Saturday, 18 July 2026

MG will launch a new plug-in hybrid line carrying semi-solid-state batteries, driver assistance systems, and a highway assistant in 2027, the carmaker told its Tech Day in London, according to electrive.

The first vehicle in the Plug-in Hybrid+ range will be the MG ZS Plug-in Hybrid+, due in 2027, electrive reported. Its powertrain pairs 1.1- and 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engines with a new hybrid transmission. MG says the two engines reach thermal efficiency above 42 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

Every future Plug-in Hybrid+ model will use MG's SolidCore semi-solid-state battery, which the carmaker says holds performance more stable at low temperatures and low states of charge, electrive reported. Three new SUV ranges in the B, C, and D segments will carry the technology first.

MG built its driver assistance work on roughly 1.2 million test kilometres logged across 24 European countries, according to electrive. A new SUV fitted with the Navigate On Autopilot motorway assistant is due by the end of 2027.

The company is developing automated parking and, by its own account, SAE Level 4 robotaxis now under test in Europe, the Middle East, and China, electrive reported.

In early June, SAIC subsidiary MG confirmed construction of its first European plant at Ferrol, Spain, with production set to start in 2028, according to electrive.

Ford Pro has delivered 49 E-Transit Custom and 82 E-Transit battery-electric vans to Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), according to electrive.

The E-Transit Custom carries a usable battery capacity of 64 kWh and a power output of 100 kW, according to electrive. Its combined WLTP range reaches up to 331 km, with up to 443 km achievable in urban traffic.

The larger E-Transit uses a 68 kWh battery and a power output of 135 kW, according to electrive. It delivers up to 317 km in the combined WLTP cycle, or up to 403 km in urban traffic.

BVG plans to procure an additional 270 battery-electric buses by 2027, increasing the number of electric buses to around 550, according to electrive. That total would make roughly one-third of the bus fleet electric, a fleet that comprises around 1,500 vehicles.

At the end of June, BVG commissioned a DC fast-charging station for electric buses at Marzahn S-Bahn station, according to electrive.

First-time electric vehicle buyers in California will get a $3,500 discount at the dealer counter under the new MyFirstEV program, which Governor Gavin Newsom created by signing SB 168, according to Electrek. The point-of-sale rebate takes effect later this summer.

Electrek reported that $135.5 million in state money underwrites the discount, with participating automakers matching that sum dollar-for-dollar. New EVs priced up to $50,000 qualify for the full $3,500, while used EVs sold for up to $25,000 carry a $1,750 rebate, according to Electrek.

The rebate forms a key component of a wider $600 million zero-emission vehicle package inside the 2026-27 state budget, drawn from Cap-and-Invest revenue and smog-abatement fees, Electrek reported.

Eligibility turns on where an automaker is based. Tesla shifted its headquarters from California to Austin, Texas, in 2021, and no longer counts as a California-based manufacturer under the program's rules, according to Electrek.

The state's own EV uptake has slipped. California's market share dropped from nearly a quarter of new car sales a year earlier to 15.7% in the first quarter, well under the 35% target the state set for this year, Electrek reported.

The pressure extends past California. US EV sales fell at least 20% in the first half of 2026 after Congress ended the $7,500 federal EV tax credit last September, according to Electrek.

BYD launched the Denza Z electric supercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, according to Electrek. Electrek reports the top Racing variant undercuts the Porsche 911 Turbo S Coupe on both price and acceleration.

Every Denza Z runs three electric motors, one at the front and two at the rear, for a combined 1,582 hp, or 1,604 PS, according to Electrek. Electrek reports the Racing variant on optional semi-slick tires can reach 62 mph from a standstill in as little as 1.96 seconds, with a top speed of 217 mph.

That compares with the Porsche 911 Turbo S Coupe, which Electrek says takes 2.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph and starts at GBP 199,100 in the UK.

All Denza Z variants use a 76 kWh BYD Blade Battery 2.0, according to Electrek. The car is built on an 800V architecture paired with BYD's Flash Charging system, which Electrek reports can recharge the battery from 10% to 70% in as little as five minutes.

UK pricing starts at GBP 142,900 for the Coupe, GBP 159,900 for the Spider, and GBP 172,900 for the Racing, according to Electrek. BYD plans to begin customer deliveries by the end of 2026.

XPENG has spent several years developing self-driving technology along lines similar to Tesla, according to CleanTechnica.

The company has held to Elon Musk's position that cameras are the only sensors needed for autonomous driving, CleanTechnica reported. That stance sets XPENG apart from most others in the field, which have concluded that radar and lidar sensors are also required alongside cameras.

The European Union's electric car tariffs reduced the market share of EVs made in China, according to a T&E analysis of the trade measures.

