Tagged: Tesla

Buick begins delivery of Electra E5 electric SUV in China

The Electra E5 received more than 8,000 orders after 12 days on the market, Buick previously said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Buick Electra E5 -- the brand's first model based on GM's Ultium platform -- has begun deliveries in China, where the electric SUV's aggressive pricing previously gave it a good initial reception.

SAIC-GM, a joint venture between GM and SAIC, said on Monday that the first deliveries of the Electra E5 have begun, but did not announce the number of vehicles delivered.

Buick will improve its energy replenishment system by adding nearly 1,000 Ultium supercharging terminals by the end of this year, and is on track to reach more than 400,000 charging posts provided by mainstream operators, SAIC said.

(Image credit: SAIC-GM)

Orders for the Electra E5 have continued to grow in different regions since its launch, and SAIC-GM's Ultium plant in Wuhan will optimize production scheduling to meet more consumer demand, the company said.

The model, officially launched in China on April 13, is a mid-to-large-size five-seat SUV with a length of 4,892 mm, a width of 1,905 mm and a height of 1,655 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,954 mm.

The Electra E5 is available in five versions with starting prices of RMB 208,900 ($29,530), 222,900, 225,900, 239,900 and 278,900 respectively.

That pricing is very aggressive for an electric SUV of that size.

's Tang EV starts at RMB 282,800 and measures 4,900 mm in length, 1,950 mm in width and 1,725 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,820 mm.

The Model Y, the best-selling electric SUV in China, measures 4,750 mm in length, 1,921 mm in width, 1,624 mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2,890 mm, and it currently has a starting price of RMB 261,900.

On April 25, Buick announced that the Electra E5 received more than 8,000 orders after 12 days on the market.

Of those who ordered the Electra E5, 78 percent opted for versions priced at RMB 225,900 and 239,900, Buick said at the time.

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Buick Electra E5 gets over 8,000 orders in less than 2 weeks after launch in China

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk expected to visit China this week, report says

Musk is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials and tour 's Shanghai factory, according to Reuters.

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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, Reuters said in a report today, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Musk is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials and tour Tesla's Shanghai factory, two of the sources said, according to the report.

It's unclear who Musk will meet with and what they will discuss, the report noted.

A Reuters report on March 31 said Musk planned to visit China as early as April and seek a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The Tesla CEO last visited China in January 2020, when he showed off a dance during the delivery of Tesla's first China-made Model 3 electric vehicles (EVs).

China is Tesla's second-largest market after the United States, and its Shanghai plant is the EV maker's largest production center, producing the Model 3 sedan as well as the Model Y crossover.

For all of 2022, the Chinese market contributed $18.1 billion in revenue to Tesla, or 22 percent of its $81.5 billion in total revenue, according to its 10-K filing with the SEC on January 31.

The US market contributed $40.6 billion in revenue, or 49.8 percent, to Tesla in 2022.

For the full year 2022, Tesla delivered 1,313,851 vehicles worldwide, up 40.38 percent from 935,950 in 2021.

The EV maker delivered 439,770 vehicles in China in 2022, contributing 33 percent of the year's deliveries, data monitored by CnEVPost show.

Tesla's Shanghai plant produced 727,000 units in 2022, up 49.7 percent from a year earlier, Chen Kele, deputy director of intelligent manufacturing promotion division at Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, said earlier this month.

Tesla's Shanghai plant had an industrial output of 183.9 billion yuan ($26 billion) in 2022, which accounts for 23 percent of Shanghai's auto manufacturing output, driving 1.3 percentage points of local industrial output growth, Chen said.

Shanghai will further deepen cooperation with Tesla to promote the EV maker's businesses including self-driving, and robotics in Shanghai, he said at the time.

From January to April, Tesla delivered 177,385 vehicles in China, up 61.54 percent year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Tesla's Shanghai plant exported 127,779 vehicles in January-April, up 72.97 percent year-on-year.

In addition to its EV business, Tesla is bringing its other major business -- energy storage -- to China.

