Latest news with #WolfgangEgger
CNN
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
China's electric vehicle industry is preparing to take on the world. Is America ready?
This year's Shanghai auto show has a clear message for visitors: China is now a global leader in innovation, and it wants the world to know. The massive, thrumming exhibition that took place in the country's financial capital over the past two weeks boasted over 60 football fields of floorspace, packed full of carmakers using the event to unveil a raft of new models with curtain-pulling reveals. To a soundtrack of bass-thumping music, big brands showed off everything from electric batteries that can run for hundreds of miles on a five-minute charge to flying vehicles and cars with cutting-edge assisted driving, while armies of live streamers broadcast the specs to viewers across the country and crowds thronged to check out the new tech. And unlike in decades past, when cars from legacy makers like GM, Volkswagen or BMW were the showpieces, this year it was China's electric vehicle (EV) vanguard that were the ones to watch. Case in point: All eyes were on the reveal of a hotly anticipated electric sportscar from BYD, an EV giant that's also China's top carmaker. Its new Denza Z is 'a testament to pure emotional design' and 'extreme performance,' Wolfgang Egger, an ex-Audi and Lamborghini designer who now directs BYD's design, told a cheering crowd as he whisked off a covering to reveal the bright blue coupe. ('We love you,' some voices shouted back.) In another hall, crowds waited in a line stretching outside the venue doors to see offerings from Chinese electronics giant-turned-carmaker Xiaomi. Others craned their necks to catch sight of Nio's sleek ET9 luxury sedan, a rival to BMW's 7-series or Porsche's Panamera, shimmy and shake to the music as it showed off its suspension and automatic doors. The event is such a spectacle that visitors can be forgiven for forgetting, if for a moment, that the global auto industry is being roiled by President Donald Trump's tariffs on all cars imported into the United States — and that the US and China are locked in a seemingly intractable trade war that threatens to escalate into a decoupling. But that's precisely why the rapid ascent of China's EV sector is so important to the country, as it squares off against the world's largest economy and leading innovator. Once seen as a producer of clumsy knock-offs, Chinese carmakers have catapulted to the forefront of the growing global EV industry — a major coup for a country aiming to transform into a fully-fledged tech powerhouse in multiple industries. Last year, China's privately-owned national champion BYD outsold US EV maker Tesla with its stable of hybrid and electric vehicles. BYD has also overtaken China market stalwart Volkswagen as the top seller of passenger cars domestically. (Tesla, which operates its Gigafactory in Shanghai, did not attend the auto show.) That's because Chinese consumers, who no longer see homegrown brands as second rate, started consistently buying more vehicles from Chinese carmakers than foreign-backed ones in 2023. And, as of last year, the country controls more than 60% of the rapidly growing global EV market, according to energy analytics firm Rho Motion. While Trump's trade war looms large over export strategies for global automakers, China's EV producers are relatively insulated, having already looked to other markets for growth after heavy duties and other curbs were imposed on their vehicles during the Biden administration. And as Trump pushes to bring back an automobile industry that once symbolized American prosperity, alienating US trade partners and shunning efforts to boost a homegrown EV sector along the way, China's EV advantage is a potential soft power boon, and a chance to reshape its place in global trade and technology. In China, though, the field is crowded and cutthroat, with competition sparking a fierce, yearslong price war. Domestic automakers are vying to one-up each other on tech and value for money — and fighting to capture market share around the world. In March, BYD released a battery that takes just five minutes to give its latest models a range of 250 miles. That was already considerably faster than charging Tesla's batteries and seen as a technological marvel. But just weeks later, on the eve of the auto show, BYD was upstaged by Chinese battery giant CATL, which says it can offer some 320 miles of range in the same time. On the smart driving side, meanwhile, tech firms like Huawei and Momenta are pushing forward their latest intelligent driving technology after BYD upped the ante earlier this year by pledging to roll out its 'God's Eye' driver-assistance system in most of its models, including those costing around $10,000, at no extra charge. 'The technology is very strong (in China), but the price is not luxurious,' Wang Qiguang, a recent graduate living in Shanghai, observed while checking out BYD's exhibit last week. 'Its formed a kind of technological equality that everyone can enjoy … this is the best part of it.' Analysts say homegrown intelligent driving technology would have enjoyed an even greater spotlight in Shanghai had the government not tightened rules around the marketing and testing of driver-assistance features following a fatal crash in March involving a Xiaomi sedan. For Chinese consumers, driving isn't just about function, it's also about fun. Carmakers are jostling to win customers by offering kitted-out entertainment systems with multiple screens that pair seamlessly with phones, vibrating massage seats that recline like La-Z-Boys and voice activated controls for everything – at bargain prices. 