ev.news China: ICE Models Knocked Out Of Top 10, VW ID.AURA Goes On Sale & China Forecast 80% EV By 2030 | 10 Sep 2026

0:00Welcome back to the podcast on EV News China. Ice Models knocked out of the top 10. VW's aura goes on sale. And China forecast 80% birth by the end of the decade, plus they tuned. Later in the show, I'll tell you why China might have a used EV problem. Welcome to EV News China, the podcast, all about the world's biggest EV market, where I bring you the latest headlines, insights, and analysis from the heart of China's booming EV industry, and decode how fast-moving developments in the East shape the global EV landscape. Now, EV models are dominating China's top 10. In August, China's passenger car retail top 10 contained no gas guzzlers in August, according to CPCA data. It was the second such result this year, after May, and a contrast with January and Ice Models were in seven of the top 10 places. The classification has a slight wrinkle. One ranking treated all 10 models as bevs. Another combined the Fang Cheng Bowers plug-in hybrids with the pure bevs. That's still left all plug-in hybrids.

1:01Jili's Xinghua, known as the EX2 overseas, led August with almost 40,000 retail sales. Leap Motors A10 followed, while Tesla's Model Y took third. The TI7 or TI7 was fourth. On the combined ranking, domestic brands claimed eight of the top 10 positions. The other two held by Tesla. The model spanned prices from $9,000 to $45,000. Lower priced bevs, taking demand, once served by petrol-powered sedans in the A segment. An entry-segment markets. Now Volkswagen's ID Aura is next in the news today. The Aura T6 presales have opened in China. F-A-W Volkswagen has begun presales of the ID Aura T6 in China. It's a midsize, five-seat SUV crossover. Starting at $20,000, it's the first model in Volkswagen's ID Aura family for China, entering a crowded market where Chinese EV makers have progressed steadily in software, connectivity, drive assistance, and digital integration with their lives. Four versions offered the ID Aura T6 540 Pro, 60 kilowatt-hour pack, 540 kilometers of CLTC range.

2:08There's an almost 80 kilowatt-hour pack on offer, and then there's the Max LiDAR and Ultra LiDAR versions, again with that same, almost 80 kilowatt-hour pack. All four versions use one electric motor on the rear axle in rear-wheel drive, 170 kilowatts. LFP pack by Goation on the entry levels and a CATL pack on the higher levels. LiDAR is reserved for the higher levels as well. Volkswagen and Chao Pung jointly developed the CEA architecture, which Volkswagen is using to shorten development for China. Now the T6 is presented as a sign that Volkswagen is tailoring its EV program. It understands China is what they're saying, rather than sending existing global models for sale there. Now China's EV share is next in the news, and it could reach a big number by the end of the decade. 75 to 80 percent is the forecast. China's EV adoption rate is projected to be almost four out of five vehicles, EV by 2030, although the growth will then slow later in the decade, according to a leading Sinopec research yesterday.

3:10The shift is displacing oil demand already in the world's largest crude oil importing country. Sinopec's economics and development research institute estimates that EVs will displace 56 million metric tons of oil demand in China this year. It's about 1.2 million barrels a day displaced. Fairy Wang is the institute's VP, gave the estimates of the AP-PEC conference. China, the world's largest car market, the largest EV market, reached an EV adoption rate of 65.2 percent last month. That rate was 53 percent a year ago, 5 percent in 2020, and that EV figure includes both Beves and Plugin hybrids and e-revs as well. Now, who's exporting vehicles in China? BYD by a long way, taking 35.4 percent of China's August exports. BYD leading the way with over 183,000 vehicles. Tesla China fell to fourth from their Shanghai Gigafactory. BYD's exports up 131 percent year on year.

