The Beginning Of The End

“The Beginning of the End” is both an awesome Nine Inch Nails song and an apt title for this week’s newsletter.

As we’ve seen here at The Change Optimist, the Chinese automotive industry has become the largest vehicle exporter globally since 2023 and has been increasingly introducing electric models worldwide.

Meanwhile, US automakers are refocusing on gas vehicles, and legacy automakers have reported billions of dollars in write-downs on their EVs.

Governments and OEMs initiated a series of moves this week that set the global automotive industry on a new trajectory, finding new ways to respond to the rupture in the world order.

Volkswagen announced plans to build most of the vehicles it sells in China on its new electronic architecture platform, the China Electronic Architecture (CEA), developed through its joint venture with Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng.

ICYMI: Volkswagen bought a 5% stake in Xpeng for $700 million back in 2023 and formed a strategic partnership to develop new models as it attempted to reverse a decline in sales in China.

The CEA is a new zonal, centralized compute vehicle model, like those used only by Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid, as well as many Chinese OEMs.

By leveraging the CEA, Volkswagen expects to reduce the cost of its Chinese-made vehicles and shorten the time-to-market for new models.

Volkswagen plans to increase exports of cars made in China as the manufacturer tries to benefit from the country’s low production costs.

When I saw this news, I was reminded of my conversation with Michael Dunne.

Dunne posited in 2024 that there may be a future in which most vehicles are manufactured in China, like most iPhones are.

Could VW manufacture a lower-cost version of the ID. Buzz in China with the sole purpose of exporting the retro EV van into other markets?

You bet your VW-van-loving butt they sure could.

BYD has formally filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the US Court of International Trade, challenging a series of tariff executive orders implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The lawsuit challenges nine executive orders and their amendments issued since February 2025.

CarNewsChina speculates that if BYD wins this lawsuit, vehicles from its Brazilian factory could enter the US market with tariffs below 15%, and its previously halted Mexican factory project might resume.

BYD would still need to figure out a solution to address the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security rule restricting the import and sale of certain connected vehicles and related hardware/software linked to China or Russia.

Carmakers will need to attest to the US government that, as of March 17, core elements of their products don’t contain code that was written in China or by a Chinese company.

Waymo and Geely figured out a way around that. I suspect BYD can as well.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a series of moves this week to help transform Canada’s auto industry.

First, the Canadian government allocated $3 billion from the Strategic Response Fund and up to $100 million from the Regional Tariff Response Initiative to help the auto industry adapt, grow, and diversify to new markets.

Second, they established stronger greenhouse gas emission standards that put Canada on a path to achieve 75% EV sales by 2035 and 90% by 2040, reducing the country’s carbon footprint and helping secure Canada’s position as a global leader in clean energy.

This approach allows manufacturers to use a wide array of technologies (BEVs, PHEVs, EREVs, etc) to meet standards and respond to consumer preferences in the near term, while driving electric vehicle adoption over time.

Third, there is also a reinvented $2.3 billion incentive program that will allow individuals and businesses to purchase or lease BEVs and PHEVs and receive a $5,000 or $2,500 rebate, respectively.

There were also details on a new trade remission framework, restatements of support for laid-off auto workers, and reskilling funds the government had already allocated.

It was a lot.

And some details are still pending.

But it does demonstrate a shift away from mirroring US automotive policies, setting a new direction for automotive in Canada.

While many responses to the announcements were positive, not everyone is a fan of Carney’s new plan.

But as the Globe and Mail points out, “the strategy’s biggest swing comes with a pair of attempts to directly tie domestic sales to domestic production: leveraging how tariffs on imported vehicles are applied, and making the EV purchase rebates more widely available for Canadian-made cars.”

CATL and Changan unveiled the world’s first passenger EV powered by a sodium-ion battery. electrek.co

Ford and Geely in talks for manufacturing, technology partnership. reuters.com

Ford also held talks with China’s Xiaomi over a potential EV partnership. caranddriver.com

Geely gets a bit more serious about manufacturing in the US. theverge.com

China is banning hidden electric door handles for EVs. theverge.com

The mother of a 20-year-old man who died after becoming trapped in his burning Tesla Model Y is suing the company over its hidden electric door handles. theverge.com

The Boring Company plans to dig holes in Dubai. boringcompany.com/dubai

Tesla introduced its more affordable all-wheel-drive Model Y in the US and dropped the “Standard” trim name for its entry-level models. insideevs.com

Elon’s net worth jumped up over $800 billion this week after he merged SpaceX with xAI in a deal that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. cnbc.com

Elon now derives more of his net worth from SpaceX than from Tesla. cnbc.com

Elon corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein in 2012 and 2013, according to newly released files, and sought to visit Epstein’s island and host him at SpaceX. cnbc.com

The world’s first ‘biomimetic AI robot’ just strolled in from the uncanny valley. techradar.com

PNDbotics’ new humanoid robot named “Adam-U Ultra” has danced its way through a complex, highly energetic routine without faltering, slipping or missing a beat. youtube.com

Apeiron Labs gets $9.5M to flood the oceans with autonomous underwater robots. techcrunch.com

With a southern Ontario battery farm humming, bidders are lining up to build more just like it. thenarwhal.ca

Finland’s sand battery offers 10x the heat transfer efficiency and cuts energy bills by 70%. interestingengineering.com

Canada and India are tantalizingly close to a 10-year, multibillion-dollar uranium supply deal that will likely be signed at a heads-of-state meeting in March. forbes.com

Nouveau Monde Graphite plans to open both a mine and a plant to produce the mineral used in sectors such as battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs) and defence. ctvnews.ca

Chevron’s chief executive praised Venezuela’s oil assets as the oil company and its larger US rival, Exxon Mobil, reported their lowest annual profits in years. nytimes.com

The Donald wants to stockpile critical minerals. cnbc.com

LG Energy Solution is acquiring full ownership of NextStar Energy from automaker Stellantis. cbc.ca

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is on the press circuit, hyping up the release of the Rivian R2. cnbc.com, autoblog.com, autoevolution.com

GM, Toyota, and VW are the only automakers expected to advertise during the Super Bowl on Sunday. cnbc.com

Canada seeks millions back after GM cuts 500 jobs at Oshawa plant. carscoops.com

The GM CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, may be up for sale. driving.ca

Stellantis shares plunged 25.2% on Friday, their biggest single-day drop on record, after the Franco-Italian company booked charges of around 22.2 billion euros ($26.5 billion) as it scaled down EV development plans. reuters.com

Ford teases its next-gen EV project. theverge.com

Toyota swaps in a new CEO. reuters.com

BMW has an engine starter problem. reuters.com

A new poll suggests that most Canadians welcome more Chinese EVs. thecanadianpressnews.ca

Waymos are having trouble stopping for school buses. theverge.com

Waymo is testing whacky “real-world driving scenarios” by simulating them in Google’s new AI World Models. theverge.com

Waymo announced a $16 billion investment round to expand its robotaxi business into more US cities and some overseas markets. techcrunch.com

A federal jury in Phoenix has found Uber to be liable for the sexual assault of one of its passengers, potentially setting a precedent for more than 3,000 similar cases consolidated in US federal court. theverge.com

Jim Pattison Developments said the sale of an industrial building, planned to become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility, would not proceed. nytimes.com

CNBC learns what an EREV is. cnbc.com

Ranked: The Most Reliable Car Brands in 2026. visualcapitalist.com

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