Inside China’s EV and smart-driving ecosystem. Real-world testing, interviews and reporting from the ground.
Shanghai, China
Joined July 2015
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CATL's sodium-ion push into European grid storage keeps stacking up.
New today: an MOU with Germany's Intilion to deploy 3 GWh of Tener Sodium storage over 5 years, across Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
European sodium-ion deals CATL has announced this year:
• Alfen: 5 GWh, from 2027
• Solarpro: 2 GWh
• Intilion: 3 GWh
CATL's claims: 15,000+ cycles, 25 years of operation, high discharge power at -20°C, and dimensionally compatible with lithium-ion systems, so buyers can switch chemistry more easily.
Source: Intilion de.linkedin.com/posts/intili…
TENER Sodium specs, CATL: catl.com/en/news/6861.html
Per @texasavtracker's pull of public TxDMV registrations (not a Tesla figure): 544 Cybercabs vs 507 Model Ys in Tesla's Texas robotaxi fleet, the first time Cybercab is ahead. All 81 VINs added today were Cybercabs.
Registered isn't the same as carrying riders, though. The number to watch next is how many are doing paid rides.
Mercedes' own Q3 sales release puts numbers on it: China car sales -31% YoY, while car sales outside China rose 1%. GLC and E-Class were almost two-thirds of its China volume, and the electric GLC L launched there in July. Full Q3 results land Oct 28.
media.mercedes-benz.com/en/a…
Mercedes-Benz slashes forecast as China sales collapse 31%
Mercedes-Benz just became the third major German automaker to cut its annual guidance, with China sales cratering over 30% as BYD and Xiaomi eat into its market share. The luxury
#MercedesBenz #ChinaSales #AutoIndustry
China's draft rules on car "innovative designs" (MIIT + 3 other ministries, comments open until Nov 10) go well beyond door handles:
• Fully hidden door handles: banned
• Foldable or flexible displays: not allowed
• Lights, wipers or defrost on touch controls? A physical control has to be there too
• Passengers can't switch headlights, wipers, defrost, doors or the hood by voice or gesture while driving
• New filings from Jan 1, 2027; already-approved models must file test data by Jul 1, 2027
Fixed big screens stay. It's still a draft, so the wording can change.
miit.gov.cn/jgsj/zbys/qcgy/a…
Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier test-drove two of VW's China-built EVs in Hefei today: FAW-VW's ID. AURA T6 and SAIC VW's ID. ERA 5X.
Both run driver assist from CARIZON, VW's JV with Horizon Robotics, on Horizon's Journey 6H chip and its end-to-end HSD model.
Update: Yangwang's flagship sedan now has a name. Yangwang sales GM Hu Xiaoqing says it goes overseas as Altior (Latin for "higher"). In China it's 鼎曜 (Dingyao).
• Live debut Nov 5 in Dubai
• 5,500 mm long, 3,350 mm wheelbase
• Roof LiDAR, rear-hinged rear doors
Per Manager Magazin, VW is weighing the China Electronic Architecture it co-developed with XPeng for ~75% of next-gen VW, Skoda and Cupra models in Europe. The proposal was due to go to management today. VW declined to comment, so this is a report, not a decision.
VW considers bringing Xpeng co-developed architecture to European models, report says
The proposal would cover about 75% of next-generation models from Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra, pending review by group management. cnev.co/C8q7Y2Z 👇
Tesla's FSD (Supervised) safety page, North America, rolling 12 months. Miles per major collision:
• FSD (Supervised): 6.0M
• Manual, active safety: 2.0M
• Manual, no active safety: 846K
• U.S. avg (Tesla's estimate, FHWA/NHTSA data): 660K
tesla.com/fsd/safety
Munro Live's Cybercab deep dive with the Tesla team (Oct 26):
• Final assembly: "25 stations fully automated"
• Whole line: "about 78% automation"
• Steel pack enclosure: "$1.90 per kilogram versus 5 to $8"
• Line is "outpacing our deployments"
youtu.be/UIrK8oStl-0
The full video is now live on @YouTube!
A big thank you to @larsmoravy, @EricETesla, and the rest of the Tesla team for taking the time to walk us through the Cybercab and share the engineering, design, and technology behind it.
Svolt, GWM's former battery unit, says its first mass-produced 100 kWh semi-solid packs just rolled off the line in Changzhou.
Company claims: 900V, 6C charging, +500 km in 12 min, 3,000+ cycles. Test conditions and customers aren't disclosed yet.
Svolt begins mass production of 100-kWh semi-solid fast-charging battery packs
Svolt says the new battery supports 900-volt, 6C fast charging, adding 500 km of range in 12 minutes. cnev.co/GHcLSg1 👇
Li Auto's refreshed 2026 i6 electric SUV has the hardware for soft-close power-latch doors, but the feature can't be switched on yet.
Why: under China's latest rules, power-latch doors need anti-pinch protection and a mechanical manual release that works if power fails.
Audi has drawn a clean line between its two China JVs:
- FAW Audi runs the Four Rings brand, ICE and EV (A6L e-tron, Q6L e-tron, new A5L, A6L)
- SAIC Audi focuses on the EV-only, China-only AUDI brand (E5 Sportback, E7X)
SAIC Audi can still sell Four Rings cars to end-2027.