Tesla signed a deal with Shanghai's Lingang authorities on the afternoon of April 9 to build a new Megafactory in the area, which will be dedicated to producing Tesla's energy storage product Megapack, according to a previous announcement from Lingang's special area administration.

The Megafactory will be Tesla's first energy storage system factory outside its US home market, with an initial planned annual production of up to 10,000 units of commercial energy storage batteries and an energy storage scale of nearly 40 GWh, with products to be supplied to the global market.

The factory is scheduled to start construction in the third quarter of this year and put into operation in the second quarter of 2024.

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Musk once laughed at BYD, but now thinks 'their cars are highly competitive'

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Musk once laughed at BYD, but now thinks ‘their cars are highly competitive’

"That was many years ago. Their cars are highly competitive these days," Musk said.

A video of (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk laughing when asked about (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) in an interview has sparked widespread discussion on social media from time to time.

Now, as the video has sparked renewed buzz on Twitter, Musk has responded.

"That was many years ago. Their cars are highly competitive these days," Musk said in a May 27 reply below a video shared by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley on Twitter.

In a 2011 interview, a Bloomberg host mentioned that Tesla began to have competitors, such as BYD, which was ramping up.

Musk laughed at those words and asked the host if she had seen BYD's cars.

Musk's reaction at the time was understandable; after all, BYD was just a Chinese car company targeting the lower end of the market in 2011 and was far less well-known than it is now.

Even in 2019, BYD's annual sales of only 461,400 units across all models are nowhere near the 2 million sales of SAIC Volkswagen in the same year.

BYD saw explosive sales growth in 2021 and stopped production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2021.

BYD sold 1,863,494 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in 2022, up 208.64 percent from 603,783 in 2021.

For comparison, Tesla delivered 1,313,851 vehicles worldwide in 2022, up 40.38 percent from 935,950 in 2021.

In the first quarter of the year, BYD sold 547,917 passenger NEVs, up 92.81 percent year-on-year, including 264,647 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and 283,270 plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

Tesla's vehicles were all BEVs, delivering 422,875 units in the first quarter, up 36.39 percent year-on-year.

Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed similar opinions on May 26, calling Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers its main competitors in the segment.

Farley said that China has some of the best battery technology and is dominating EV production at the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit.

He used BYD as a prime example of a Chinese automaker that has successfully developed and sold EVs, first in China and now in Europe.

"I like BYD. Totally vertically integrated, aggressive … very, very impressive company. And they were always committed to electric," Farley said when asked which company was doing the right thing in making EVs.

Tesla delivers 39,956 vehicles in China in Apr, exports 35,886 units from Shanghai plant

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SAIC-GM-Wuling launches new mini EV Yep, prices start at $11,290

The Baojun Yep is available in two versions, with the pricier one equipped with a smart driving system developed by SAIC-GM-Wuling with drone maker DJI.

(Image credit: SAIC-GM-Wuling)

SAIC-GM-Wuling today officially launched its new electric vehicle (EV), the Yep, the latest addition to its line of mini EVs.

The Yep is available under SAIC-GM-Wuling's Baojun brand in two versions, starting at RMB 79,800 ($11,290) and RMB 89,800 respectively.

The Baojun Yep looks somewhat similar to the Suzuki Jimny, and SAIC-GM-Wuling said the model uses the Square Box design language to target the needs of younger customers.

The length, width and height of the Baojun Yep are 3,381 mm, 1,685 mm and 1,721 mm respectively, with a wheelbase of 2,110 mm.

For comparison, the Hongguang Mini EV, another SAIC-GM-Wuling model, measures 3,059 mm in length, 1,521 mm in width and 1,614 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,010 mm.

The Baojun Yep is powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a peak power of 50 kW and a peak torque of 140 Nm.

The model has a battery pack capacity of 28.1 kWh and a CLTC range of 303 km.

It supports fast charging and can go from 30 percent to 80 percent in 35 minutes.

The Baojun Yep with a starting price of RMB 89,800 is equipped with the Lingxi intelligent driving system announced in August 2022 by SAIC-GM-Wuling and DJI Automotive, the automotive division of drone manufacturer DJI.