'We're in the back seat and there's heated seats, voice controls, moon roof all the way to the back, lots of leg room. And (we're looking at the price) and it's like, what is that in USD? And we find out that's like $28,000, but you can get the baseline at $20,000 – that's kind of a shock,' said one American businessman visiting the car show, who was not authorized to speak to media. He and his colleagues, who sell automotive parts, had come over after their boss said they needed to 'see what was happening in the China market.' The speed of China's advances has stunned even foreign carmakers with deep roots in the country, which shut its borders for years during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'We came back after the country reopened … (and we) immediately realized: Wow, China has changed so much,' Stephen Ma, who heads Japanese car giant Nissan's China business, told reporters at the auto show. 'I've worked in China for many years, and I knew things move faster here than in other countries, but I didn't expect it to be this fast – it really exceeded our expectations.' And while the fierce competition is driving rapid innovation, it also creates major challenges. Dozens of Chinese EV players are vying for market share in a sector that's grappling with overcapacity. Many firms have yet to make a profit, and they're up against a Goliath: BYD occupies some 30% of China's 'new energy vehicle' market of battery powered cars and hybrids. 'It's just really difficult to differentiate yourself in this market,' said Tu Le, founder and managing director of the US-based consultancy firm Sino Auto Insights. 'That's why it's so important for a lot of these companies to export, because the competition is so intense here that the only breathing room that they're likely to get … is if they go somewhere where there's not as many Chinese competitors.' Concerns about Chinese overcapacity and industrial policy prompted the US and Canada last year to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs, while the European Union launched an investigation into what it called unfair subsidies and raised its levies to as high as 45%. (Beijing has denied its success depends on subsidies and last month said it will negotiate with the EU on EV price commitments.) Those hurdles don't seem to be daunting Chinese carmakers, who exported 441,000 EVs, including hybrids, in the first quarter of this year, up more than 40% from the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. BYD owner Julaluck Chanasri, a YouTube influencer from Thailand, told CNN many people in her country 'have changed from Toyota, Honda to BYD's electric cars.' 'If China can keep the cheap price then (its brands) will continue to grow,' added her husband, Didsakorn, as they checked out one of BYD's Denza brand SUVs in Shanghai. Such is the momentum behind Chinese EVs that it's hard to remember when, just two decades ago, China had no car culture to speak of. In the late 1970s, when China began opening its economy, there were few private cars in the country, which was then known as a 'kingdom of bicycles.' It wasn't until the early 2000s, when rapid economic growth catapulted hundreds of millions into the middle class that ownership took off. That's when a slew of foreign automakers, some of which dipped their toes into the market decades earlier in anticipation of growth, piled in, setting up joint ventures with domestic companies to manufacture in China. The government required the German, US and Japanese car giants to transfer tech and know-how to their local partners. But even as China emerged as a major car manufacturer, its homegrown brands were still seen as second-rate. A dating show most infamously captured the zeitgeist when a contestant confidently declared that she'd 'rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle.' China's enthusiastic adoption of electric vehicles combined with hefty government support has flipped the script. By 2009, around the same time Tesla received a nearly half billion-dollar loan from the US government, Beijing ramped up a concerted strategy to develop so-called 'new energy vehicles.' That included showering the industry with support, such as awarding contracts for public taxi and bus fleets and building out charging infrastructure, as well as tax incentives and buyer rebates or subsidies. Estimates for those subsidies vary widely, with Chinese state media citing 10 years' worth of such measures at roughly $20 billion. Analysts have suggested Chinese government support for the sector could be between more than $50 billion in a decade to as much as $200 billion between 2009 and 2023. Meanwhile, Beijing has aggressively sought out the raw materials needed to produce EV batteries and now dominates those supply chains. But longtime observers say it wasn't industrial policy alone: Visionary entrepreneurs were pouring into the sector. Among them was Wang Chuanfu, an engineer with a Dickensian backstory who founded his battery company, BYD, in 1995 and moved into car production in 2003. The company got global notice in 2008 when it received a $230 million investment from Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. Fifteen years later, after BYD produced its 5 millionth car, Wang was overcome by emotion on stage where he declared that despite challenges and ridicule 'the era of Chinese cars has arrived.' And China's success, also partly spurred by Tesla's move to manufacture in Shanghai, has in turn shaped the global industry, experts say. 