EV & Mobility

Why China is betting on semi-solid batteries before all-solid-state arrives

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A new national standard effective this July classifies lithium batteries as liquid, semi-solid or solid, with semi-solid also called half-solid and solid meaning all-solid-state. The road map is explicit: 2026 for semi-solid volume production, 2030 for small-batch all-solid-state, and 2035 for next-generation solid-state in some affordable cars. Semi-solid comes in two paths, an all-inorganic solid … Read more

Huawei’s HIMA launches a 1.17 million yuan MPV, taking on Lexus LM and Alphard

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Richard Yu, Huawei’s executive director, called it a ‘generation-leading and comprehensively leading’ product. Unlike earlier HIMA launches built around driving, cockpit and chassis, this pair devotes most of its airtime to luxury: two-tone paint, full-colour interactive lighting, a retractable starry roof, a private drinks bar, an electric shoe cabinet and privacy glass. It is HIMA’s … Read more

Leapmotor tops 100,000 in July as BYD and Chery exports hit records

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The traditional makers carried the export story. BYD shipped close to 420,000 units in July, up 22 per cent, with overseas sales of 179,800 setting a record. Chery delivered 276,800 units, up 23 per cent, and its exports of 202,500, up 70.1 per cent, made it the first Chinese carmaker to top 200,000 monthly exports, … Read more

Why lidar makers are betting on their own chips

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Lidar was once the most contested sensor in autonomous driving. Supporters argued it supplies 3D information cameras cannot, a safety redundancy high-level driver assistance cannot do without. Opponents, led by Tesla, called it expensive, bulky and transitional. Yet since 2025, as advanced driver assistance spread, lidar has not exited, it has entered mass production, and … Read more

Three Chinese carmakers just cracked the global top ten

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According to figures from the China Passenger Car Association based on OICA data, China’s vehicle exports reached 5.31m units in the first half of 2026, up 53 per cent year on year, with June alone at 1.07m units, up 73 per cent and 8 per cent month on month. The export momentum is broadening, not … Read more

Shenzhen and Los Angeles are quietly running the same Robotaxi race

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From technology to the city In 2026, Waymo’s order volume in San Francisco at one point surpassed Lyft’s, while Apollo Go’s first-quarter rides crossed 3.2m. Capital followed the proven demand: global private autonomous-driving deals reached 23.3bn dollars in the first four months of 2026, more than double the full-year 2025 total, headlined by Waymo’s 16bn … Read more

China issues its first mandatory safety standard for L3 and L4 autonomous driving

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China has approved its first mandatory national safety standard for L3 and L4 autonomous driving, setting a unified bar for vehicles that can drive themselves. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s standard, Safety Requirements for Autonomous Driving Systems of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, was formally approved on 30 July and takes full effect on … Read more

The car industry’s next battleground is the humanoid robot

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Tesla’s product play Tesla targets a 20,000 to 30,000 dollar Optimus, roughly the price of a Model Y, by reusing its motor, battery-management and sensor supply chain and driving cost down through scale. The deeper move is the data flywheel: with more than a thousand Optimus units inside its own factories by 2026, each robot … Read more

Google and Tesla just posted negative free cash flow. The AI bill is coming due

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The numbers Both companies turned free cash flow negative for the first time. Google’s was minus 5.9 billion dollars, its first negative since the 2004 IPO. Tesla’s was minus 1.1 billion, its first in about two years. The driver is capital expenditure: Google’s second-quarter capex doubled to 44.9 billion dollars, nearly 5 billion a day, … Read more

China moves to ban the ‘small blue light’ ADAS indicator as national lighting standard enters revision

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The blue light marks assisted-driving status. NIO vice-president Ma Lin commented that some versions are brighter than the tail lamps and glare at following drivers, a clear hazard. The China Automotive Technology and Research Center said multiple ADAS-light models abuse the feature: blue glare at night disrupts other drivers’ judgement, and such cars tend to … Read more