4:11Tesla China moved the other way over the month, falling one position down to a 7 percent share. From January to the end of August, BYD still first exporting over 1.1 million passenger vehicles followed by Cherry and then Glee. They're the big exporters and getting cars overseas. Now, Denza is adding the Z9 GT E3 trim. I told you about this yesterday on the podcast. It's an all-electric trimotor $48,000 GT car. It's about $6,000 less than the Flash Charging Performance Model. Denza GM Lee Hui said consumers wanted the E3 trimotor system driving capabilities with simpler equipment. There's a 230 kilowatt front motor and 2, 310 kilowatt rear permanent magnet motors. It's 850 kilowatts over 1,000 horsepower, not a 62.8 seconds or go for the performance version to go 2.7 seconds. Is it worth it? Well, the cheaper car loses a little bit of speed and equipment,

5:15but no charging performance. The 122.5 kilowatt hour, second gen blade battery 2.0, 860 kilometers on the CLT C cycle at a 10 to 70 charge in five minutes. The new trim includes standard independent rear wheel steering, Dyson A and God's Z5 drive-resistant system. It's price matches the maximum price of the dual motor Zika 001 all-wheel drive. That's the most powerful standard configuration of that vehicle. And for the same price, you get a lot less power, 580 kilowatts, dual motor only. So Denza hoping throwing everything at this and a price cut will build some market share. Now, Dong Feng will unveil a new solid liquid battery next month in October. Dong Feng motor plans to unveil its in-house 350 watts hour per kilogram solid liquid hybrid battery next month and install it in mass produced vehicles

6:15sometime in Q4 deputy general manager, Yu Zhang announced the timetable yesterday at the aggregated intelligent industry ecosystem forum. The schedule is later than the one Dong Feng set out in November last year when it said it would be fitting those hybrid batteries in September of this year. Well, only missing it by a month. The battery's label is also more precise thanks to China's rule makers. Dong Feng previously called it a solid state battery and many of those that were developing a semi-solid electrolyte. We're calling them solid state batteries, but now it's using more specific language. Solid liquid hybrid battery. China's term for solid state technology has now been tightened. And so companies can't start using that phrase unless it genuinely is. Dong Feng says the battery though has an energy density of 350 watts hours per kilogram, which is still very, very good. Don't take what I'm saying about relabeling it as a hybrid battery.

7:16That's just being more accurate with its description by going to a semi-solid electrolyte. You still get a huge energy density, 350 watts hours per kilogram. You know, compare what's on the road right now from LFP packs, 140 to maybe 210. What hours per kilogram in mainstream LFP packs? You could have a decent sized battery and 1,000 kilometers of range with this without going stupid large with the pack. The company said the battery showed no fire or explosion in a 170-degree Celsius thermal chamber test. Now the requirement is 130 degrees under China's new national standards. Winter vehicle testing in January this year had 70 tests at as low as 40 degrees negative Celsius. They have a small pilot line of 0.2 gigawatt hours. And that began operating last June, actually, as in a year ago. The company plans to deploy 100 demo vehicles by the end of the year. And deliver 50,000 vehicles using the in-house solid state batteries in 2027.

8:18Now let's talk a little bit about Neo on the podcast. Neo is prioritizing its core business, they say. And no distractions, I guess. Neo will concentrate on its core business, the premium vehicle segment and core markets for three years with major new models planned next year. William Lee outlined the priorities to all employees on the afternoon of September the eighth to days ago. The 2027 plan is substantial in outline and sparse in detail. Mr. Lee did not identify the models. Their Neo brand affiliation or the launch dates on, though, has some strategic plans. And new products in 2027. Firefly has no plans for a second model, but they will update their existing model with limited editions. Lee said that Neo had reassessed the definition and planning of its second generation products, resulting in clearer decisions on markets and segments.