'For a very long time, Western automakers were looking at EVs as not a realistic option because the prices were outrageous,' according to John Helveston, an assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at George Washington University in the US. 'The exponential decline in cost (has) all been driven by the Chinese industrial ecosystem … a lot of it is primarily due to scaling up the production of every aspect of that supply chain.' Today, roughly half of new cars sold in China are battery EVs or hybrids. By comparison, sales of such vehicles made up just over 20% of total vehicles sales in the US in the third quarter of last year, according to the most recent data cited by the US Energy Information Administration. The success of the industry has been hailed by Chinese state media and propagandists as an example of the country's contributions to the global energy transition and its 'technological prowess.' There's a lot to play up. This spring, American Youtuber iShowSpeed, who has nearly 40 million subscribers, went viral on Chinese social media for featuring BYD's luxury Yangwang brand, showing off how its U9 sportscar can 'dance' and yelling 'these China cars got it' as he drove the water-equipped U8 SUV through a river. Now, it's the foreign brands losing revenue and market share that are looking to partner with Chinese companies to make use of homegrown innovation and win back customers. In Shanghai, Volkswagen has played up its 'in China, for China' approach. 'This means more local development, new tech partnerships and greater speed of implementation,' Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said in a statement last month. 'At the same time, we are accelerating our electric offensive with additional products for new segments.' Recent years have seen a flurry of new EV partnerships between foreign and Chinese companies, like VW's 2023 $700 million investment in XPeng; European auto giant Stellantis launched a venture to sell Leapmotor's budget EVs outside China; Toyota linked up with Chinese intelligent driving firm Momenta and in 2019 announced a partnership with BYD; GM brand Buick is working with Momenta, as well as CATL on batteries. That's all part of what industry expert Lei Xing called a 'counterattack' from the foreign firms still competing in China. 'They have the products, they have the Chinese tech inside (those products) that they are able to show and say: 'We've learned … and now we are showing what we think is needed in order to be relevant in the Chinese market,'' he said, adding that 'the jury is still out' on how successful such efforts will be. The fight to stay relevant is playing out during a deeply uncertain moment in the global auto industry, following Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs on cars and, as of this weekend, 25% levies on auto parts imported into the US — not to mention his general ratcheting up of trade conflict with China. (On Tuesday, Trump tapped the brakes on automakers with some limited measures of relief.) Tariffs from both the US and China on each others' goods now stand at well over 100%, with some limited exceptions, sending US automakers and their suppliers scrambling to shift parts of supply chains away from China. In the other direction, US auto giant Ford stopped shipping vehicles to China last month, with its China CFO Ryan Anderson telling CNN in Shanghai that it 'brought as many' as possible of their select imported models into China ahead of the tariffs, but 'the supply that we've got in the country now is basically all we'll have until the tariffs relax.' For many Chinese EV makers, their strategy is still focused on markets outside the US, while preparing for the potential impact of further trade escalation, including if Washington further tightens export controls on semiconductor technology. James Peng, the cofounder and CEO of a Chinese autonomous driving firm with roots in Silicon Valley, told CNN he thought it was unlikely the chips from US firm Nvidia that it relies on would come under export controls, but the company was sourcing backups and alternatives, because 'we don't know what's coming (down) the pipe.' And while the company, which is pioneering robotaxi services in major Chinese cities, carries out some research and development in the US, doing that at a larger scale or commercializing it there is 'going to be tough.' 'We'll see if there's a way when the situation permits,' Peng said. For some observers of the rapacious innovation on show in Shanghai, like Helveston in Washington, the US-China showdown and American policy direction sets up the potential for a split future. On one side, China's carmakers become increasingly dominant in a world transitioning to electric vehicles, and one the other, he said, the US cuts its support for EVs and remains 'an island of tailpipes.' CNN's Marc Stewart, Martha Zhou, Hazel Pfeifer, Hassan Tayir, Fred He and John Liu contributed to this report.
