EV

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD is gearing up to bring the fight to Japanese car brands on their home turf.A heavily camouflaged prototype has been spied on Japanese roads, as reported by CarNewsChina, with distinct kei car looks.It has a boxy silhouette with a dual A-pillar layout and sliding rear doors. Everything else is covered by heavy camouflage.Kei cars are a uniquely Japanese segment of vehicles that are ultra-compact. By law, they must not exceed 3400mm in length, 1480mm in width, and 2000mm in height and the engine output is capped at 47kW of power, which would, put it beneath the micro BYD Seagull and BYD Dolphin hatchbacks.This type of vehicle receives tax and parking benefits in Japan, and despite the incentives being cut in 2014, kei cars still account for around 35 per cent of the country’s car market.BYD only produces electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and it is believed this spied prototype will be the former.It will reportedly be built on an all-new platform with Japan in mind, and come with a 20kWh battery pack that will deliver a projected 180km of WLTC range.The car will reportedly offer 100kW fast charging capabilities and feature a heat pump.This means this BYD kei car will likely go head to head with the likes of the Mitsubishi eK X EV and Nissan Sakura, which are two of Japan’s best-selling electric kei cars.It will also be the first ground-up electric kei car developed by a non-Japanese car maker.While there’s the Smart ForTwo and Hyundai Inster, neither of these cars were designed solely with Japan’s kei car standards in mind.According to CarNewsChina, BYD plans to produce this model in China for export to Japan in late 2026.It also reportedly aims for a 40 per cent share of the electric kei car market within a few years.At this stage it’s unclear if BYD plans to sell this model in other markets other than Japan.There have been pushes to introduce kei cars to Australia in the past, including Mitsubishi with its eK X, though unique Australian Design Rules (ADRs) have deemed it uneconomic.BYD already has a presence in the Japanese market and sells the Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal and Sealion 7 EVs.According to Car News China, BYD sold 2223 EVs in Japan during 2024, which was up 54 per cent.This is notably more EVs than Toyota sold in Japan over the same period. The Japanese carmaker giant sold 2038 EVs, though it’s worth noting it only currently offers one EV, the bZ4X.

Volkswagen is reportedly working on rolling out lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry to its electric vehicles (EVs) from 2026 onwards.As reported by Autocar, the first Volkswagen to pick up LFP batteries is the forthcoming Polo-sized ID.2 electric hatchback that’s due to launch in 2026.After this, LFP batteries will reportedly be rolled out to all of Volkswagen’s existing range of ID. EVs as part of a move that will see the vehicles based on an updated platform called MEB Plus.“The upgrade to MEB Plus comes next year, and we will roll out the cell-to-pack battery systems with LFP,” said Volkswagen CEO Thomas Shäfer to Autocar.“That will be a major step forward in terms of cost for us. It's very important, and also in performance."We're very happy with that. It's all in plan. We will come in with MEB Plus across the models, including ID.3, ID.4, ID.7. They will have LFP."You can see this move towards LFP across the board, really, except for performance applications on the upper end. In the volume game, LFP is the technology."It will start with ID. 2 and then roll out through the models."LFP battery chemistry is known to be cheaper to develop and has better thermal stability when compared to nickel metal cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion battery chemistry.LFP batteries have been popularised by Tesla with its Chinese-made Model 3 electric sedan and Model Y electric SUV, though Chinese companies like BYD and CATL have been working and refining this technology for years.Volkswagen LFP batteries will reportedly be made at a new battery factory in Salzgitter, Germany, which will also build NMC battery packs on a smaller scale until they’re phased out.At this stage Volkswagen is yet to confirm any specifications for the new LFP batteries, though Autocar suggests it could increase range while lowering the vehicle price point.Coinciding with this introduction of LFP battery chemistry to the wider Volkswagen ID. range, it’s reported there will be a design refresh too.Volkswagen research and development (R&D) boss, Kai Grunitz, told Autocar last year this ID. design refresh will bring “huge improvements” that show Volkswagen is “going back to where we came from”.“Design is your first touchpoint. That's what excites people," said Mr Grunitz."You have to have an iconic design that people connect with, and it doesn't matter what kind of drivetrain is underneath. This fascination with 'is it electric or petrol?' doesn't matter if you have an iconic car. You can see it in many examples."Despite Volkswagen ID. range of EVs dating back to 2020, Australia only started receiving the first model, the ID. Buzz, after many setbacks and delays in late 2024. The ID.4 and ID.5 electric SUVs followed earlier this year.At this stage it’s unclear if Volkswagen Australia intends to introduce any further ID. models.

This compact but mighty new electric car is headed to Australia and some big name players will be looking over their shoulders.

