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Electric & new energy vehicles

Electric & new energy vehicles
Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on electric & new energy vehicles, with a particular focus on China.
The EU has barred most organisations based in China from applying for its Horizon Europe grants in “critical areas”. Image: Shutterstock
Science

EU bans Chinese organisations from critical tech programmes, including AI, chips

Chinese space scientist Wu Ji doubts the policy will hurt China much and may instead ‘make Europe appear more isolated’.

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China economy

Opinion | How the next China shock is shaping hearts and minds

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Mainland China

Geely’s Zeekr shifts into Italy as China’s European EV push gathers speed

China’s private sector

Speed bump ahead: rising battery costs nudge Chinese drivers towards hybrids

Higher lithium prices and the end of incentives are reshaping China’s EV market, with hybrids emerging as a more practical option for many.

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Workers produce lithium batteries in Qinyang, central China’s Henan province. Photo: Xinhua
India

Video | Recycling is India’s critical minerals ‘gold mine’

E-waste has long been described as a ‘gold mine’ for critical minerals in the nation where commercial mining of such material is years away.

Gold in Hong Kong

Copper, lithium unlikely to match gold’s gains as output rises: Goldman

Record gold prices have lifted sentiment across raw materials, but analysts expect differentiated returns as producers ratchet up output.

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China-Latin America relations

Chinese steel hit with duties up to US$670 per tonne after Brazil dumping probe

Government anti-dumping investigation found Chinese imports were being sold at unfairly low prices, harming domestic producers.

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A worker stacks steel products meant for the export market at a factory in Binzhou, Shandong province, China, on April 15, 2025. Following two investigations, Brazil has imposed anti-dumping duties on a broad range of Chinese steel products. Photo: AFP
US-China trade war

Has Trump ceded EV market to China with latest string of policy shifts?

Analysts say rolling back regulations pushes US further towards petrol cars, discourages EV innovation, and gives China competitive edge.

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Artificial intelligence

Colour matters: how AI is changing car premiums and services in China

Car colour, driving habits and location influence insurance premiums, according to a digital solutions provider using ByteDance’s AI model.

SCMP Highlights

CATL’s sodium-ion breakthrough, Tesla’s AI training centre: 7 EV reads

From China banning carmakers from selling below cost to Chinese brands’ dominance in Brazil, here are seven EV stories you may have missed.

CATL’s new Naxtra battery will be installed in China Changan Automobile Group EVs for winter testing in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: Weibo
Automotive industry

Ford plans US$30,000 budget EV line to take on Chinese rivals

Ford shrinks battery size while extending driving range in bid to launch the new EV by 2027 for the same price as a conventional petrol car.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has called Chinese competition an “existential threat”. Photo: AP
Mainland China

Chinese cars now can’t be sold for less than it costs to make them

Regulator bans tactics that result in a net loss per vehicle after a 7 per cent drop in the average car price.

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European Union

China cuts EU dairy tariffs, easing trade tensions after EV dispute

EU called Beijing’s tariffs ‘unwarranted’, and mulls WTO action, but China cutting some duties signals possible improvement in ties.

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Americas and the Caribbean

Why China’s BYD and Geely are eyeing Mexico’s idle auto plants

With Mexico’s auto sector battered by tariffs, Chinese investment offers a lifeline that threatens to inflame tensions with Washington.

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View of a section of a Nissan and Mercedes‑Benz joint factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico on Monday. Photo: Reuters
China manufacturing

China’s efforts to control EV price war sees carmakers paying vendors quicker

Only a handful of the nearly 50 mainland China-based EV builders have been able to turn a profit amid the price wars.

An aerial drone photo taken on January 14, 2026, shows domestically produced vehicles for export at Yantai Port in east China’s Shandong Province. Photo: Xinhua
Robotics

Opinion | For clues to China’s next overcapacity cycle, watch the Spring Festival Gala

AI robots taking centre stage at the coming Spring Festival Gala – now a national tech showcase – will signal official endorsement and likely trigger herd investment.

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Automotive industry

China’s EV sales boom runs short on battery life

EV price wars are heating up again in China as the end of stimulus measures dampens domestic demand.

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Mainland China

Exclusive | CATL’s new innovation expands EV battery horizons in untapped cold regions

The Chinese giant pulls an ace from its sleeve amid fierce EV competition by bringing sodium-ion batteries to the mass-produced car market.

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CATL in partnership with Changan Automobile unveiled the world’s first mass-production passenger vehicle equipped with Naxtra sodium-ion batteries. The vehicle is set to reach the market by mid-2026. Photo: Handout
China-Latin America relations

China becomes Brazil’s biggest vehicle exporter in January, surpassing Argentina

The shift ends more than three decades of Argentine dominance, built on Mercosur rules and geographic proximity to Brazil’s car dealers.

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Robotics

Chinese vacuum maker using Temu’s playbook dreams big with Super Bowl debut

Dreame showcases robot vacuum in a Super Bowl commercial, drawing on Temu’s US prime-time campaign that helped it challenge Amazon.com.

Autonomous vehicles

Pony AI and Toyota roll out robotaxis in China’s autonomous drive push

Guangzhou-based Pony AI begins output of 1,000 autonomous cabs and targets a 3,000-unit fleet by the end of 2026 as it expands globally.

Pony AI is one of three robotaxi firms that have received approval from authorities to operate driverless cabs on designated roads in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Photo: Handout
Nio

Chinese EV maker Nio raises US$2.6 billion bet on battery swapping

Company touts 100 million swaps, but fast-charging batteries are eating into the technology’s speed advantage, analyst says.

Shanghai-based Nio is the only mainland carmaker that builds swap-ready EVs. Photo: Facebook/Nio
China technology

AutoFlight unveils world’s largest flying car as China races to lead the skies

CATL-backed AutoFlight debuts Matrix, targeting global expansion, as Beijing moves to set standards for domestic eVTOL makers and operators.

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Tesla

Opinion | High volume and low cost is how BYD beat Tesla in the EV race

Vast economies of scale, tightly integrated supply chains and China’s control over key materials give Chinese EV makers a systemic edge.

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Tesla

Tesla launches China AI training centre as self-driving race accelerates

US EV giant opens hub to advance its Full Self-Driving software, as Chinese carmakers step up their own L3 autonomous driving plans.

The AI training centre’s launch marks a significant step towards commercialising Tesla’s Full Self-Driving navigation software in mainland China. Photo: Reuters
China energy security

China’s clean power energising economy, adding a Brazil’s worth of GDP: report

Clean energy industries drove more than one-third of China’s economic growth in 2025, as they continue to expand rapidly, study finds.

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Workers check solar panels installed on a lake in China’s central Anhui province. Photo: AFP
Antarctica

Why CATL’s sodium-ion breakthrough could be a game changer for China’s EV market

The Naxtra battery, more price-stable and cold-resistant than the lithium-ion units now powering most EVs, will undergo its first tests this week.

China-Latin America relations

Brazil scraps EV tariff break for Chinese carmaker BYD amid pressure from rivals

US, European and Japanese manufacturers combined to lobby for an end to favourable rules for Chinese kit imports.

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