China’s Automotive Expansion
GWM Ora 5
GWM teased GT and Sport trims for the Ora 5 in China, dressing up the compact EV with sharper bumpers, new wheels and sportier trim. carnewschina.com
BYD launches the Denza Z9 GT EV in Europe and the UK at over 3X the price. electrek.co
Chery JLR’s Freelander 8 just revealed its cabin ahead of launch with a 2+2+2 six-seat layout, second-row zero-gravity seats, rear entertainment and a 46.3-inch panoramic screen. carnewschina.com
The MG 07 has landed in Chinese showrooms ahead of its July 29 pre-sale with 400V and 800V platforms, optional LiDAR, and a claimed 840 km range. carnewschina.com
Smart has kicked off global testing of its #2 EV as it lines up a Paris Motor Show debut and an October production start. If tests go well, Europe could see another compact electric option hit the streets this fall. carnewschina.com
Geely opened pre-sales for the Galaxy TT Ultra and debuted the world’s first 16-in-1 electric drive that packs 16 motor channels into a single compact unit. carnewschina.com
Geely to make EVs at Ford plant in Spain under new joint venture. cnbc.com
Polestar decided not to appeal the US ban because it judged an appeal would fail. Dealers are furious because they wanted the company to fight to keep cars on their lots. thedrive.com
Mexican sales of Chinese-brand vehicles jumped nearly 30% despite Mexico imposing new import tariffs. reuters.com
Must-Know Musk News
SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy v3 Booster lift off
SpaceX launches massive Starship rocket in first test flight since IPO. cnbc.com
SpaceX launches new V3 Starlink satellites but suffers another booster failure. techcrunch.com
Short sellers notch $15.5 billion profit as SpaceX shares slide. reuters.com
Florida AG James Uthmeier asked the 11th Circuit to overturn or slash a $243 million jury verdict against Tesla over an Autopilot crash. If the court sides with him, Tesla could dodge a massive payout. electrek.co
Elon says Tesla has built a Starlink V5 antenna right into the Cybercab so the robotaxi gets onboard satellite internet. It still drives with its own onboard computers and sensors, not by remote control from space. electrek.co
Tesla told NHTSA about four new Robotaxi crashes. electrek.co
Tesla told NHTSA it logged a record 207 crashes involving Autopilot and Full Self-Driving in one month, the most ever reported. electrek.co
Tesla’s Optimus factory at Giga Texas is ballooning fast, with new buildings and assembly lines going up to prep for mass production of the Optimus humanoid robot. basenor.com
Tesla posted on X that it’s launching Robotaxi service in Orlando and Tampa and even shared maps of each service area. No fleet numbers or booking info yet, so Florida gets the promise before the details. theverge.com
Tesla’s budding Robotaxi network drove fewer miles for paying customers in the second quarter than it did in the first. techcrunch.com
Tesla reports Q2 2026 earnings on July 22 after a record delivery quarter. electrek.co
On Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, Elon floated vague fixes for Hardware 3 owners who were promised FSD but offered no concrete plan or timeline. electrek.co
Tesla is skimping on AI while rivals pour billions into massive models and LLMs. That stinginess is slowing progress on Full Self-Driving and smart cabin upgrades and could cost Tesla its lead. bloomberg.com
France’s transport minister refused to approve Tesla’s “FSD” after tests spotted speeding and lapses in driver attention and said any authorization must come from the EU first. electrek.co
Tesla is installing “Megapod” units at Supercharger stations to turn charging sites into AI compute nodes capable of training and running models. Who knew your quick charge stop would double as a local datacenter. basenor.com
Tesla’s door handles may spur new US safety rules. techcrunch.com
Tesla quietly closes its secret ~$2 billion AI hardware deal. electrek.co
A 4-hour Elon Musk documentary and a dark CIA comedy lead Venice Film Festival lineup. apnews.com
Rise Of The Machines
The Gene.01 humanoid
Generative Bionics launched a humanoid robot platform built to work side-by-side with humans on factory floors. The company says these bots will take on repetitive and hazardous tasks so humans can do the thinking and leave the heavy lifting to robots. therobotreport.com
Samsung announced it’s building a new robotics business and called physical AI its next frontier. The company says it will develop robots and AI for factories, stores and homes so smart machines stop living only inside our phones. cnbc.com