CNN
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNN
China's electric vehicle industry is preparing to take on the world. Is America ready?
This year's Shanghai auto show has a clear message for visitors: China is now a global leader in innovation, and it wants the world to know. The massive, thrumming exhibition that took place in the country's financial capital over the past two weeks boasted over 60 football fields of floorspace, packed full of carmakers using the event to unveil a raft of new models with curtain-pulling reveals. To a soundtrack of bass-thumping music, big brands showed off everything from electric batteries that can run for hundreds of miles on a five-minute charge to flying vehicles and cars with cutting-edge assisted driving, while armies of live streamers broadcast the specs to viewers across the country and crowds thronged to check out the new tech. And unlike in decades past, when cars from legacy makers like GM, Volkswagen or BMW were the showpieces, this year it was China's electric vehicle (EV) vanguard that were the ones to watch. Case in point: All eyes were on the reveal of a hotly anticipated electric sportscar from BYD, an EV giant that's also China's top carmaker. Its new Denza Z is 'a testament to pure emotional design' and 'extreme performance,' Wolfgang Egger, an ex-Audi and Lamborghini designer who now directs BYD's design, told a cheering crowd as he whisked off a covering to reveal the bright blue coupe. ('We love you,' some voices shouted back.) In another hall, crowds waited in a line stretching outside the venue doors to see offerings from Chinese electronics giant-turned-carmaker Xiaomi. Others craned their necks to catch sight of Nio's sleek ET9 luxury sedan, a rival to BMW's 7-series or Porsche's Panamera, shimmy and shake to the music as it showed off its suspension and automatic doors. The event is such a spectacle that visitors can be forgiven for forgetting, if for a moment, that the global auto industry is being roiled by President Donald Trump's tariffs on all cars imported into the United States — and that the US and China are locked in a seemingly intractable trade war that threatens to escalate into a decoupling. But that's precisely why the rapid ascent of China's EV sector is so important to the country, as it squares off against the world's largest economy and leading innovator. Once seen as a producer of clumsy knock-offs, Chinese carmakers have catapulted to the forefront of the growing global EV industry — a major coup for a country aiming to transform into a fully-fledged tech powerhouse in multiple industries. Last year, China's privately-owned national champion BYD outsold US EV maker Tesla with its stable of hybrid and electric vehicles. BYD has also overtaken China market stalwart Volkswagen as the top seller of passenger cars domestically. (Tesla, which operates its Gigafactory in Shanghai, did not attend the auto show.) That's because Chinese consumers, who no longer see homegrown brands as second rate, started consistently buying more vehicles from Chinese carmakers than foreign-backed ones in 2023. And, as of last year, the country controls more than 60% of the rapidly growing global EV market, according to energy analytics firm Rho Motion. While Trump's trade war looms large over export strategies for global automakers, China's EV producers are relatively insulated, having already looked to other markets for growth after heavy duties and other curbs were imposed on their vehicles during the Biden administration. And as Trump pushes to bring back an automobile industry that once symbolized American prosperity, alienating US trade partners and shunning efforts to boost a homegrown EV sector along the way, China's EV advantage is a potential soft power boon, and a chance to reshape its place in global trade and technology. In China, though, the field is crowded and cutthroat, with competition sparking a fierce, yearslong price war. Domestic automakers are vying to one-up each other on tech and value for money — and fighting to capture market share around the world. In March, BYD released a battery that takes just five minutes to give its latest models a range of 250 miles. That was already considerably faster than charging Tesla's batteries and seen as a technological marvel. But just weeks later, on the eve of the auto show, BYD was upstaged by Chinese battery giant CATL, which says it can offer some 320 miles of range in the same time. On the smart driving side, meanwhile, tech firms like Huawei and Momenta are pushing forward their latest intelligent driving technology after BYD upped the ante earlier this year by pledging to roll out its 'God's Eye' driver-assistance system in most of its models, including those costing around $10,000, at no extra charge. 'The technology is very strong (in China), but the price is not luxurious,' Wang Qiguang, a recent graduate living in Shanghai, observed while checking out BYD's exhibit last week. 'Its formed a kind of technological equality that everyone can enjoy … this is the best part of it.' Analysts say homegrown intelligent driving technology would have enjoyed an even greater spotlight in Shanghai had the government not tightened rules around the marketing and testing of driver-assistance features following a fatal crash in March involving a Xiaomi sedan. For Chinese consumers, driving isn't just about function, it's also about fun. Carmakers are jostling to win customers by offering kitted-out entertainment systems with multiple screens that pair seamlessly with phones, vibrating massage seats that recline like La-Z-Boys and voice activated controls for everything – at bargain prices. 