new paper mile tax.

Again, the wrong measure at the wrong time.

They were clearly aligned in their messaging.

With more than 150 models now on sale,

it's the world's most ambitious zero-emission

vehicle sales target.

According to the lobby group,

both Ford and the SMMT argue

that higher running cost taxes could hit demand.

The Office for Budget Responsibility,

the government itself effectively,

has also warned that this new paper mile charge

could reduce the total sales of electric vehicles

by 400,000+.

Let's talk about BYD,

an electric van which you probably may not have heard of

until now.

The BYDE Valley is an electric van,

but it gets a 5-star Euro NCAP rating.

That's a big deal,

not just because it's a Chinese car

and many people have probably outdated perceptions

of Chinese vehicles,

but also because the Euro NCAP rating

gets harder every year.

So to get a 5-star rating is very good.

The top benchmark for safety,

the result puts the Chinese maker on equal footing

with long-established European rivals.

The assessment just published now

covered three areas, safe driving,

crash avoidance, and post-crash safety.

Designed for Europe and Central Asia,

the E-Valley first stood out

at the IAA show last year.

Big windscreen, short front overhang.

However, these new test results

are drawing fresh attention from fleet buyers.

Euro NCAP describes the E-Valley

as well-equipped with safety features,

standard equipment,

speed assistance, driver monitoring,

airbags, seat belts, reminders,

these systems help vans achieve higher scores.

In crash avoidance, they got high scores

because of the autonomous emergency braking,

forward collision warnings,

and testers noting strong performance

in detecting pedestrians, cyclists,

and other vehicles.

The range includes a 3.5-ton standard wheelbase model

and a 4.25-ton long-wheelbase version

using BYD's very safe blade battery

of 81 kilowatt hours.

WLTP'd up to 250 kilometres of range.

With its top rating confirmed,

the E-Valley now enters Europe and Asia

as a fully-electric alternative to petrol vans

with safety levels that fleets and regulators

can now measure directly against existing models.

And finally, Zika is taking aim at two big markets.

That'll be Germany and South Korea.

Geely's premium electric brand, Zika,

is finally entering Germany after a two-year delay.

Orders are now open.

Delivery's in January.

The move drops a new challenger

into Europe's tough electric car market

where German makers and big American brands

are crowding the field already.

Zika is going after private buyers,

company fleets and rental firms.

The compact Zika X in Germany

starts €38,000.

The mid-size SUV, the 7X,

is €55,000.

The flagship, the 001,

that's the 5-metre shooting break,

beautiful, is €60,000.

Test drives in Germany are bookable through the website

by the end of the year.

And it sets up a trial, really,

of how far Chinese premium EVs have come

arriving on the doorstep

of Europe's premium car industry.

Zika is also pushing into South Korea's EV market,

turning the country into a fresh battleground

for Chinese exporters and piling pressure

on the likes of Hyundai and Kia.

On Tuesday, it signed a first dealer agreement

last week at their Hangzhou headquarters.

The four partners already sell Audi's and Mercedes

and Peugeot's and Volvo's in Korea.

And now they'll sell Zika's.

Their involvement underlines Zika's plan

to fight for customers at the top end of the market,

rather than competing purely on price.

The deal follows the creation of Zika's

Korean subsidiary in February

and the appointment of a former head of Audi

in Korea as their country chief.

And that's your podcast for today.

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And remember, there's no such thing

as a self-charging hybrid.

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.

Don't start the new year off

with bad money vibes.

Download Rocket Money

to stay on top of your finances.

The app pulls your income, expenses

and upcoming charges into one place

so you can get the clearest picture of your money.

It shows how much to set aside for bills

and how much is safe to spend for the month

so you can spend with confidence.

No guesswork needed.

Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets

and see every subscription you're paying for.

Rocket Money also finds extra ways

to save you money

by canceling subscriptions you're not using

and negotiating lower bills for you.

On average, Rocket Money users

can save up to $740 a year

when using all the app's premium features.

Start the year off right

by taking control of your finances.

Go to RocketMoney.com

slash cancel to get started.

That's RocketMoney.com

slash cancel.

RocketMoney.com

slash cancel.

Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.

This game is once in a century.

Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.

Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com

for your tickets to the 100-year tour.

This isn't just a game.

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The Harlem Globetrotters 100-year tour.

Celebrate 100 years of high-flying dunks,

100 years of showstopping moves

and 100 years of changing the game.

Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.

This game is once in a century.

Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.

Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com

for your tickets to the 100-year tour.

This isn't just a game.

It's a once in a generation event.

The Harlem Globetrotters 100-year tour.

Celebrate 100 years of high-flying dunks,

100 years of showstopping moves

and 100 years of changing the game.

Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.

Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com

for your tickets to the 100-year tour.

Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.

Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com

for your tickets to the 100-year tour.

Celebrate 100 years of showstopping moves

and 100 years of changing the game.

Bring the whole family and be part of the legacy.

This game is once in a century.

Be there at MotorCenter on January 24th.

Go to HarlemGlobetrotters.com

for your tickets to the 100-year tour.

DAILY: Volvo Warns EU, Tesla Rebounds In China and E-Transit Gets Range Boost

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