Saturday, 15 August 2026

Leapmotor has launched the A05 electric compact car in China with prices starting at 63,900 yuan, according to electrive. The model measures 4.20 metres long and slots into the Golf segment of the company's line-up.

The entry-level version pairs a 70 kW front-wheel-drive system with a 39.8 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, electrive reported.

That starting price puts the A05 within roughly a thousand yuan of the Geely Xingyuan, which electrive lists at 64,805 yuan.

Outside China, the car takes a different badge. electrive reported that the A05 will be sold internationally as the B03, with European-market output set for the Stellantis plant at Figueruelas near Zaragoza. Leapmotor is backed by Stellantis.

The European pricing benchmark is already visible. In Germany, the comparable compact electric car is on sale as the Geely E2, starting at 19,990 euros, according to electrive.

China has exported more than one million automobiles in a single month, and has done so twice, according to CleanTechnica.

Electric vehicles accounted for a big part of the milestone, CleanTechnica reported.

The monthly export figure, as described by the outlet, marks the point at which Chinese shipments of finished vehicles crossed the one million threshold within a calendar month, a level the country has now recorded on two separate occasions.

Porsche has pulled out of the Volkswagen Group emissions pool and formed a new pooling arrangement with XPENG, CleanTechnica reported.

Pooling is a compliance route available under European Union rules, which oblige automakers to cut the average CO2 emissions of the cars they sell, tightening fleet averages year after year, according to CleanTechnica. Manufacturers that group together are assessed on the combined fleet rather than on each brand alone, which lets a seller of higher-emitting models offset its position against a partner selling lower-emitting ones.

The switch changes the counterparty for Porsche's fleet accounting from its own group to XPENG.

The Swedish trade union IF Metall said the labour dispute with Tesla and the related strike action will end on 19 August, according to electrive. The stoppage began on 27 October 2023, after Tesla rejected the mechanics' demand for a collective bargaining agreement, electrive reported.

Tesla builds no vehicles in Sweden, but more than 120 mechanics service its electric cars in the country, according to electrive. Those service workers formed the base of the walkout, which IF Metall led.

The union confirmed that Tesla offered severance payments to striking members, electrive reported. IF Metall did not say how many workers accepted compensation from the carmaker, nor how much they received.

Simon Petersson of IF Metall framed the payments as evidence of the company's position on organised labour. Tesla is so opposed to collective bargaining agreements that it "would rather pay off union members than provide them with secure working conditions," he said in remarks reported by electrive.

The demand that triggered the walkout, a collective bargaining agreement covering the mechanics, remains the point Tesla rejected at the outset. The union's announcement sets the closing date for the action without indicating that the agreement was reached.

Tesla has opened 2.4 kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) output to the Model Y Premium, but owners must buy an $80 accessory that clips onto the Gen 3 Mobile Connector, Electrek reported.

Three vehicles appear as compatible on Tesla's shop page: the Model Y Premium, the Model Y Performance and the Cybertruck. Electrek noted that the feature does not reach every Model Y Premium.

The part itself has been on sale for more than a year. Cybertruck owners have been able to buy it since April 2025, priced at $80 and capped at the same output level, according to Electrek.

House-scale backup sits in a different product tier and, per Electrek, Powershare covers neither the Model S, the Model 3, the Model X nor the Model Y. On the Cybertruck, Powershare feeds 11.5 kW into a home for three days or longer.

Hyundai put V2L on the Ioniq 5 in 2021 with a 3.6 kW rating, shipping an interior socket and a charge-port adapter with the car, Electrek reported. Ford rates V2L on the F-150 Lightning from 2.4 kW, rising to 9.6 kW on extended-range versions, drawn from outlets in the bed and the frunk.

The Model Y Premium's 2.4 kW figure matches the F-150 Lightning's entry rating, falls short of the Ioniq 5's 3.6 kW, and arrives through a separately purchased adapter rather than built-in sockets.