China

Chinese wind turbine orders set a new record in 2023 by reaching 100 gigawatts (GW), according to new research from Wood Mackenzie.

China is returning to work following a break to celebrate the 2024 Lunar New Year, and XPeng Motors looks to hit the ground running with massive expansion plans. According to an internal letter, XPeng Chairman CEO He Xiaopeng detailed plans to deliver about 30 new and updated EV models over the next three years, bridging the price gap between $14,000 and $56,000 vehicles in China.

SANY Renewable Energy, a wind turbine manufacturer in China, has built the world’s longest onshore wind turbine blade.

The US-China trade war heats up as the Biden administration has signaled a warning that electric vehicles from China could pose a “significant national security risk” in that the huge amount of data they collect could be sent to China.

Just over a week after initially teasing a new compact SUV called the Yuan Up, Build Your Dreams (BYD) has posted several of the first official images of the new EV’s exterior. Expected to arrive priced in a range between $14,000-$20,000, the BYD Yuan Up has the making to be an ultra-affordable model in China, which could very well make its way over to other markets.

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest EV battery maker, is going to build its own $1.83 billion offshore wind farm.

Fresh off earning the crown as the best-selling brand in China, BYD has (briefly) introduced a new compact SUV to its Yuan family of EVs – one of the larger contributors to its overall sales last year. From what we’ve seen so far, the Yuan Up looks small but mighty, touting some of BYD’s best tech – all at an expected starting price that is sure to entice consumers.

China’s behemoth BYD overtook Volkswagen as the best-selling car brand in China last year, the first time any carmaker outsold the German brand since at least 2008.

Europe and the US say that Chinese EV development is running wild and unchecked and on the verge of overwhelming the global market with, well, EVs the rest of the world can’t compete with. But now China has said it will “rein in” some of its huge EV expansion in response to criticism of “unfair” industrial and trade policies.

Less than a year after its launch in China, Geely’s sub-brand Galaxy has begun selling its first all-electric model – the E8. Starting at a price below $25,000, the Galaxy E8 sedan looks extra sleek, and it touts some more than adequate EV technology, arriving as a genuine contender in an ultra-competitive Chinese market.

The world’s largest ultra-high-altitude wind farm came online on January 1 in Tibet, or what China now refers to as the Xizang Autonomous Region.

China’s ever-growing electric vehicle industry is setting up shop in Hong Kong, but not to expand business in the minuscule Hong Kong market. Rather, they are looking to leverage the city’s financial system for global expansion, Bloomberg reports.

The Biden administration is worried about the “imminent wave” of Chinese battery factories being built in Mexico, which could further intensify the trade war between the US and China.

The International Energy Agency’s latest report forecasts a decline in global coal demand by 2026, marking a potential turning point in global energy consumption.

China’s Mingyang Smart Energy has rolled out the world’s largest offshore wind turbine in capacity and rotor diameter – and it’s seriously robust.

For years, Chinese EV maker Nio has essentially done it all, delving into high-end EV manufacturing, in-house batteries, autonomous driving, and chips, as well as innovative battery-swapping tech and even making smartphones, all while pulling in huge investments and talent to make that happen. Now, according to a new report, it’s looking to lighten the load.

Legacy German automakers and competitors in the luxury EV segment, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, announced they have teamed up for a new joint venture to implement a EV fast charging network consisting of over 1,000 stations in the next few years. Where the European companies intend to deploy these chargers however, may surprise you.

Luxeed – a young, premium EV brand developed between Chery Automobile and Chinese tech giant Huawei, has shared new details of its flagship sedan, the S7. In a matter of months since first teasing the Tesla Model S competitor, followed by an influx of pre-orders, Chery and Huawei have now shared trim variants, pricing, and of course, range – which tops out at an impressive 855 km.

Volkswagen Group China has begun producing battery systems at a new factory in Hefei, China for its MEB platform EVs in the country. The initial capacity of the plant will be 150,000-180,000 EV packs per year, and marks VW’s first wholly-owned battery manufacturing venture in the country.

A fascination with electric vehicles isn’t anything new. These days, everyone and their brother seems to have an EV. But I’m not one of the “normal” electric vehicle enthusiasts. I’m drawn to the more oddball designs. And that zeal has seen me end up in some weird places. Most recently, it had me end up on a hundred million TV screens across China.

We’ve been covering several prominent Chinese automakers teasing their latest EV models in the preceding weeks, ahead of the Guangzhou Auto Show. The annual event kicked off in China earlier today and immediately delivered several model debuts. Here’s a quick recap.