China EVs & More

In Part #1 of this MAX episode, Tu & Lei welcome Steve Levine, global citizen, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, and editor at The Electric - a premium newsletter that specializes in the EV & battery spaces.  Steve talks about the journalism journey that brought him to cover EVs & batteries, the challenges he sees ahead including consolidation in the automotive space, and how...

Tu and Lei start the pod out with an update on which manufacturers have been affected by the lockdowns and Covid outbreaks throughout China - Which are running and which aren’t, areas to keep an eye on, and what to expect in the next few weeks.  Tu explains what happens normally if there are supply issues at a factory, all of the parties involved, how accurate data needs to be, and how everyone ha...

Tu & Lei go over March sales and BYD’s continued strength despite all the prevailing headwinds and challenges that the other EV makers seem to be running into.  Tu explains that the China EV space is being told in chapters starting with Tesla is coming to the current chapter of BYD begins to dominate. Lei continues on with a brief history of BYD and the important milestones in its brief but ev...

Tu and Lei start this podcast by highlighting a WeChat moment post by He Xiaopeng, founder of XPeng warning that if issues can’t be contained and resolved production for the entire month of May could be lost.  They then move on to review the March & Q1 sales and registration numbers.   Tu takes a few minutes to explain his prior experience working on the supply chain side back in the US and de...

Tu and Lei start this show out by paying homage and giving a big shout-out to their friends that live in Shanghai that are currently on lockdown.  After the headlines, Lei gives everyone a lesson on the EV100 Conference that is normally held each January but was delayed and finally put online last week. One highlight of the EV100 was the announcement from Horizon Robotics about licensing their IP...

The episode starts with a discussion about Li Auto loaning a Li One out to Tu for a week in order to get his feedback on the SUV. The conversation moves on to NIO being one of the last EV makers to raise prices and Tu points out why NIO may have a bit more flexibility than their competitors that are building their own vehicles.  Still talking about NIO Tu & Lei go over NIO’s earnings and evolv...

Lei begins this podcast with announcements from the OEMs of record profits in these tough times and the cognitive dissonance of profiting the most during the most challenging times. Tu updates on the current situation on the ground in China with regard to the Covid situation and where the lockdowns are currently taking place and what he thinks will happen with the Beijing auto show that’s schedule...

In this latest MAX episode, Tu & Lei invite Elliot Richards, the East Asia Correspondent from Fully Charged, a YouTube channel dedicated to promoting all things clean energy. Elliot has spent the last two years test driving and reviewing many of the electric vehicles from the Chinese EV brands that Tu and Lei talk about each week on China EVs & More.  In this fun and relaxed episode Tu, Le...

The podcast starts with Lei giving us an overview of the annual, and critically important 两会 or Two Sessions conference that sets the agenda for the year’s governmental priorities. NEVs have been a major priority of the Two Sessions for the last several years for instance and it was no different for this session. Tu then talks about how the number of new brands being established in China has rea...

Lei heads to California for a family vacation so Tu takes over for this week’s headlines. Tu and Lei kick off this week’s pod by talking Faraday Future’s pre-production vehicle that was unveiled earlier in the week. Lei moves the conversation over to the news that NIO is getting into mobile phones and how this is a trend that other automakers and technology companies will follow. Tu broadens the d...

Tu starts out the pod talking about Rivian’s marketing and pricing missteps with Lei reminding everyone that the EV startups will run into these types of challenges as they gain footing into the market.  Tu then shares his thoughts on Ford’s announcement this week about splitting the company into Ford Blue, the division focusing on ICE development & Ford Model e, the division that will build o...

In this MAX episode, Lei gets the chance to ask Dr. Wöllenstein for his take on the challenging 2021 VW Group had in China and what his outlook for the company is for 2022 and beyond. In particular, Dr. Wöllenstein gives us his take on how the ID. Series will perform here in China in 2022 and beyond, what he thinks of his Chinese competitors, and his outlook on expanding VW Group R&D in China....

China EVs & More turns 1 year old! Tu starts the podcast out by summarizing the first week of the MOBILIT/E Conference and Tu & Lei discuss some of the highlights of the week. Lei details his interview with outgoing Porsche China CEO Jens Puttfarcken and Porsche's amazing streak of 20 years of growing sales in China.  Tu and Lei move on to how large and complex a company BYD is and ho...