Boston Dynamics announced it will explain how Atlas and its other robots handle real-world tasks and what that means for human work. therobotreport.com
Gritt emerged from stealth with $34 million to build humanoid robots that tackle the hardest on-site construction chores like heavy lifting, assembly and messy, unpredictable work. techcrunch.com
Eric Trump-backed Foundation partners with AMD to develop humanoid robots. reuters.com
FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s new surgical robot for “the next era in surgery”. fiercebiotech.com
A humanoid robot built by a company that acquired a sex doll maker is being introduced as part of an education pilot program, along with an AI teaching assistant, at Salamanca High School in Salamanca, New York. theguardian.com
Energy
Idaho’s Pleasant Valley Solar 2
Idaho flipped the switch on a 125 MW solar farm and immediately broke ground on a 400 MW project. Together, that’s more than half a gigawatt of new utility-scale solar heading for the state’s grid. electrek.co
A 1.2 GW solar farm is rising at a Texas coal site. electrek.co
Hyundai just flipped the switch on a $5 billion battery plant in Georgia that can produce enough cells to power about 300,000 EVs a year. That’s a big step toward more US-made batteries and fewer cars tied to overseas supply chains. electrek.co
Einride agreed to buy EV charging start-up Flipturn for $38 million in stock. The deal brings charging tech and capacity into its fleet push so it can scale electric trucking without waiting on others. techcrunch.com
Sila raised $300 million to expand a factory making silicon-carbon anode material, aiming to produce enough to power more than 100,000 EVs. techcrunch.com
Massachusetts wants to pay EV drivers for their battery power. electrek.co
Ford’s new GenerLink adapter lets compatible F-150 Lightning and hybrid F-150s plug into a US home’s electrical panel to run lights and appliances during outages. It basically turns the truck into a built-in backup generator so you can keep the fridge and heater humming. electrek.co
As gas plants rise to power AI, renewable energy allies are fighting for cleaner alternatives. apnews.com
Stocks waver on Wall Street while crude oil prices fall for the first time in a week. apnews.com
Oil prices could surpass $120 per barrel if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz don’t ease, says Goldman Sachs. marketwatch.com
But Wait, There’s More
Toyota Corolla Concept
Toyota is electrifying the next-gen Corolla. electrek.co
Subaru confirmed it’s delaying production of the three-row Getaway EV after Toyota pushed back its own timeline. electrek.co
Toyota, Honda and Hyundai Motor Group control 86% of the U.S. hybrid car market, according to Baum & Associates.cnbc.com
Rumours say Chinese Wuling’s tiny Bingo may arrive in North America as an entry-level Chevy EV, offering a true budget electric option. electrek.co
GM’s core profit jumped 30% as buyers kept snapping up trucks and SUVs. The automaker then raised its full-year earnings outlook after a stronger-than-expected quarter. reuters.com
Mary Barra said GM will roll out new gas-powered Cadillacs, including next-gen CT5 sedan, XT5 mid-size SUV and a revived three-row model. cnbc.com
Unifor has picked GM as the next US automaker for contract talks, which kick off in Toronto on Aug. 10. autonews.com
Canadian Ford workers ratified a three-year contract that locks in 3% annual wage increases, a pay win landed amid tariff upheaval. autonews.com
Ford picks Apple Maps for its next EV platform and updated BlueCruise. theverge.com
Stellantis hired Matt Van Dyke, Ford’s 14-year marketing veteran, to lead the Ram brand. He takes over from Tim Kuniskis, who will remain Stellantis’ head of Americas. autonews.com
VW expects full-year revenue squeeze after quarterly profit slump. cnbc.com
VW engineers charged with insider trading tied to Rivian joint venture. techcrunch.com
BMW plans to start producing the iX5 in South Carolina before the end of the year. nytimes.com
Honda considers new North American assembly plant. autonews.com
Volvo teases a new affordable EV to replace discontinued EX30. theverge.com
Gemini will use Volvo’s external cameras to interpret parking signs. theverge.com
Waymo reportedly mulling a breakup with Uber. techcrunch.com
Solarky’s new compact lightweight SunV has an extending solar panel that allows the small EV to charge itself. youtube.com | solarkycar.com
Rivian has filed a lawsuit against the US government in an attempt to claw back a “full refund” on tariffs it paid under The Donald’s “Liberation Day” taxes, which the Supreme Court later ruled unconstitutional. techcrunch.com
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