While the tariffs curbed EVs produced in China, imports of Chinese batteries increased seven fold, according to CleanTechnica's report of the T&E analysis. Those batteries face virtually no tariffs.

EU tariffs have reduced China's share of battery-electric vehicles entering the EU market, yet they have failed to slow the rise of Chinese brands, according to an analysis by T&E published by electrive.

China supplied 17% of battery-electric vehicles in the EU market in the first quarter of 2026, according to electrive. That figure had reached 22% in 2024, the year the tariffs took effect.

Within those imports, the European manufacturer portion slid from 38% in 2024 to 23% in the first quarter of 2026, the analysis found. T&E links the drop to Western brands including Tesla, BMW, and Volvo relocating output from China to Europe.

The measures landed unevenly across exporters. SAIC, facing a 35% tariff on top of a 10% base duty, saw its battery-electric vehicle imports nearly halve between 2023 and 2025, according to electrive. BYD, carrying a 17% tariff plus the same 10% base duty, more than doubled its BEV imports into the EU across that period.

On price, Chinese-brand battery-electric vehicles still undercut European rivals by 21%, the T&E analysis found.

Chinese brands have also grown fast in a category outside the BEV tariff regime. Their share of the EU plug-in hybrid market stands at 13%, up from 3% in 2024, according to electrive.

T&E argues a 20% tariff on Chinese batteries would raise the price of EU-manufactured battery-electric vehicles by an average of just 2.8%.

"The EU tariffs worked up to a point," said Lucien Mathieu, Cars Director at T&E. He said Western carmakers moved production to Europe and Chinese manufacturers began to onshore, while European firms' competitiveness in EV and battery technology remains at stake.

Mercedes-Benz has begun building the all-electric C-Class at its Kecskemét plant in Hungary, Electrek reported.

The automaker put roughly EUR 1 billion into enlarging the site, according to Electrek, with the outlay covering fresh production halls, a battery assembly line, a second press shop and a new paint shop. That work took the footprint from 200 to 440 hectares, more than double its earlier size, and ranks it as Hungary's biggest automotive plant.

On the energy side, a 27.4 MW solar farm sits alongside rooftop panels to bring the factory's combined solar capacity to 42.3 MW. Mercedes says that generation should meet about 25% of the plant's yearly electricity demand.

The company reports that its new paint shop draws roughly 20% less energy than the one it replaced while lowering CO2 emissions by about 80%.

Headcount at Kecskemét has passed 5,000, Electrek reported. Engineers there run a full digital replica of the new assembly hall to test production changes before applying them on the line.

The University of Nottingham and GKN Aerospace have set up HPDrive Technologies to develop cryogenic electrical machine technologies, according to electrive. The new company will target hydrogen-electric aviation and other high-power sectors.

The partners say the technologies address the need for lightweight, high-efficiency electrical machines that can operate at megawatt power levels.

GKN Aerospace said HPDrive will build on technologies developed through the H2GEAR programme. Professor Henner Wapenhans is chief executive of HPDrive Technologies.

The venture complements the University of Nottingham's Hybrid Propulsion Systems facility, which is co-funded through the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

Tesla is launching an Australian program that shields buyers from resale losses following its price cuts, according to Electrek.

Used-market data cited by Electrek shows the average Model Y shed roughly 25.5% of its value across the January 2024 to January 2025 window, with the Model 3 down about 25% over the same stretch.

Once the US federal EV tax credit lapsed, second-hand Tesla prices climbed 4.3%, even as the wider used EV market slid an average of 3.6%, Electrek reported.

Delivery volumes have moved higher. Tesla's global handovers grew 16.3% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, and Australian deliveries surged 66.7% over the same six months, according to Electrek.

Driva and Tesla intend to roll out a separate loan product built for rideshare drivers later this month, Electrek reported.

The last combustion-engine Porsche Macan rolls off the line at the end of July, electrive reported. No replacement crossover with an ICE or hybrid drivetrain is planned before 2028, and that model will draw on a new generation of the Audi Q5 platform.

Worldwide Macan deliveries reached 35,315 units in the first half of 2026, split between 19,695 combustion cars and 15,620 battery-electric versions, according to electrive.

European sales of the combustion Macan had already stopped at the start of 2025. The European General Safety Regulation, known as GSR2, forced that exit: its tighter cybersecurity and vehicle-safety rules would have demanded a full rework of the model's electronic architecture.

Battery-electric output slipped across the group. Porsche handed over 23,700 electric vehicles in the first half of the year, down roughly 31 per cent against the prior year, electrive reported.

At group level, Volkswagen Group global BEV deliveries dropped 5.8 per cent, with sharp falls in China and the USA, while Europe rose.

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume conceded that Porsche had misjudged demand, according to electrive.