Tu & Lei start out this week's pod going over January sales numbers which have been slow to trickle in. They move on to a discussion about BYD & Tesla and how they could get to their 2022 sales targets. With the Beijing winter Olympics going on, the news cycle in China for the EV/AV space is a bit slow but Tu & Lei believe this to also be the calm before the Beijing Auto Show stor...

Tu and Lei speak with Dr. Maxwell Zhou, CEO of DeepRoute.ai, a 3-year-old 2nd wave autonomous vehicle (AV) startup. They ask Maxwell the recent $10K AV system that DeepRoute launched using solid-state LiDAR, when robotaxis will be ubiquitous, and why Tesla doesn't use LiDAR? A very candid, entertaining, and informative guest, Maxwell answers those questions and much, much more.

Tu & Lei kick off the pod with a brief overview of their chat with Aiways EVP - Alex Klose, Head of Overseas Operations, for Episode #2 of China EVs & More MAX. Lei and Tu unpack the >$1B Great Wall Motors investment in Brazil to build hybrids and BEVs. Tu transitions this into a broader conversation about the three independent Chinese companies and how they seem to be even more ambitio...

Tu and Lei discuss the significance of CATL's launch of it EVOGO battery swap solution, the first major blockbuster news in China's EV, AV and mobility space in the new year. In particular, what it means to NIO and other OEMs as well as  the challenges that CATL could confront as it expands from a B2B battery supplier to a B2C battery swap solutions provider. They then talk about Jidu&ap...

Tu and Lei speak with Dr. Alex Klose who led Aiways into 10 European markets over the last couple of years  ...during a pandemic!  They ask Alex about the success factors for selling into the EU, who are Aiways customers, what their retail and charging strategy is, and much, much more.  For those who want to understand what it takes to sell a Chinese EV in Europe, Tu and Lei talk to the guy that&a...

Lei starts off with a hammer, throwing all of the mindblowing numbers from China EV market from 2021. Tu & Lei marvel at how it really was an amazing year for EV adoption and growth.  After the long discussion and unpacking of the statistics, Tu and Lei talk briefly discuss the history and catalysts that helped get the sector to where it is now. Inflection points like Tesla entering the market...

In 2022's first episode of the year, Tu & Lei start out the pod with their thoughts on the mobility announcements that came out of CES. Tu believes that the rest of the world has finally woken up to China EV Inc. Lei takes a few moments to opine on how the autonomous vehicle sector has really been pulled back into the spotlight and Tu adds that due to the dramatic reduction in costs of se...

Tu and Lei start the pod with a discussion about the Waymo & Zeekr partnership announcement.  They move on to a discussion about the elimination of the previous requirement by the Chinese govt. of foreign automakers to have a JV partner to enter the Chinese market and implications on what could happen in 2022 and beyond. It basically opens the market up to all different types of mashups betwee...

Tu and Lei start off this episode with a brief discussion on all of the news from NIO Day 2021 including their initial reaction to the ET5. Tu believes that the Tesla MIC Model 3 could have some serious competition between the NIO ET5 & the XPeng P5 in 2022. They then move on to the subscription services and AR/VR glasses that were announced at NIO Day and how it could enhance NIO's futur...

Tu and Lei start this pod with a discussion on CAAM numbers and outlook for BYD & Chery. They then take a look ahead to 2022 and how the OEMs will deal with the current battery constraints and how they may bleed into 2022.  Tu & Lei then give a bit of background on Niutron and its CEO, founder of NIU, and his colorful past which then pushes them into a broader discussion about the technolo...

Tu & Lei start this week's discussion about the recent Volkswagen Group news including new China CEO-elect Ralf Brandstatter joining in mid-2022 and the challenges ahead for the organization.  They then move onto November & 2021 EV sales numbers for China and the US and China's projected 2022 sales numbers. And put to bed whether we've reached the tipping point for EV adopti...

Tu and Lei start the show with their thoughts on November sales. They also have a discussion of next year's predicted sales of up to 5M unit sales of NEVs and any constraints that could cause a hiccup to the continued growth. They move on to how Pony and Baidu/Apollo were the first in China to receive the licenses in Beijing to charge for their robotaxi rides. A big step forward for both comp...