China’s Automotive Expansion
Li Auto i9
Li Auto revealed its flagship i9 electric SUV with 5C charging, promising far shorter charging stops than its current models. carnewschina.com
BYD will bring the Racco microcar to Japan with a claimed 320 km electric range. The super-height wagon stands 1,800 mm tall and has dual electric sliding side doors. carnewschina.com
BYD’s Denza Z supercar lists for $100,300 in China but jumps to $184,800 overseas, so buying local suddenly looks like a bargain. Its tri-motor powertrain delivers up to 1,582 hp and a top speed of 350 km/h, so the price reflects proper hypercar performance. electrek.co
BYD executive vice president Stella Li said the company expects to overtake Toyota as the world’s best-selling automaker within five years without relying on the US market. They’re counting on booming sales in China and faster growth in other markets to do the heavy lifting while skipping the US. carnewschina.com
China’s best-selling Geely EX2 has launched in Australia at $18,360 USD. The entry model offers a 252 km WLTP range, so it’s an affordable city EV, not a long-distance cruiser. carnewschina.com
Chinese EV makers are dumping cash into foreign factories and sales channels after saturating their home market. cnbc.com
Chinese automakers are storming the UK with well-priced, feature-packed cars, and many Brits are happily buying them, denting sales of established brands. cnbc.com
Dongfeng is gearing up to sell electric cars in Canada, aiming to add more affordable options to the market. autonews.com | dongfengcanada.com
Canadian dealers who rushed to secure franchises from BYD, Chery and Geely earlier this year are now second-guessing as questions about demand, margins, and after-sales support surface. autonews.com
Must-Know Musk News
Elon likes cheese
Wisconsin’s elections commission concluded Elon likely violated state law by promising $1 million payouts on X to people who voted in the state. apnews.com
SpaceX’s share price drops below its stock market debut price. bbc.com
SpaceX has been cleared to fly Starship again after the booster failure in May. It’s the rocket’s first test since the company went public and a quick market check to see if investors still back their fly, fail, fix approach. techcrunch.com
Reports say Tesla’s robot vacuum has moved from concept to a working prototype and may already be in testing. If true, Tesla’s gadget obsession could be headed straight for your living room. basenor.com
Cybercabs will soon start ferrying Tesla employees at Giga Texas. mashable.com
Samsung finished its version of Tesla’s AI5 chip and started 2 nm production at its Taylor, Texas, fab. That gives Elon a US source of ultra-dense AI chips as Tesla scales up self-driving compute. electrek.co
Elon quietly bought APR Energy for about $1 billion, taking ownership of a 1-GW gas-and-diesel turbine fleet. He’ll use the generators to keep xAI’s Grok running when demand spikes and the grid can’t cut it. electrek.co
Rise Of The Machines
Atlas Shrugs
Hyundai workers walked off the line to protest planned robot-driven changes, proving people will strike where machines never will. The walkout has forced the company into talks over job cuts and the pace of its AI rollout. carscoops.com
Researchers and startups are pushing Physical AI toward factory robots that teach themselves new tasks through trial and error and simple sensory feedback. That could slash manual programming time and get production lines back up faster when designs change. finance.yahoo.com
Chinese humanoid-robot startups are rushing to file IPOs, treating listing as the only way to raise the huge sums needed to finish hardware and keep teams paid. cnbc.com
XPeng shares jumped after two outlets reported the EV maker plans to produce humanoid robots, sending XPEV higher as traders chase the sci‑fi angle. therobotreport.com | finance.yahoo.com
Energy
Solar generated a record 25% of the EU’s electricity in June, overtaking both nuclear and gas. electrek.co | ember-energy.org
Oil prices jumped after the US and Iran each launched airstrikes, and Asian shares slipped as traders fled to safety. apnews.com
Donors, governments and investors are shifting from funding individual projects to strengthening institutions across Africa to speed the switch to renewable energy. apnews.com
The Donald pushed federal moves to expand nuclear power by fast-tracking approvals and boosting funding for small modular reactors and aging plants. It could speed new builds, but cost and radioactive waste still pose major roadblocks. nytimes.com
China is weighing whether to ramp up crude imports and refill its strategic petroleum reserves. If Beijing goes big on buying, expect oil prices to spike, and if it sits tight, the rally could fizzle. nytimes.com
Hyundai opened a $5 billion joint battery plant with SK On in America as it pushes to become the country’s #2 EV brand. electrek.co
But Wait, There’s More
Lexus LFA Concept
Lexus revived the LFA as an all-electric supercar and even gave it a fake V-8 roar in the debut video. It’s electric under the hood but still dresses up like a petrol classic to keep gearheads grinning. electrek.co
Toyota’s EV sales jumped 225% in Q2, vaulting it into the top five EV sellers in the US. electrek.co
The 2026 Toyota RAV4 plug-in gives you enough electric-only range that most daily drives won’t need gas stops while keeping the practical cargo space and comfort buyers want. arstechnica.com
Ford and Canada’s Unifor have reached a tentative deal on a new labour contract. reuters.com
Ford is rolling out a remote kill switch on almost every new model. You can now disable the engine with a swipe of a finger after the feature first showed up on F-Series trucks last year. thedrive.com
Ford passed on the twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 and dropped a Coyote V8 into its top-shelf WEC hypercar, and the V8 just fired up for the first time. It sounds gloriously loud and old-school, a clear bet on raw V8 drama over turbo trickery. thedrive.com
Stellantis reported preliminary second-quarter vehicle shipments rose 10%. North America did the heavy lifting and pushed most of that gain. reuters.com
Honda is pulling the plug on the Prologue, its only EV in the US, even though the model still sits among the top 10 best-selling electric vehicles. That means Honda is stepping back from the US EV market for now and leaving room for rivals to chase those buyers. electrek.co
Nissan is retiring the Altima eight years after its last redesign, killing the once-ubiquitous sedan after the promised electric replacement never materialized. thedrive.com
Kia’s Niro returns for 2027 with sharper styling and a redesigned interior that finally looks premium. It keeps a hybrid powertrain but adds updated battery tuning, better mpg and new infotainment and driver-assist features. autonews.com
Hyundai’s new IONIQ 3 hatch starts under $30,000 and has already drawn the highest customer interest Hyundai has recorded for any model, EV or gas. Its affordable price and big demand make EV ownership more attractive to everyday buyers. electrek.co
Volkswagen’s CEO warned in an internal memo that the company could cut about 50,000 more jobs to meet cost targets. It's brutal news for employees, but it shows VW is bracing for tougher times as it shifts to electric cars. reuters.com
VW plans to cut its EV lineup by up to 50 percent, potentially axing several VW models and some Audi and Porsche electrics. Expect fewer choices on dealer lots and a bigger bet on the models that actually sell. electrek.co
Porsche is reportedly considering scrapping the next-gen Taycan as it shifts to shared VW Group EV platforms and chases higher-margin models, which could mean fewer bespoke Porsche EVs. EV purists will be annoyed but the move might free up cash for other electrification projects. theverge.com
Lucid Motors found itself in a tough bind this week, fending off bankruptcy rumours and watching its stock price plunge as a result. theverge.com
Lucid Motors denies report it’s considering bankruptcy. techcrunch.com
Uber plans to acquire Delivery Hero, extending the world’s largest mobility and delivery platform to 99 markets. businesswire.com
Zoox issues a software recall after a robotaxi got confused by heavy smoke. techcrunch.com
Robotaxi passengers are falling asleep, spilling food, and even giving birth during their rides. bloomberg.com
LAPD arrested a shirtless man who was beating up a Waymo. theverge.com
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