Pony AI is one of the first companies to receive the test license, which still requires a safety officer in the front passenger seat.
Its robotaxi vehicles based on the Toyota Sienna and Lexus RX are allowed to conduct the test on designated highways.
Electric vehicle sales surge despite global misinformation campaign
The electric vehicle market went through remarkable growth in 2024, with global sales figures proving naysayers wrong. 2024 was a year filled with misleading claims from political figures, media outlets, and even industry players. And yet, the EV sector continued to grow. Rho Motion, an EV research consultancy, recently released a report highlighting the significant increase in EV sales worldwide.… Read more…
BYD to officially enter South Korea’s passenger car market on Jan 16
BYD will hold a brand launch in South Korea on January 16 to officially enter the country’s passenger car market.
The company first entered the South Korean market in 2016, producing commercial vehicles such as forklifts, buses and trucks.
Great Wall Motor previews net income growth of about 80% in 2024
Great Wall Motor’s net income in 2024 is expected to range from RMB 12.4 billion ($1.7 billion) to RMB 13.0 billion, an increase of 76.60 percent to 85.14 percent from 2023.
The automaker sold 1,233,292 vehicles in 2024, an increase of 0.22 percent year-on-year.
Denza aims to sell over 300,000 cars in 2025, report says
Denza is targeting sales of more than 300,000 units in 2025, implying a 138 percent growth, according to a local media report.
New vehicles on Denza’s exclusive e3 platform will be rolled out gradually and will help sales, according to the report.
These Automakers Are Next In Line To Get Tesla Supercharger Access
The list is about to grow from just six names to over a dozen. Read more…
Mercedes-Benz and Google team up to revolutionize in-car navigation
Mercedes-Benz and Google Cloud have joined forces to redefine the in-car navigation experience. Their collaboration will integrate Google Cloud’s advanced Automotive AI Agent into the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) Virtual Assistant. The new technology, powered by Google’s Gemini family of LLM, promises to transform how drivers interact with their vehicles. The MBUX Virtual Assistant will be capable of understanding and… Read more…
Xpeng partners with BP’s EV charging arm to share charging network in China
Xpeng has more than 2,000 charging stations with over 10,000 chargers, while BP Pulse has more than 1,000 charging stations and 23,000 chargers in China.
Xpeng last week entered into a partnership with Volkswagen to share more than 20,000 charging stations operated by the two, covering 420 cities in China.
MW-class motor electric aircraft takes off with 3300 bhp
Wright Electric has finished assembling its second-generation megawatt-class motor, the WM2500, writes Nick Flaherty.
The motor has been built with support from the US ARPA-E ASCEND research programme and NASA, and it is spinning freely after being assembled in December. Read more…
LG Energy Solution hosts battery innovation competition
South Korea’s LG Energy Solution has launched its Battery Innovation Contest (BIC) 2025 to identify and support the next generation of battery technologies. Since its inaugural competition in 2017, BIC has been LG Energy Solution’s flagship research contest. This year’s edition has been revamped to foster greater collaboration between academia and industry. Selected researchers will… Read more…
China EV insurance registrations by brand for week ending Jan 12: Onvo 1,800, Tesla 7,800, BYD 42,800
CATL breaks ground on its 1st battery swap station in HK
FAW Hongqi’s E-QM5 based on CATL’s battery swap solution will be put into service as an electric cab in the Hong Kong market.
CATL’s long-term goal is to build a new energy mobility network covering Hong Kong and ASEAN through the Choco-SEB battery swap model.
Lyric ships solid-state battery front-end equipment to US customer
Chinese manufacturer Lyric has shipped its solid-state battery front-end equipment to its first US customer. Lyric’s Z-shape stacking machine achieves an efficient stacking speed of 0.1 s/pcs and ultra-high precision alignment of ±0.3 mm, according to the company. The double planetary mixer mixes various viscosity materials, enabling flexibility, and enhances the safety and efficiency of… Read more…
Aptera Motors presents production-ready solar EV at CES 2025
While some EV startups target the luxury vehicle market, Aptera Motors has taken a different path—the company set out to build the most efficient EV possible, and it’s now getting very close to production. At CES 2025, Aptera presented its production-ready solar electric vehicle (sEV), which it says offers “unmatched energy efficiency, freedom from conventional… Read more…
Cybertruck goes solar, new Model Y takes off, and BYD tackles Toyota
On today’s exciting episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s redesigned Model Y is grabbing headlines, but the solar Cybertruck might be the thing for you. We’ve also got news from BYD, and an innovative new energy storage system in California. Read more…
EV growth rose again in 2024, despite media & political lies saying otherwise
In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year, according to a new report by Rho Motion. This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing. Read more…
Biden pushes through $635M in EV charger grants before Trump’s return
The Biden administration awarded $635 million in EV charger grants just 10 days before Donald Trump takes office, leaving just $700,000 of the $2.5 billion from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law unallocated. Read more…
Kia access to Tesla Superchargers delayed, had been expected this week
Hot on the heels of Kia being added to Tesla’s “coming soon” page for Supercharger access, we’re now learning that Supercharger support won’t actually come nearly as soon as expected for Kia – with a delay of weeks or months before Kia owners can plug in at North America’s largest fast charging network. Read more…
Leapmotor sees net income turn positive in Q4 on strong deliveries and cost control
Leapmotor attributes the turnaround in net income to continued volume growth, product mix optimization, cost control and operational efficiency.
It expects its gross margin to be no less than 8 percent in 2024, a significant increase from 0.5 percent in 2023.
The Tesla Cybertruck Was A Hit In 2024, But The Hype Is Fading
Tesla sold almost 39,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, but sales slowed down significantly toward the end of the year. Read more…