'We're in the back seat and there's heated seats, voice controls, moon roof all the way to the back, lots of leg room. And (we're looking at the price) and it's like, what is that in USD? And we find out that's like $28,000, but you can get the baseline at $20,000 – that's kind of a shock,' said one American businessman visiting the car show, who was not authorized to speak to media. He and his colleagues, who sell automotive parts, had come over after their boss said they needed to 'see what was happening in the China market.' The speed of China's advances has stunned even foreign carmakers with deep roots in the country, which shut its borders for years during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'We came back after the country reopened … (and we) immediately realized: Wow, China has changed so much,' Stephen Ma, who heads Japanese car giant Nissan's China business, told reporters at the auto show. 'I've worked in China for many years, and I knew things move faster here than in other countries, but I didn't expect it to be this fast – it really exceeded our expectations.' And while the fierce competition is driving rapid innovation, it also creates major challenges. Dozens of Chinese EV players are vying for market share in a sector that's grappling with overcapacity. Many firms have yet to make a profit, and they're up against a Goliath: BYD occupies some 30% of China's 'new energy vehicle' market of battery powered cars and hybrids. 'It's just really difficult to differentiate yourself in this market,' said Tu Le, founder and managing director of the US-based consultancy firm Sino Auto Insights. 'That's why it's so important for a lot of these companies to export, because the competition is so intense here that the only breathing room that they're likely to get … is if they go somewhere where there's not as many Chinese competitors.' Concerns about Chinese overcapacity and industrial policy prompted the US and Canada last year to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs, while the European Union launched an investigation into what it called unfair subsidies and raised its levies to as high as 45%. (Beijing has denied its success depends on subsidies and last month said it will negotiate with the EU on EV price commitments.) Those hurdles don't seem to be daunting Chinese carmakers, who exported 441,000 EVs, including hybrids, in the first quarter of this year, up more than 40% from the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. BYD owner Julaluck Chanasri, a YouTube influencer from Thailand, told CNN many people in her country 'have changed from Toyota, Honda to BYD's electric cars.' 'If China can keep the cheap price then (its brands) will continue to grow,' added her husband, Didsakorn, as they checked out one of BYD's Denza brand SUVs in Shanghai. Such is the momentum behind Chinese EVs that it's hard to remember when, just two decades ago, China had no car culture to speak of. In the late 1970s, when China began opening its economy, there were few private cars in the country, which was then known as a 'kingdom of bicycles.' It wasn't until the early 2000s, when rapid economic growth catapulted hundreds of millions into the middle class that ownership took off. That's when a slew of foreign automakers, some of which dipped their toes into the market decades earlier in anticipation of growth, piled in, setting up joint ventures with domestic companies to manufacture in China. The government required the German, US and Japanese car giants to transfer tech and know-how to their local partners. But even as China emerged as a major car manufacturer, its homegrown brands were still seen as second-rate. A dating show most infamously captured the zeitgeist when a contestant confidently declared that she'd 'rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle.' China's enthusiastic adoption of electric vehicles combined with hefty government support has flipped the script. By 2009, around the same time Tesla received a nearly half billion-dollar loan from the US government, Beijing ramped up a concerted strategy to develop so-called 'new energy vehicles.' That included showering the industry with support, such as awarding contracts for public taxi and bus fleets and building out charging infrastructure, as well as tax incentives and buyer rebates or subsidies. Estimates for those subsidies vary widely, with Chinese state media citing 10 years' worth of such measures at roughly $20 billion. Analysts have suggested Chinese government support for the sector could be between more than $50 billion in a decade to as much as $200 billion between 2009 and 2023. Meanwhile, Beijing has aggressively sought out the raw materials needed to produce EV batteries and now dominates those supply chains. But longtime observers say it wasn't industrial policy alone: Visionary entrepreneurs were pouring into the sector. Among them was Wang Chuanfu, an engineer with a Dickensian backstory who founded his battery company, BYD, in 1995 and moved into car production in 2003. The company got global notice in 2008 when it received a $230 million investment from Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. Fifteen years later, after BYD produced its 5 millionth car, Wang was overcome by emotion on stage where he declared that despite challenges and ridicule 'the era of Chinese cars has arrived.' And China's success, also partly spurred by Tesla's move to manufacture in Shanghai, has in turn shaped the global industry, experts say. 