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⚡ This Week’s Big Charge
💡 Europe Levels Up Its EV Game. It May Not Be Enough To Fend Off China
Europe’s biggest automotive trade show, the IAA in Munich, happens every two years. The 2023 edition was relatively sleepy in terms of news; mostly, I remember it as the place where I signed the paperwork to become Editor-in-Chief of InsideEVs.
What a difference two years makes. At this year’s show, every major European automaker showed off their future cars—most of them electric. The future of transportation was very much on display. Autonomous vehicle firms highlighted their latest breakthroughs as competition heats up, and battery and charging companies also made a strong showing.
It should’ve felt optimistic. Instead, it felt tense, or whatever the word is for how you feel when you know you have to plan a funeral.
IAA proved that this increasingly electrified and autonomous future will have clear winners and losers—and that China’s auto sector is a force to be reckoned with long-term.
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🛻 The Big News From Europe’s Automakers:
First, IAA was an impressive showcase of how far EVs have come. Range, charging speeds, bidirectional charging, and autonomy have all leapt forward—most cars I saw there felt a decade ahead of their previous generation, not just a few years. The pace of progress is remarkable.
BMW showed off its iX3, a 400-mile EV with 400-kilowatt fast-charging (it’ll be one of the fastest-charging EVs you can buy in America) and, somehow, a sub-$60,000 price tag.
As it does, Mercedes-Benz responded in kind with the GLC with EQ Technology, also packing 400+ miles of range and advanced AI features. (And almost 1,000 little light squares on the grille. It looks insane, in a good way.)
Both companies have electric sedan versions of those coming soon.
The Volkswagen Group showcased a future family of cheap compact EVs for Europe, including the ID. Cross, Skoda Epiq and future ID. Polo. All are big upgrades from the current EVs, too.
The Polestar 5 debuted as a high-tech electric grand tourer that, as I can personally attest, is very fast.
Porsche revealed the new Cayenne Electric can charge wirelessly in your garage, without a plug—something even Tesla hasn’t solved yet. And Audi showed off a stylish new coupe that previews future car designs.
All in all, it does seem like the Volkswagen Group’s EV strategy is on track—in Europe, at least.
🇨🇳 But China Really Stole The Show:
The efforts of the Europeans were dwarfed by the combined might of China’s rising auto sector. As analyst Michael Dunne put it: “A massive Chinese auto show is happening in Munich, Germany.”
“In Europe, for Europe.” Several Chinese auto executives said this, meaning cars tailored to the European market—not just exports—and often built in Europe too. (Europe tariffs the Chinese too, but not at severe a rate as the United States.)
There were at least 14 Chinese car brands and more than 100 Chinese suppliers at the show—outpacing the European ones by a wide margin.
Xpeng, the VW Group’s software and technology partner in China, unveiled a new electric sedan and showed off a humanoid robot and an aerial taxi.
State-owned GAC said it plans to sell 50,000 cars each year in Europe by 2027.
It wasn’t just cars: Chinese giant CATL, the world’s largest battery-maker, unveiled new packs for European cars as it prepares to open a second factory there, in Hungary.
And then there’s BYD, which is on an entirely different level.
🚙 BYD’s Big European Push
BYD, which is outselling Tesla in Europe, announced big expansions of its car lineups there.
All BYD EVs sold in Europe will be built in Europe by 2028, executives said.
BYD’s Megawatt charging, the five-minute fast-charging system I tried in Beijing earlier this year, will be in Europe next year too—200 to 300 stations by Q2 2026.
Finally, nothing says BYD is committed to Europe like launching a station wagon.
Of all the Chinese newcomers, this one is the biggest and most serious.
📊 More Context:
As my colleague Tim Levin pointed out on this week’s Plugged-In Podcast, Chinese brands almost doubled their European market share to around 5% in January-July.
The opposite is happening in China, as European car brands are quickly being displaced by homegrown ones.
Meanwhile, the European auto industry has shed more than 50,000 jobs in the past year. Volkswagen is closing factories for the first time ever. The overall sales market is slowing down, too.
Then you add in new U.S. tariffs. European cars are currently taxed at 27.5%, and while that is expected to drop to 15%, it’s unclear when.
🧠 My Take:
The European car companies are making tremendous strides in technology to catch up with China. But will it be enough?
There’s a world where many of these brands could be permanently displaced by Chinese newcomers with better tech and pricing.
The Europeans are already playing defense, for all the reasons I listed above.
Another motivator: the European Union’s planned 2035 ban on gas-powered cars. That measure is hotly debated, but so far the EU isn’t backing down.
In other words: VW, Mercedes, BMW and the rest need to get great at making EVs, or someone else will do it for them.
But it’s clear that the Chinese automakers are in Europe to stay. Including with new factories that could hire those displaced European auto workers.
They’re at capacity in their home country and need a place to expand, and this could be a foothold in the West before they can sort out U.S. sales too.
