China's Automotive Expansion
BYD’s Sealion 08
BYD launched the Sealion 08 in China with eight different trims priced from 229,900 to 279,900 yuan, or about $33,800 to $41,200 USD. Both plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions use BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery. carnewschina.com
Six months ago, BYD inquired about making buses at Stellantis's idled Brampton Assembly plant. autonews.com
Chery says it will begin real-world testing of solid-state batteries in production vehicles in 2027. carnewschina.com
Li Auto launched its second-generation Mega PMV for about $75,000 USD. Deliveries begin this week, and a right-hand-drive version is scheduled to reach Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand by the end of the year. carnewschina.com
Xiaomi signed agreements with eight German dealer groups as it prepares to expand into Germany in 2027. electrek.co
The Geely E2, Leapmotor B05, and the GAC Aion UT received five-star ratings under Europe’s NCAP 2026 protocols, giving these three Chinese-made EVs the agency’s highest safety rating. carnewschina.com
Chinese regulators issued overseas-operation guidelines for automakers as domestic manufacturers expand abroad. The rules call for cost-based pricing, truthful marketing, and compliance with local investment, antitrust, labour, and safety laws. reuters.com
Must-Know Musk News
Tesla launched the Cybercab in Austin, Texas. thechangeoptimist.com
Electric vehicles outsell gas vehicles for the first time in Australian history, with the Tesla Model Y topping the charts. drive.com.au
Tesla’s August registrations rose in France and Denmark, while Norway and Sweden reported declines. The mixed results extended the uneven performance across Europe’s major EV markets. reuters.com
Tesla’s China-made EV sales rose 3.6% year over year in August, extending a growth streak. The gain was markedly lower than the prior month’s increase, Reuters reported. reuters.com
Tesla reached a confidential settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit over a 2023 Model S Autopilot crash into a parked fire truck in Contra Costa County. The agreement avoided a federal jury trial. electrek.co
Tesla stopped supplying Solar Roof tiles in August and now directs customers to other conventional solar panels. Contractors say they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on training, crews, and tooling for the product before it was discontinued. electrek.co
An Australian judge is considering granting a court-appointed expert access to Tesla’s internal engineering systems in a class action suit. reuters.com
Tesla published an interest form for businesses that want to buy Cybercab fleets or provide network infrastructure. The form was published before the Cybercab launch event. techcrunch.com
SpaceX is building in-house capacity to cast turbine blades and vanes, a bottleneck for natural-gas power equipment used by data centres. Elon said the effort could shorten turbine deployment times, while the article highlights pollution concerns associated with gas-fired power for data centres. techcrunch.com
Elon’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 in spending across key House and Senate races. politico.com
Elon got into a social media feud over chess. businessinsider.com
Rise Of The Machines
iRobot’s Roomba Duo
The Roomba Duo combines a heavy-duty floor-washing machine with a smaller, slimmer Roomba. The two robot floor cleaners can move around your home together, with the main unit mopping and sweeping larger floor areas and the smaller unit lowering mechanically when needed to clean tighter spaces, such as under tables or in corners. theverge.com
Your AI-powered robot pet might know too much about you. foxnews.com
A Taiwanese man won a lawsuit after using a robot vacuum to record his wife naked with another man, only to later be convicted for the way he obtained the footage of the affair. people.com
Less than three months after emerging from stealth, XDOF, a start-up that collects real-world teleoperation data for training general-purpose robots, is in late-stage talks to raise a Series B at a valuation of about $1.2 billion. techcrunch.com
Meta is testing new robots designed to automate data center maintenance, with the aim of keeping labour costs even lower. futurism.com
Nothing makes humans happier right now than watching robots fail. wsj.com
Energy
Note: Fuel Isn’t Actually Free
The Freedom Fuel Network, a chain of gas stations that launched in July with steeply discounted prices and promoted by The Donald on Truth Social, has expanded with a new location in Detroit. cnbc.com
US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers this weekend, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran's key oil export hub. reuters.com
With the war in the Middle East still raising energy costs, Americans face record-high gasoline prices for Labour Day weekend, just as political campaigns kick off for midterm Congressional elections. reuters.com
