On 31 August, Unitree released an upgraded firefighting and emergency solution with a blunt slogan: robots are made for people, built to serve, to charge into fire and danger. A Unitree quadruped deployed for firefighting and emergency response. (Source: OFweek Robotics) From reconnaissance to water cannon Unitree is not new to the field. In April … Read more
Li Xiang wants to be a top-three brand in China’s above-RMB-200,000 passenger market. On 26 August, at the second-quarter earnings call, he and president Ma Donghui laid out exactly how: two pure-electric flagships in two weeks, an in-house battery rolling out across the range, and a first appearance in Europe. Li Auto’s Q2 2026 financials. … Read more
A self-driving system can see a car, a pedestrian, a red light. What it struggles with is time. XPeng says its second-generation VLA model fixes exactly that, trading a static 3D view of the world for a moving 4D one. XPeng’s assisted-driving system reading a complex road scene. (Source: CheDongXi) From 3D space to 4D … Read more
Thirteen carmakers turned in their August scorecards on 1 September, and the split between China’s new-force brands could hardly be sharper. At the top, Leapmotor crossed 100,000 deliveries for a second straight month. At the bottom, four ecosystems slipped. The through-line for European readers: Chinese electric vehicle exports are climbing off the same momentum. August … Read more
From 1 September, China charges a 2 per cent consumption tax on lithium batteries, rising to 4 per cent in September 2027, while sodium-ion, solid-state and fuel cells stay exempt through the end of 2028. The levy ends an 11-year tax holiday for an industry that now dominates global lithium supply. A rush to beat … Read more
NIO co-founder and president Qin Lihong says the range-extender wave that swept Chinese large SUVs is losing steam, and pure electric is set to take more than half the market as charging and battery tech cross a tipping point. A NIO pure-electric large SUV, a segment shifting from range extender to battery (Source: LeiPhone) The … Read more
On 5 August, SAIC Motor and General Motors signed a renewal in Shanghai that extends their venture, SAIC-GM, by 20 years to 2047, the longest renewal among major China joint ventures and a signal of how both sides now value the partnership. Signing of the SAIC-GM joint venture renewal in Shanghai (Source: LeiPhone) A symbolic … Read more
Black Sesame Technologies has delivered the first batch of its Aura Devkit to collaborative robot maker AUBO, the two companies said, deepening a tie that now spans project bids, joint research and commercial supply. Black Sesame Aura compute module from the SesameX embodied-AI platform (Source: Gasgoo) A car chip moves into the robot The Aura … Read more
Omov, the autonomous-driving and mobility group spun out of Continental, is rewriting how a global Tier 1 serves China. In early 2026 it formed a China management committee that gave the local team real authority over supply, manufacturing, product development and partner choice, with full profit and loss responsibility for the China business. From global … Read more
Tesla has pulled the covers off its production Cybercab, a purpose-built robotaxi that removes the steering wheel, brake and accelerator entirely and relies on its FSD system for full autonomy. The company opened the pod to public rides in Austin, Texas, and set China debuts in Beijing and Shanghai for 18 September. A launch run … Read more