ev.news China: BYD Da Han Falls Short Real World, BMW Kicks Off China Cell Production and IM LS9 Spotted Testing | 19 Oct 2026

Get the full show ad-free plus all of my written show notes and research direct to your inbox if you'd rather read the news, from $10 a month on Patreon.

Whether you’ve been here since the early days or found the podcast last week, I’m grateful that you make time for it. There’s an enormous amount you could be listening to, and you’ve chosen to spend some of that time here. And if you listen to this feed with the adverts, you’re already helping pay the bills. Advertising helps fund the time it takes to research, write, record and edit these programmes. It’s an important part of what makes the show possible. I wanted to say that before talking about Patreon, because listening to this version of the podcast is a valuable way to support the work. Thank you. I’ve been making this podcast since 2018, and the job has grown along with the industry. There are more manufacturers to follow, more battery claims to examine, more charging announcements and more policy changes that affect what people can buy. The reason for doing it is still straightforward: you should be able to understand what’s happening without spending your day following every source yourself. That means doing the reading, checking what a company has actually said and working out which details deserve your attention. Sometimes the most useful part of a story is the condition attached to the headline. I’m updating Patreon to make the ways of supporting that work clearer, and to explain what you get in return. The place to start is free. You can join ev.news on Patreon without paying anything. Follow the page, read the public posts and take part in Question Of The Week polls when I publish them. The public podcasts remain available with advertising, just as they are now. If you tend to listen while you’re driving or walking, having somewhere to return to afterwards can be useful. You might hear a story and want to look at the discussion later, or have a view on the question we’re asking that week. Joining for free gives you another way to stay connected with ev.news. You can have a look around and decide whether any of the paid options would be useful to you. The new paid memberships start with Supporter, at five US dollars a month. That’s for people who mainly want to help fund the work. If you get something useful from the podcast and would like to contribute directly, this is the straightforward way to do it. Your support goes towards the research and production behind the programmes, including keeping the public shows available for everyone. Ad-free listening starts at the next level. That’s Producer, at ten US dollars a month. It’s the membership I recommend if you want the full listening and reading package. The idea is: listen ad-free, understand more. You get the podcasts without the adverts, through a personal podcast feed that you can add to a compatible podcast app. Once it’s set up, you can carry on listening as part of your normal routine. You also get the full show notes and analysis. That’s useful when something deserves more attention than you can give it while listening. Perhaps you want to find the original source, check a detail or return to an explanation before talking about it with someone else. The written material gives you somewhere to do that. Producer also includes Kilowatt Confidential, the bonus content that gives me room to go further into a story, and the member archive, so you can explore previous episodes and analysis. Then there are the discussions beneath the member posts. That’s somewhere we can talk about what we’ve covered. You can raise a question, share your experience or point out something that deserves another look. I want that conversation to be a useful part of being there. And when I offer early access to selected videos, Producer members get that too. All of that comes at ten dollars a month. There are two higher levels for people who’d like to make a larger contribution: Executive Producer at twenty US dollars a month, and Patron at fifty. Both include the complete Producer package. Executive Producers can choose to have their name included in the supporters post, with Patro

FIAT PREPARES SMALL EV ALONGSIDE PANDA Fiat is developing an affordable small electric car, potentially named Koala, using a platform co-developed with Leapmotor and shared with Citroën's new 2CV project, with Italian production planned from 2028. Citroën is targeting a €15,000 price, although Fiat hasn't confirmed pricing, and both cars could benefit from proposed EU rules giving qualifying small EVs extra credit towards manufacturers' fleet-emissions targets. BP PULSE OPENS 24-BAY MELBOURNE AIRPORT CHARGING HUB bp pulse has opened its first large Australian charging hub at Melbourne Airport, offering 24 publicly accessible bays with 150 kW and 300 kW chargers, operating around the clock and powered by the airport's solar farms. The facility supports Chargefox payments and discounted charging for eligible Uber drivers, although rideshare drivers cannot use it as an airport waiting area unless actively charging. GM POSTS RECORD $50BN QUARTER, WARNS ON EV COSTS General Motors reported record quarterly revenue of $50 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.1 billion, driven by profitable pickup trucks, despite Chevrolet Equinox EV deliveries falling 92.4% against an unusually strong year-earlier quarter. Following more than $11 billion in EV-related charges, GM expects to reduce annual EV operating losses by $1 billion to $1.5 billion this year, with further improvements anticipated from 2027 and more efficient platforms arriving later. ENGLAND REMOVES PLANNING STEP FOR PAVEMENT EV CHARGING Drivers in England can now install qualifying pavement charging gullies without planning permission, potentially saving £300 in installation costs and enabling households without driveways to access cheaper domestic electricity instead of public charging. Highway authority approval remains mandatory, conservation areas retain planning requirements, and eligible households can separately claim grants of up to £500 towards permanent cross-pavement charging installations until March 2027. LI AUTO PLANS UK LAUNCH IN AUTUMN 2027 Chinese manufacturer Li Auto plans to enter Britain in autumn 2027 with an as-yet-unnamed model, following its European debut in Norway and the Netherlands earlier that year with the Li 6 electric SUV. The Li 6 offers a 96 kWh battery, 800-volt architecture and up to 640 km WLTP range, while Li Auto is establishing European software, servicing and parts infrastructure ahead of introducing at least one additional model annually through 2029. UK PRIVATE EV FLEET GROWS BY ALMOST 100,000 The number of privately registered electric cars in Britain increased by almost 100,000 during the second quarter of 2026, supported by a used-EV market recording 110,761 transactions, up 67% year on year. Comparable used EVs now cost just 1% more than petrol equivalents, against a 25% premium for new cars, while home charging can save drivers approximately £1,000 annually on 10,000 miles, although ultra-rapid public charging remains more expensive than petrol. BMW iX5 REACHES 464 kW IN CHARGING DEMONSTRATION BMW demonstrated a reported 464 kW charging peak for its forthcoming iX5 60 xDrive using equipment not yet commercially available in America, with its 144 kWh usable battery capable of charging from 10% to 80% in a claimed 22 minutes. The new 800-volt SUV features higher-density cylindrical battery cells, an estimated EPA range of up to 435 miles and a starting US price of $79,800 when deliveries begin in early 2027. ARENA COMMITS A$4M TO FLEET GRID TRIAL Australia's renewable energy agency ARENA is providing A$4 million towards JET Charge's three-year REVS2 project, which will equip up to 130 Australian Capital Territory government fleet vehicles with bidirectional charging to test exporting electricity back to the grid. Running until 2029, the trial will investigate whether appropriately designed electricity payments and reliable integration between vehicles, chargers and grid systems can make fleet-based energy services commercially viable

