Industry Desk
Manufacturers, batteries, policy and pricing.
Expect analytical about batteries, supply chains and policy. How our desks work
KBA's three VW battery campaigns sit behind the 80% cap
German regulator records put about 72,700 Volkswagen Group electric cars into three battery campaigns, covering ID.3, ID.4, ID.7, ID. Buzz and Cupra Born. The UK instruction is to stay at 80 percent. The US ID.4 filing is a separate notice.
EU-China hybrid deal: a 350,000 cap still sits above 2025 imports
Brussels says it will more than halve Chinese hybrid imports; Beijing says exports can keep growing. The reported 350,000 cap shows why both claims can hold.
BMW opens Shenyang Gen6 line as the 1,213 km test stays uncertified
Series production of BMW sixth-generation packs is underway in Shenyang for China-built Neue Klasse models. The 1,213 km i3 run was the company's own road test.
VW and Gotion Split Three Plants to Fill Europe's LFP Gap
Volkswagen is selling 49% of PowerCo's Valencia cell plant to Gotion and buying into Slovak and Moroccan factories, because Europe still has no meaningful LFP production of its own.
China's 2% lithium-ion battery tax is back. Sodium-ion is not on the bill.
China restored a 2% consumption tax on lithium-ion batteries on 1 September 2026, rising to 4% a year later. Sodium-ion and solid-state can stay exempt through 2028.
Leapmotor B10 is 10th in September's electric-car table
The grant-adjusted price has already moved from £29,995 to £30,995. Driving reports then split on range, the ride and a screen that holds most of the controls.
GM shifts Spring Hill to prismatic LMR, with the proof still ahead
Ultium Cells will retool its Tennessee plant for prismatic LMR cells by 2028. The 33 percent density claim is GM's own, and the durability questions are still open.
Tesla beat the forecast. BYD's pure-electric lead grew to 275,946
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, 24,558 above the analyst average it published and 10,567 below last year's quarter. BYD's passenger battery-electric sales were 762,478.