There’s another secret weapon for the Chinese automakers: plug-in hybrids. EV adoption in Europe is higher than in the U.S., but it’s still uneven and often dependent on subsidies. By offering customers an option with gas, they can grow even more quickly.
It turns out that competition and regulation together can drive evolution.
🇺🇸 What About The United States?
The iX3 and GLC are coming here. Otherwise, IAA was a letdown for American EV fans.
The auto show clearly revealed a maturing and rapidly accelerating EV market, while ours is slowing down, stalling out and pivoting back to gas.
The tariffs, in particular, seem to be holding up many future EV announcements for America, especially from the Volkswagen Group.
The world is becoming more splintered: Europe and China go electric, but America’s being left behind.
📰 More Stories That Matter
Bloomberg has a deep dive into what went wrong at Jeep these past few years, and the scramble to fix it today. [Bloomberg]
Hyundai’s Georgia battery plant faces a two-to-three-month delay following the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s massive immigration raid, the company’s CEO said. [CNBC]
New European Union data shows plug-in hybrids may not be as clean as automakers say they are. [Transport & Environment]
Door handles that are flush with the car, a Tesla creation to improve aerodynamics and range, are under fire over potential safety issues. They may even be banned outright in China. [Bloomberg]
📡 On My Radar
Can U.S. states pick up the slack when federal EV tax credits go away, just through “data transparency”? [Harvard]
European-American conglomerate Stellantis didn’t have much of a showing at IAA, but it is formally backing off its plan to go all-electric by 2030. What’s the path forward for this troubled collection of legacy car brands? [Reuters]
When can the industry expect clarity on tariffs? [Automotive News]
ICYMI: I was back in The Atlantic last week to analyze Tesla’s pivot away from selling cars toward autonomy. What does it mean if the U.S. is left without a clear leader in the EV space? [The Atlantic]
🔌 Charging News
Megawatt charging isn’t just a BYD thing. At IAA, Mercedes announced it’s making big strides. Its latest concept can add 80 miles of range in one minute with technology from Alpitronic. [Mercedes-Benz]
Ford Pro and Atlanta-based Southern Company have good news from a six-month pilot program focused on managed charging for electric commercial fleets. [CBT News]
GM Energy, Pilot and EVgo have opened their 200th fast-charging location in the U.S. For the record: I love EV fast-chargers at gas stations. It’s a great idea, and you get bathrooms. [GM Authority]
Also at IAA: Volkswagen’s Elli launches a bidirectional charging pilot for Europe that promises lower energy costs. [Electrive]
🔋 Battery News
More on CATL: the battery it unveiled in Munich can deliver 470 miles of range, charge from 10% to 80% in just 10 minutes, and last 621,000 miles. [InsideEVs]
Exxon Mobil (yes, that Exxon Mobil) wants to start making its own graphite by the end of the decade to make further inroads into the EV business. [New York Times]
Mercedes-Benz’s latest solid-state battery prototypes are making incredible advancements. One drive lasted 749 miles on a single charge, with 85 miles of range left. [InsideEVs]
Speaking of solid-state batteries, Croatian tech giant Rimac unveiled one that can charge from 10% to 80% in 10 minutes. [InsideEVs]
One more on the solid-state front: Ducati is experimenting with adding them to motorcycles, and that could have huge advantages for two-wheel transportation. [RideApart]
The global lithium-ion battery recycling market is anticipated to be valued at $18.3 billion by the end of this year. [Fairfield Market Research]
🤖 Autonomy News
Away from IAA, it was a big week for the autonomous car industry. Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi service, with its boxy, driver-free pods, is now open to the public in Las Vegas. [TechCrunch]
Lyft has launched its autonomous taxi service in Atlanta with May Mobility. [Engadget]
Tesla wants to expand its Robotaxi service to California’s airports. [Politico]
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley wants to introduce a bill banning autonomous vehicles, saying they would be “terrible for working people." [Business Insider]
Here’s an interesting thought experiment that led to new research: Why do people hold autonomous vehicles to a different standard than human-driven ones? [Harvard]
🧠 AI News
Volkswagen will invest up to a billion euros ($1.2 billion) in artificial intelligence by the end of this decade. [Reuters]
The new Mercedes GLC EQ has an interesting approach to in-car AI: a grab-bag of ChatGPT, Bing, Google Gemini and Mercedes’ own AI system, automatically selecting the best model for each task. [InsideEVs]
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride Pilot Automated Driving System will debut on the BMW iX3. But Qualcomm will license it to other automakers as well. [CNBC]
Even your junkyard is using AI these days. [The Drive]
❓ How’s My Driving?
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💡 Did You Know?
It never pulled this off, obviously. And now tariffs and tensions with China make it arguably tougher than ever. But it’s no longer some scrappy upstart today, and clearly not to be underestimated.
Until next time,
—Patrick George