'For a very long time, Western automakers were looking at EVs as not a realistic option because the prices were outrageous,' according to John Helveston, an assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at George Washington University in the US. 'The exponential decline in cost (has) all been driven by the Chinese industrial ecosystem … a lot of it is primarily due to scaling up the production of every aspect of that supply chain.' Today, roughly half of new cars sold in China are battery EVs or hybrids. By comparison, sales of such vehicles made up just over 20% of total vehicles sales in the US in the third quarter of last year, according to the most recent data cited by the US Energy Information Administration. The success of the industry has been hailed by Chinese state media and propagandists as an example of the country's contributions to the global energy transition and its 'technological prowess.' There's a lot to play up. This spring, American Youtuber iShowSpeed, who has nearly 40 million subscribers, went viral on Chinese social media for featuring BYD's luxury Yangwang brand, showing off how its U9 sportscar can 'dance' and yelling 'these China cars got it' as he drove the water-equipped U8 SUV through a river. Now, it's the foreign brands losing revenue and market share that are looking to partner with Chinese companies to make use of homegrown innovation and win back customers. In Shanghai, Volkswagen has played up its 'in China, for China' approach. 'This means more local development, new tech partnerships and greater speed of implementation,' Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said in a statement last month. 'At the same time, we are accelerating our electric offensive with additional products for new segments.' Recent years have seen a flurry of new EV partnerships between foreign and Chinese companies, like VW's 2023 $700 million investment in XPeng; European auto giant Stellantis launched a venture to sell Leapmotor's budget EVs outside China; Toyota linked up with Chinese intelligent driving firm Momenta and in 2019 announced a partnership with BYD; GM brand Buick is working with Momenta, as well as CATL on batteries. That's all part of what industry expert Lei Xing called a 'counterattack' from the foreign firms still competing in China. 'They have the products, they have the Chinese tech inside (those products) that they are able to show and say: 'We've learned … and now we are showing what we think is needed in order to be relevant in the Chinese market,'' he said, adding that 'the jury is still out' on how successful such efforts will be. The fight to stay relevant is playing out during a deeply uncertain moment in the global auto industry, following Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs on cars and, as of this weekend, 25% levies on auto parts imported into the US — not to mention his general ratcheting up of trade conflict with China. (On Tuesday, Trump tapped the brakes on automakers with some limited measures of relief.) Tariffs from both the US and China on each others' goods now stand at well over 100%, with some limited exceptions, sending US automakers and their suppliers scrambling to shift parts of supply chains away from China. In the other direction, US auto giant Ford stopped shipping vehicles to China last month, with its China CFO Ryan Anderson telling CNN in Shanghai that it 'brought as many' as possible of their select imported models into China ahead of the tariffs, but 'the supply that we've got in the country now is basically all we'll have until the tariffs relax.' For many Chinese EV makers, their strategy is still focused on markets outside the US, while preparing for the potential impact of further trade escalation, including if Washington further tightens export controls on semiconductor technology. James Peng, the cofounder and CEO of a Chinese autonomous driving firm with roots in Silicon Valley, told CNN he thought it was unlikely the chips from US firm Nvidia that it relies on would come under export controls, but the company was sourcing backups and alternatives, because 'we don't know what's coming (down) the pipe.' And while the company, which is pioneering robotaxi services in major Chinese cities, carries out some research and development in the US, doing that at a larger scale or commercializing it there is 'going to be tough.' 'We'll see if there's a way when the situation permits,' Peng said. For some observers of the rapacious innovation on show in Shanghai, like Helveston in Washington, the US-China showdown and American policy direction sets up the potential for a split future. On one side, China's carmakers become increasingly dominant in a world transitioning to electric vehicles, and one the other, he said, the US cuts its support for EVs and remains 'an island of tailpipes.' CNN's Marc Stewart, Martha Zhou, Hazel Pfeifer, Hassan Tayir, Fred He and John Liu contributed to this report.