GEELY XINGYUAN PRODUCTION HITS 1 MILLION Geely has produced its millionth Xingyuan just over two years after launch, although Chinese retail sales fell 9.6% to 310,391 in the first nine months of 2026. The affordable electric hatchback, priced from 61,800 yuan ($9,300) with up to 480 kilometres of CLTC range, is now sold in more than 30 countries as the E2 or EX2, with Brazilian production scheduled to begin in December. FIREFLY PLANS 60 KWH BATTERY WITH OWNER UPGRADES Nio's Firefly brand plans to introduce a 60 kWh CATL battery on 23 October, increasing CLTC range from 420 to 560 kilometres while allowing existing owners to upgrade through compatible fifth-generation Nio battery-swapping stations. The upgrade could benefit owners of the 90,000 Firefly vehicles already delivered, although battery pricing, rental terms and the limited availability of compatible swapping stations will determine its appeal. BYD BRINGS FLASH CHARGING TO THE SEAGULL BYD has launched its second-generation Seagull electric hatchback from 65,900 yuan ($9,900), with Flash Charging versions starting at 75,900 yuan ($11,400) capable of charging from 10% to 70% in five minutes at dedicated stations. The redesigned car introduces rear-wheel drive, independent rear suspension, five seats and up to 420 kilometres of CLTC range, as BYD attempts to reverse a 33% sales decline in the first nine months of 2026. NIO GROUP CLAIMS QUARTERLY LEAD OVER GERMAN RIVALS Nio claims its three brands collectively outsold BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi individually in China during the third quarter, citing 111,638 insurance registrations across Nio, Onvo and Firefly compared with 107,210 for BMW and Mini. BMW separately reported 114,355 deliveries using a different measurement, but Nio's expanding portfolio illustrates the growing competitive pressure on German premium manufacturers as China's luxury-car retail market contracted 29% in September. XIAOMI REGISTERS SU9 LUX NAME Xiaomi has registered the SU9 LUX trademark, fuelling speculation about a larger luxury saloon with additional rear-passenger space, potentially related to camouflaged vehicles previously identified as the SU7L. However, Xiaomi also registered SU7 LUX and has not confirmed either production name or its connection to the test vehicles, leaving the proposed model's identity and specifications uncertain. FANGCHENGBAO SALES PASS 600,000 BYD's Fangchengbao brand has surpassed 600,000 cumulative vehicle sales, with September deliveries reaching 43,181, up 79% year-on-year, largely driven by the Titanium 7 family SUV. The brand is expanding beyond its off-road origins with the Formula S electric saloon and Formula S GT estate, priced from 189,900 and 219,900 yuan respectively, although their combined first-month deliveries of 663 show the challenge of entering the premium passenger-car market. BYD AND LI AUTO EXPAND GULF SALES BYD is expanding its Saudi Arabian dealership network towards 10 locations, while Li Auto has introduced its L9 in the UAE with adaptations for extreme heat, local charging systems and Arabic-language functionality. Limited charging infrastructure remains a constraint, with Saudi operator EVIQ reporting 134 chargers across 56 locations against its ambition of more than 5,000 by 2030, favouring plug-in hybrids and range-extenders during the market's development. CHERY TAKES EXLANTIX TO AUSTRALIA IN 2027 Chery plans to introduce its premium Exlantix brand in Australia around mid-2027 with the ES GT electric shooting brake and ET large SUV, both already demonstrated in right-hand-drive form. The ES GT is expected to feature an 800-volt architecture, while the ET is available overseas in electric and range-extended forms, with expansion into New Zealand and the UK also planned as Chery targets higher-priced international markets. CHINESE EV FIRMS EXPAND EUROPEAN PRODUCTION Chinese EV and battery manufacturers reportedly have 26 factories operating or under construction across Europe, including

ev.news Briefly is ad-free and available in full on the Patreon free tier. It costs nothing to sign up via Patreon, and you get the days audio headlines ad-free, plus a summary of today's headlines direct to your inbox if you want it. it's free and you can cancel any time. Click here: https://www.patreon.com/evnews