China’s Automotive Expansion
Xiaomi Sky. Nomad N70
Xiaomi officially launched the Sky Nomad EREV brand and revealed two new crossovers, pitched as “living rooms on wheels.” electrek.co, carnewschina.com
BYD revealed the Denza N8 pure-electric SUV, packing a massive 1,193-hp tri-motor setup. carnewschina.com
The new BYD Qin Plus was exposed with LiDAR, bringing advanced autonomy to the mass market. carnewschina.com
BYD’s Shark 6 pick-up is being rebranded as Fang Cheng Bao in China, with a 20 km/h top-speed boost. carnewschina.com
BYD’s $10,000 Seagull EV was revealed with a 425mm longer body and a 127 hp motor. carnewschina.com
MG revealed a $22,000 EV with a semi-solid-state battery. electrek.co
Chery’s iCaur V25 EREV has a 150-km EV range and a 1,800-kg towing capacity. carnewschina.com
VW’s ID Unyx 09 fastback sedan has a 496-hp dual-motor setup and a CATL battery. carnewschina.com
VW’s ID Aura T6 was revealed with a length of 4.8 meters and 228 hp. carnewschina.com
Geely Galaxy Cruiser 700 plug-in hybrid SUV exposed with 2.0T engine and 220 km EV range. carscoops.com
Geely Galaxy TT debuts as a Xiaomi SU7 lookalike with 725 km range. carnewschina.com
Geely teases the new Preface L90 5-meter sedan with LiDAR and 4L fuel consumption. carnewschina.com
Leapmotor opens European orders for the B03X, a more powerful version of its bestselling A10. carnewschina.com
Stellantis helped Leapmotor launch its B10 EREV crossover in Mexico. autoblog.com
Updated Lynk & Co 02 with 800V platform and LiDAR to enter China in Q3 2026. carnewschina.com
Polestar owners and dealers are scrambling after the brand pulled out of the US market, with many customers left holding vehicles they cannot get serviced or resell at anything close to the purchase price. theverge.com
Polestar’s quarterly sales volumes slide amid the US market ban. reuters.com
The top 7 best-selling EVs in Australia are now all Chinese, proving their dominance in open markets. electrek.co
Must-Know Musk News
A rendering of one of SpaceX’s planned “Starmind” AI satellites
SpaceX named its planned AI satellite megaconstellation “Starmind,” building on a vision Elon outlined in February to harness near-constant solar power in orbit. space.com
Elon postponed a planned TV interview, his first since SpaceX went public. cnbc.com
SpaceX won a nearly $6.5 billion Pentagon contract to build a global military surveillance network, putting it at the forefront of space-based defence infrastructure. spacenews.com
Morgan Stanley says SpaceX’s space division is worth just $8 per share, accounting for only 3% of its base-case valuation. The rest is Starlink. ft.com
Elon received FTC clearance to acquire Mesh Optical Technologies, a SpaceX-alumni start-up that makes optical transceivers. It hands him a critical missing layer in AI infrastructure between Terabit chips and the network. tomshardware.com
New Jersey is considering a robotaxi law that would require multiple sensor types, effectively banning Tesla’s camera-only Full Self-Driving approach from operating as a robotaxi in the state. theverge.com
Elon told Tesla staff to switch to xAI’s Grok instead of rivals like Claude, despite admitting the model is currently worse. electrek.co
Tesla is rapidly tearing down the Model S and Model X lines at Fremont to make room for production of the Optimus humanoid robot. finance.yahoo.com
Tesla launched a new Model Y L variant in the US, priced at $12,060 higher than its Chinese equivalent. carnewschina.com
Tesla plans to begin Cybercab production before achieving full autonomy, banking on future software updates. electrek.co
Tesla leased a massive 683,000-square-foot industrial building in Austin for further expansion. electrek.co
A judge approved Elon’s settlement with the SEC over his Twitter acquisition disclosures. reuters.com
Rise Of The Machines
Two Unitree G1 robots perform live surgery
Humanoid robots just performed live surgery for the first time. forbes.com
Mitsubishi Motors plans to build its own humanoid robots to help assemble cars in its factories. nikkei.com
Chinese teams dominated the 2026 RoboCup, and Chinese humanoid robots are entering European EV manufacturing facilities. gasgoo.com
The Chinese robotics company UBTech has launched the U1, the first mass-produced ultrarealistic human robot. fastcompany.com
Japan deployed a 4.6-ton robotic arm that folds accordion-style through a 22-inch hole to reach 880 tons of melted fuel inside Fukushima, into a room so radioactive no human can ever enter to fix a mistake. autonocion.com
New York Times Reports: China’s aggressive pivot toward factory automation is displacing low-skilled workers into precarious gig work. nytimes.com
Energy
UNIGRID home battery
UNIGRID’s sodium-ion home battery debuted in Europe, offering a cheaper alternative to lithium. electrek.co
Home batteries are proving their value during hurricanes and heat domes. electrek.co
Sunrun wants to pay homeowners to convert their homes into AI data centers, using excess solar and battery capacity. electrek.co