Telegraph
17-04-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
BYD Sealion 7 review: quiet, fast and comfortable, but Tesla shouldn't be too concerned yet
BYD Auto, the 22-year-old Chinese carmaker, is nothing if not remorseless. It built its first passenger car in 2005 and, in 2023, overtook Tesla as the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) maker and Volkswagen as China's best-selling car brand. Last year, it sold more than 4.7 million new vehicles. Look under the bonnet of a BYD and you'll not see a litany of tier-one suppliers' labels; this company makes virtually every part of its cars, including computer chips and its patented blade-structure lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries. As I commented on my first acquaintance with the brand: 'BYD seems terrifyingly plausible.' These days, the company enjoys the talents of former Audi designer Wolfgang Egger and has a high-end luxury brand, Yangwang, and a new-energy brand, Denza. Wang Chuanfu, BYD chairman and founder, recently announced that during testing the company's forthcoming Han L saloon has proved capable of recharging at a rate of 292 miles of range in only five minutes. In the UK, BYD has gone from nowhere to having 65 UK dealers (or at least sales points) in a couple of years. Last year, it sold 8,788 vehicles in the UK, an increase of 658 per cent on the 1,158 it sold in 2023. BYD is clearly going places and is fond of telling everyone so, but despite the spin, the earliest cars lacked credibility and the quality feel of the best in the market. Will the Sealion 7 change all that? Under the skin It's a D-segment large family SUV (4,830mm long and 2,189mm wide with mirrors extended), based on the Seal saloon, which goes on sale in April pitched against, among others, the Tesla Model Y which, despite a little local difficulty for Elon Musk, is one of the world's best-selling cars. Yet the Sealion 7's launch has been something of a fiasco. This is the third attempt since last autumn after cancellations and shortages of test cars. The pinniped-inspired name, incidentally, will now be attached to all BYD SUVs, with a number denoting its size; saloons will be called Seal and hatchbacks Dolphin. So now you know. Fearing the worst, I turned up the day before the official launch to get the time to closely study and drive this new car closely without the razzle dazzle. And there's no question, it's a looker in this class and much more pleasing than the fussy style of other BYD models. It's sleeker, lower and more shapely than the ungainly Model Y, and there's a premium feel and heft to the appearance, although the motorised door handles feel cheap and flimsy. The powered boot lid reveals 520 litres of shallow space augmented by a 58-litre front space and a cubby hole under the floor for the charging cables. Fold the rear seat backs, and there's a maximum of 1,789 litres and the load floor is almost flat so that long loads can be slid in. The Excellence trim provides real leather seats, lots of soft-touch plastics and a pleasingly non-wacky design compared with other BYD models. It's comfortable and ostensibly simple, although that proves rather less so in use. There's an enormous central touchscreen, which can be rotated through a quarter turn into a portrait – or landscape-format display – spoiler alert, it's a pointless feature. At the bottom of the screen is a row of permanent tiles for regularly used functions; however, switching off the super-irritating, strident and potentially dangerous driver aids is not the work of the moment; this car desperately needs a single button for this function and BYD needs to get a grip on its safety department. There's also a feel of work-in-progress to the interior. The high floor means that while rear-seat passengers have lots of space, their knees are almost higher than their hips, the centre console feels flimsy, and all the storage spaces appear to have been attacked by a maniac with a flock sprayer rather than having proper linings. The range Offered with four and two-wheel drive with two battery sizes; 82.5kWh and 91.3kWh gross/net. Range for the rear-drive models is 300 miles, with 283 miles for the twin-motor 4x4 models. The top model AWD Excellence, with the largest battery tested here, has a range of 312 miles; a heat pump is standard. Recharging is via a standard on-board 11kW AC unit or, on a DC fast charger, up to 230kW for the top model, which means (assuming you can get that level of charge) a 10-80 per cent charge in 24 minutes. Prices start at £46,990 for the base rear-drive Sealion 7, rising to £58,990 for the Excellence big-battery 4x4. The twin motor set-up is a popular configuration, with a 214bhp induction motor at the front, which is a cost-effective, robust and high torque-dense motor with no rare earth magnets. At the rear is a 308bhp permanent magnet motor with high efficiency and power