Toyota could be about to buy Chinese electric vehicle maker Neta to instantly open a door into the electric vehicle market and into China, the only problem is nobody's told Toyota it seems.Electric cars might be increasingly popular throughout the world and Chinese brands seem to be coming out with new models every day but the world's biggest carmaker Toyota is slow to the EV party. Currently Toyota only has one fully electric vehicle on sale in Australia — the bZ4X — while its electric range throughout the world is very limited as well.It makes sense then for a car maker that's perhaps a little bit behind in electric vehicle development to buy its way in with the purchase of a ready-made electric vehicle company.  In this case the rumour is that Toyota is in discussions with flailing Chinese carmaker Neta to buy it and acquire the technology and know-how to produce electric vehicles and also get a foothold into the lucrative Chinese market.Neta is the sub-brand of Chinese car maker Hozon. The company's first production car the Neta N01 was a small SUV, which launched in 2018, and at the same time was used to debut the Neta brand. What followed next was a meteorite increase in production with Neta selling 64,500 vehicles in 2024. The company has found itself in financial difficulties and has sought financial assistance but after finding an invester the bail-out out deal was called off.According to Chinese website IT Home, Toyota has now become interested in acquiring Neta with the price thought to be around A$1.3 billion. Toyota has come out  and denied any knowledge of the deal with Neta. “I haven't heard of this!” said the Director of the Brand Communication Department of Toyota Motor Investment China, Xu Yiming, on Chinese social media.Currently Neta has five models in its vehicle line-up including the sporty GT coupe, the S saloon and three SUVS - the L, X and Aya.Toyota might not actually go ahead with a deal with Neta, but it’s well known that it has engaged with Chinese companies frequently in the past. Most recently Toyota entered into a joint venture with GAC and the result was the bZ7 four door EV sedan.Toyota also continues to invest in China. In April Toyota's luxury sub-brand Lexus signed a deal with the Chinese government to build a holy owned factory in Shanghai. The only other large car maker to set up a manufacturing plant that doesn’t fall under a joint venture agreement is Tesla. 

Americans, it would seem, do want an electric pick-up truck, they just don't want the stainless steel-shelled Tesla Cybertruck.

Australia get ready for another ute from another brand because Chinese carmaker GAC has confirmed it will bring the production version of its GAC Pickup 01 concept Down Under.

In Australia, the Toyota Camry Hybrid is generally considered the taxi and ride-share car of choice. In China, BYD wants it to be the electric e7.

While its share price is off the mat courtesy of easing trade tensions between the US and China, demand for Tesla cars is still flat with the brand taking a backwards step in global sales in 2024 and an even bigger year-on-year drop in the first quarter of this year.

Skoda has unveiled the new Enyaq RS overseas ahead of its expected Australian launch in the first quarter of 2026.

Chinese electric car maker BYD is following a secret five-year massive growth plan, which will see it sell half its vehicles overseas by 2030. This will make it a vehicle manufacturer on the same scale as Toyota and Volkswagen, according to a new report.The report by news outlet Reuters cites four people “familiar with the matter” who said BYD’s executives have committed to an ambitious strategy, which will see the electric vehicle brand undergo such an enormous output and sales increase that the company will rival even the world’s largest car manufacturers.BYD has just become the largest selling brand in its home country of China, overtaking Volkswagen last year with 4.27 million units sold.Last year BYD sold 417,204 vehicles overseas and this year the company plans to double that number to 800,000.  The Reuters report revealed BYD met privately with the company's investors to notify them of the growth plan, but it is not known if an actual 2030 predicted sales figure was disclosed.According to the insiders the way that the company wants to be able to achieve their grand plan is by localising production throughout the world. The plan outlines the need to have factories operating in Hungary, Uzbekistan, Brazil and Thailand in order to be able achieve its goal.BYD’s global growth plan will not include the United States, where recent high tariffs against Chinese carmakers have prevented the brand selling its cars there and made the company focus on Europe as the key to its success. Australia, too, will be part of BYD’s plan. Currently Australia doesn’t impose tariffs on Chinese carmakers and this combined with our fairly new and strong interest in electric cars has seen a multitude of Chinese brands arrive here offering what the established mainstream brands could not — very affordable electric cars.  This includes brands such as Geely, Zeekr, MG and Deepal.In April this year alone BYD sold 3207 in Australia, outstripping even Volkswagen with 2076 sales by an enormous margin. And all of BYD’s cars are electric or hybrids.BYD, which started as a battery maker before turning its hand to producing vehicles, arrived in Australia in 2022 with its first EV, the Atto 3 small SUV. The brand soon brought more vehicles to Australia including the Dolphin, Seal, Sealion 6 and Sealion 7 and the Shark 6.