9:19Neo has also improved launch scheduling, they say, with longer periods to come to market. China's automotive industry had entered the most brutal stage of the final round. Mr. Lee said, I wonder what that means, the most brutal stage of the final round, final round for for what and for whom. Well, that was what he said. And also what was interesting, that Neo's growth would not prevent competitive pressure across the industry from affecting the company. Okay. Right, we'll take a break on the podcast. We'll come back. We'll talk about BMW on the show and why Chinese dealers rejecting older EVs stick around back in the mo. All right, welcome back to the podcast. Now BMW China filing for their IX330L, the China-specific

10:20long wheelbase has entered China's vehicle filing process ahead of deliveries in November, available for pre-order. From $40,000 equivalent, the electric SUV is moving closer to the market, though, inclusion in the catalog is not final approval. China's ministry of industry and information technology included the IX330L in its latest batch of vehicle filings out on Tuesday this week. Public consultation runs from yesterday through to September 15th. BMW brilliance manufacturers, the IX330L, a long wheelbase, at its Shenyang plant. The model has an over 3 meter wheelbase, 108 millimeters, just over 10 centimeters longer than the standard version, and is intended to provide more space purely in that second row. The filing names are BMW AG drive motor, 235 kilowatts, over 300 horsepower, an LFP pack, top speed of 180 KPH. The battery sells, well, they'll come from a CATL subsidiary, but we have no more details.

11:22Now, let's talk about used cars in China, about four in five Chinese dealers, rejecting older EVs. It's interesting, about four out of five used dealers in China will not accept fully electric vehicles older than five years. The international energy agencies globally the outlook reports. The dealers cited concerns about battery lifespan and the replacement expense of that. China described as the is described as the first country in which EVs are now aging at scale with 44 million EVs on the roads. A three year old EV in China resells for about 45 percent of its original price compared to with 55 percent in 2023, according to the China Automobile dealers association industry experts said no agreed method for assessing battery health. Let's dealers value EVs reliably. That could be more the truth. There's nothing wrong with the batteries. You don't see them expiring on mass, do we? They just don't know if they buy a car and hold it on their lot. What's that going to be worth in weeks and months to come? The market

12:24is changing so quickly. That might be more the truth. In Gulf markets, buyers become less willing to buy EVs at around the five year mark. They talk about mileage, increases, and battery warranties expiring. Yet so much data points to the batteries being more robust than many people assume. And maybe they're just being cautious with their used EV businesses. Yet a January geotab study of almost 23,000 EVs found that the average EV loses just over 2 percent of battery capacity annually, leaving most capacity intact after a decade. EVs relying on high powered fast charging can lose a little bit more, according to the geotab data. Other data points to hot climates and older technology, like a thermal management stuff like that as being more of an issue. Well, the battery may retain its capacity longer than the used car market retains its confidence. Karl Brauer of IC cars said modern EVs provide battery health data and third party services now certify results. Used car dealers rarely request those readings though,

13:29and they're not doing it off their own backs. They still price cars by age and mileage and remaining warranty and often model reputation. Chinese car makers exported more than 2.5 million EVs last year. The IEA said with Europe the largest market, followed by Southeast Asia. Importing countries will face similar valuation problems at the 5-year point, according to Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based advisory firm Automobility. Telling the publication Rest of World, and I quote, exporting the car is the easy part, building the ecosystem that supports its second and third owner is much harder. Well, I'm sure I entirely agree with battery packs not holding up over time. We don't see mass expiry of EVs after 5 years. So I think there's more happening here with Chinese used EV dealers. I think a lot of it is to do with the market moving quickly and not knowing what stock is going to be worth on their lot. But also the pace of the new car market in China is not

14:33like the pace of the new car market in the rest of the world. And so that has to play into it as well. Surely we're getting between two and three new EV launches per day in China. And with so much heat at the top of the market, I'm not surprised buyers are buying a lot of new cars, turning them over perhaps quicker than combustion cars. And they're just being more used EVs changing the market quickly. We've been through something similar in the West over the last two years. Prices are now on the increase again over the last two, three, four months consecutively here in the UK at least for used EV prices. But in China, perhaps the used EV market is still just adjusting. Well, wait and see. Well, that's your podcast for today. See you tomorrow.