density. To give flexibility across the motor speed range and avoid the need for a heavy and expensive two-speed gearbox, they have been designed to spin to a peak of 23,000 rpm. Peak power is 530bhp, the most powerful BYD yet made, with 509lb ft of torque giving a 133mph top speed and 0-62mph in 4.5sec. Efficiency is quoted at 2.84 miles per kWh, which is far from a class high, although the LFP batteries are robust and will accept repeated fast charging. They also leave a smaller environmental footprint and are much cheaper than the lithium-ion nickel manganese and cobalt alternative. Suspension is all independent via upper and lower wishbones at the front with a multi-link system at the rear, with frequency-selective (two-speed valve) dampers all round. The Excellence weighs 2,435kg and will tow up to 1.5 tonnes. On the road Enough of the figures; what's it like to drive? In a word, fast. The motor power is instant and strong, borderline disconcerting. Acceleration is seamless up to highly illegal speeds, and frankly, it's probably a bit too fast for the chassis. Much is made of the Sealion 7's 0-62mph acceleration in 4.5sec; there's a badge proclaiming it on the boot lid, along with an acceleration timer in the facia. Using all a road tester's brutality, I achieved 4.3sec, though frankly, I doubt many owners will try to match either figure. And remember that sort of thing is done in a straight line. Even then, on anything outside of a slate-bottomed billiard-table surface, this softly sprung car is pitching and wallowing, with the steering displaying a disarming amount of lost movement and vagueness, together with strong self-centring. I didn't feel at all confident turning the Sealion 7 into a corner at speed, especially with the intrusive lane-centring system trying to drive the car into the verge. Despite the soft suspension, there's a lot of roll resistance built into the chassis, so this high-mounted vehicle pitches from side to side, tossing passengers' heads around. On any road other than a ruler-straight motorway, the Sealion 7 feels uncertain and wavering, with a mismatch in suspension behaviour, which means the back wheels feel as though they're encountering an entirely different road surface from those at the front. On the plus side, it's comfortable and cossetting on smooth A-roads and motorways, while the body insulation makes the interior feel quiet and calm. Another plus are the brakes which, despite a lack of pedal feel, are strong and progressive. The Telegraph verdict According to the dashboard readout, I achieved an efficiency of 2.84 miles per kWh against an official WLTP claim of 2.84 m/kWh. Pure coincidence? Maybe. But it's still not a particularly efficient electric car nor, towards the top end of the brochure, is it particularly good value. All these large battery SUVs are expensive, but Tesla's new Model Y (I'll be testing that soon) will be cheaper, as are the Ford Capri, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. As it stands the Sealion 7 is quiet and fast with a comfortable interior. It doesn't sparkle, however, has a relatively poor range and it exudes an impression that there's rather too much 'that'll do' in its driving dynamics. The facts On test: BYD Sealion 7 Excellence 4x4 Body style: large five-seat EV SUV How much: from £46,990 (£58,990 as tested) How fast: 133mph, 0-62mph 4.5sec How efficient: 2.84 miles per kWh (WLTP Combined), 2.84 m/kWh on test. Range: 312 miles (WLTP Combined), 312 miles on test Drivetrain: 91.3kWh LFP battery in blade formation, powering a front 214bhp induction motor and a rear 308bhp permanent magnet motor, both with single-speed transmissions. Heat pump as standard. Four-wheel drive Charging: on-board 11kW AC unit, up to 230kW DC fast charging, with 10-80 per cent in 24 minutes Maximum power/torque: 530bhp/509lb ft CO2 emissions: zero at tailpipe, but 37.7g/km including UK charging VED: £10 first year, £605 next five years, then £195 Warranty: 6 years/93,750 miles on car, 8 years/125,000 miles on battery The rivals Tesla Model Y, from £46,990 One of the world's most popular cars, but starting to show its age; a major revamp is due in June, when starter prices drop to £44,990 with a more comprehensive equipment list. No one said Tesla prices or residual values were forever… This high-riding version of the Model 3 has a lumpy ride and some build quality issues, but it's fast, with a range of 319-373 miles. The popularity of Tesla (along with its share price) has plummeted, so caveat emptor. Kia EV6, from £45,575 The 2022 European Car of the Year, the EV6 crossover, has four-door coupé styling and a range of power choices. The starter model is the 84kWh rear-drive 225bhp Air with a range of 361 miles; the 84kWh 320bhp four-wheel-drive GT-Line with a range of 324 miles costs £58,125. Good to drive, with a decent ride quality and a pleasantly intuitive dashboard layout.