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has also fallen to its lowest level since 1982. nytimes.com
Chevron plans to invest more than US$7 billion to raise Venezuelan oil output to about 600,000 barrels per day over five years. The Donald Administration is pursuing agreements with oil companies to gain greater access to the country’s oil sector. nytimes.com
Magna invested another $35 million in Yuma Energy, lifting its total investment in the Indian battery-swapping company to $87 million. Yuma says it has completed more than 60 million swaps and deployed about 100,000 batteries. techcrunch.com
US battery storage added 20.2 GWh in the second quarter of 2026, its largest quarterly increase on record. Utility-scale projects accounted for the rise, with installations in Arizona, California, and Utah leading the growth. electrek.co
Some Chinese rare earth suppliers are declining to ship to the US for fear of repercussions from Beijing, three sources said, underscoring that access to these materials remains an issue for the US weeks before President Xi Jinping visits Washington. reuters.com
New Jersey just made plug-in solar panels legal. electrek.co
But Wait, There's More
Not AI Generated
Ford took the Fathom on a road trip to Vegas. electrek.co
Ford is continuing to increase production of its F-Series full-size pickup trucks after fires at an aluminum supplier severely impacted output. cnbc.com
GM's US footprint for EV batteries has dwindled to a single production location. freep.com
Stellantis is in talks with Huawei and JAC Group for long-term industrial cooperation on its struggling luxury brand, Maserati. reuters.com
Unifor turns its attention to Stellantis after signing deals with GM and Ford. citynews.ca
Toyota and Honda produce more than three-quarters of Canada’s cars and could face the largest exposure to The Donald’s proposed 50% tariff on Canadian vehicle imports. reuters.com
Toyota plans to build a new Lexus electric SUV in China before launching it in Japan. The company expects production at Lexus’s Shanghai plant to begin next fall. electrek.co
Toyota dealers are struggling to keep the redesigned RAV4 in stock as strong demand collides with limited supply. cnbc.com
Toyota is refuting a report claiming that it’s pushing back the launch of its first three-row electric SUV, the Highlander EV, again. electrek.co
Honda and Nissan said they would jointly develop standardized electronic control units (ECUs) for software-defined vehicles (SDVs), deepening their collaboration on more advanced car technology. reuters.com
Kia is preparing to launch its second fully electric van following the PV5’s success. With its debut less than a month away, Kia offered a first look at the larger PV7. electrek.co
Kia launched the EV3 electric SUV in the US, extending its lower-priced EV lineup. Kia America reported 83,793 vehicle sales in August, up 1% year over year and its highest monthly total to date. electrek.co
Hyundai opened orders for the IONIQ 3 electric hatch in the UK and parts of Europe, with pricing starting at about US$30,000. electrek.co
VW shares hit an 11-week high after the supervisory board of Europe's largest automaker struck an ambitious turnaround agreement. The deal on the biggest restructuring in the group's 89-year history includes a further 50,000 job cuts, bringing the total agreed to 100,000, and leaves the future of four of its German plants unanswered. reuters.com
Range Rover’s new EV looks just like a regular Range Rover. theverge.com
Rivian began rolling out RivianOS 2, version 2026.31, across eligible R1 and R2 vehicles. The update puts the lineup on a shared software foundation and adds a rebuilt interface, real-time route alerts, and expanded voice functions. electrek.co
VinFast ordered suppliers to pause work on local manufacturing projects for the VF3, VF6, and VF7 in India while it reviews costs. reuters.com
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation urged Congress to enact a permanent ban on Chinese connected vehicles, hardware, and software before year-end. The group’s members include GM, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Honda, and Stellantis. reuters.com
Uber is laying off about 3,300 people, or about 10% of its global headcount, in a bid to cut management layers and invest more in its ridesharing, delivery, and robotaxi divisions. techcrunch.com
San Francisco city records show Waymo robotaxis received more than 8,300 parking tickets and nearly US$1 million in fines since January 2025. electrek.co
Uber and Wayve have launched London’s first commercial robotaxi service powered by Wayve’s driving system. theverge.com
Zoox expanded its paid Las Vegas robotaxi service to Harry Reid International Airport, with pickups and drop-offs near baggage claim at both terminals. techcrunch.com
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