BYD won an 11.3 GWh battery storage contract in Abu Dhabi, one of the largest ever awarded. electrek.co
The US Energy Department flags data center power demand as a grid risk during heat waves. nytimes.com
The AI boom is pushing the US power grid toward a breaking point. Hyperscalers are restarting nuclear plants and buying up every available watt, but demand is outpacing supply faster than new capacity can be built. oilprice.com
Deep Fission delivered a prototype reactor canister to its Kansas test site, advancing its plan to place small modular reactors one mile underground using rock and water pressure instead of a containment dome. interestingengineering.com
Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply after the US and Iran exchanged fire, with ship movements falling from typical daily levels as the conflict halted traffic through the narrow channel. reuters.com
The premiers of Alberta and Ontario unveiled a proposed 3,300 km pipeline to transport oil from Western Canada to refineries in southern Ontario. The pipeline would transport an estimated 500,000 barrels of oil per day, with the potential to expand to 800,000 barrels per day. cbc.ca
But Wait, There’s More
2027 Ram 1500 TRX SRT
The 2027 Ram 1500 TRX SRT makes smooth work of big jumps. driving.ca
Spy shots of Ford’s upcoming $30,000 electric truck show real door handles, a large interior touchscreen, and a new camouflage pattern featuring soccer balls, sailboats, and emoji-like symbols. thedrive.com
Ford admits its upcoming $30k mid-size EV pick-up is actually quite small. electrek.co
Ford recalled over 42,000 Mustang Mach-E vehicles from 2021-2023 rear-wheel-drive models for a faulty differential that may fracture and cause loss of drive power, with no remedy yet available. theverge.com
Micron and Ford signed a semiconductor supply agreement for vehicles. reuters.com
GM is flooding dealers with Bolt EVs. electrek.co
GM halted shipments and recalled nearly 15,000 Cadillac electric SUVs. electrek.co
Fiat’s Topolino microcar has arrived in the US, starting at $13,995, with a 46-mile range and a 25-mph top speed, and is available through select dealers in limited quantities. theverge.com
German automakers were hit by a sharp drop in China sales in Q2, VW down 37%, BMW and Mercedes both down 30%+. reuters.com
BMW’s new iX4 EV was spotted ahead of its debut. electrek.co
VW seeks to halve its model lineup and shrink capacity to cut costs amid falling sales. wsj.com, arstechnica.com
VW labour leaders vowed to fight plans for large-scale job cuts and factory closures in Germany as CEO Oliver Blume pushes deeper restructuring. The standoff sets up a major confrontation between management and the powerful works council. financialpost.com
Toyota is promising big things for the Lexus LFA EV sports car. electrek.co
Toyota is expanding Tacoma truck production at its San Antonio plant. cnbc.com
Kia’s electric hatch gains AWD and nearly 350 miles of range for Europe. electrek.co
Kia is killing off its flagship sedan to focus on lower-cost EVs. electrek.co
Bentley teases its first EV, the Torcal. arstechnica.com
Rivian forecasts quarterly revenue above estimates. reuters.com
Rivian raised its full-year delivery outlook to 65,000-70,000 vehicles after delivering 12,194 in Q2, a 14.4% year-over-year gain driven by strong early demand for the R2. theverge.com
Slate is teaming up with Crayola on vinyl wraps for its paint-free electric truck in colours including Cerulean, Fern, Jersey Tomato, Razzmatazz, and Dandelion. theverge.com
US start-up, Bidbus, is pitting dealerships against each other to bid on your used car. techcrunch.com
Counterfeit airbag parts are causing deaths, and regulators are struggling to respond. wsj.com
EPA moves to tighten truck pollution limits. nytimes.com
A US Senate committee has scheduled a July 15 vote on a bill to tighten the ban on Chinese automakers entering the US market, formalizing restrictions already in place through tariffs and software rules. reuters.com
Federal regulators warned that robotaxis are a danger to the public and demanded that AV companies stop interfering with first responders. techcrunch.com, wsj.com
Waymo launched a driverless service in Las Vegas and announced four new cities. electrek.co
Wayve is pitching its AI driving system to traditional automakers as a faster path to autonomy than building in-house. I let Wayve’s AI car drive me through London’s busiest streets. reuters.com, wsj.com
Ontario’s representative in Washington, David Paterson, says CUSMA negotiations are heading to “extra innings” after The Donald’s Administration declined to extend the trade deal, raising serious uncertainty for Canadian manufacturers. ctvnews.ca
Global EV sales hit 2 million in June, but the US is falling further behind. electrek.co
Octopus Energy CEO says the economics of electrification have already won. wsj.com
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