The system is based on SAIC-GM-Wuling's "Emotion Engine" concept, which focuses on urban mobility scenarios, SAIC-GM-Wuling previously said.

The Lingxi intelligent driving system takes advantage of DJI's technological strengths in the field of binocular cameras and is based on the latter's algorithms in the field of vision perception and experience in vision perception systems for drones.

SAIC-GM-Wuling's 2023 Baojun KiWi EV is the first model to use the system.

Equipped with the Lingxi system, the Baojun Yep allows users to turn on intelligent driving with a single click, enabling functions including obstacle recognition and response, and intelligent speed regulation in curves.

The model is also equipped with smart parking assist, which enables full-scene automatic parking.

Baojun previewed the model on May 9, when it also shared images and a video of the two-door pickup version of the Yep.

SAIC-GM-Wuling is a joint venture between SAIC Group, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, headquartered in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwestern China.

It sells vehicles based on the GSEV (Global Small Electric Vehicle) architecture in China, including the Mini EV, KiWi EV, Nano EV, and Air EV. In addition to these pure electric models, SAIC-GM-Wuling also sells fuel-powered SUVs, MPVs, and vans.

In the small EV segment, in addition to the hot-selling Mini EV, SAIC-GM-Wuling launched the mini EV Air EV in China last December and the Binguo EV at the end of March this year.

Notably, SAIC-GM-Wuling has seen a decline in NEV sales so far this year, while other major NEV makers in China have seen sales growth.

In January-April, SAIC-GM-Wuling's NEV retail sales were 111,604 units, down 15.9 percent from 132,658 units in the same period last year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

As a comparison, saw sales increase 81.3 percent year-on-year to 702,608 units and China grew 61.5 percent year-on-year to 177,385 units during this period.

In an effort to boost sales growth, SAIC-GM-Wuling began allowing consumers to pay only for the body and rent the battery when purchasing the Mini EV on May 11, lowering the purchase threshold to RMB 19,800.

On May 22, SAIC-GM-Wuling announced a price cut of up to RMB 13,000 for the Hongguang Mini EV family, saying the move was in response to China's call to promote NEV consumption in rural areas.

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Wuling cuts prices on its mini EVs by up to $1,850

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 21: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 1,500, NIO 1,400

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vehicles registered 10,200 insurance units in China last week, bringing the number to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May.

founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said last week that they had been complained about by some of their peers and therefore could not continue to share the weekly insurance registration numbers.

Interestingly, however, the company resumed sharing those numbers today to continue to show that it leads the pack among Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups.

For the week of May 15 to May 21, Li Auto sold 7,100 units, far outpacing other new car brands and reigning as the weekly sales leader for new automaking brands in the Chinese market, the company said today on Weibo.

Li Auto did not explain on what basis the sales were counted, but apparently, they were insurance registrations.

Li Auto surpassed all other traditional luxury brands except Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to remain in the top five luxury brands in the Chinese market in terms of sales, the highest-ranked Chinese brand on the list, it said.

In the first two weeks of May, Li Auto vehicles had 4,543 and 6,670 insurance registrations, respectively. This means that from May 1 to May 21, Li Auto sold about 18,313 vehicles.

The tables Li Auto shared today show that vehicles had 1,400 insurance registrations last week. This means that NIO had 3,700 insurance registrations for the first three weeks of May.

NIO deliveries continue to be curbed by the upcoming launch of the new ES6, with insurance registration figures of 1,100 and 1,200 in the first and second weeks of May, respectively.

NIO will officially launch the new ES6 on May 24, and its deliveries will start on May 25.

The company is getting the ES6 to market with unprecedented delivery efficiency, and as of May 20, the new ES6 show cars were available at nearly 300 NIO stores in 92 cities.

registered 1,500 insurance units last week, the same as the previous week. In the first three weeks of May, XPeng vehicles had 3,870 insurance registrations.

XPeng deliveries were also dampened by the new model G6, which is expected to officially launch and begin deliveries at the end of next month.

Insurance registrations for Tesla vehicles in China were 10,200 last week, bringing the figure to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May. The number was 5,928 and 9,990 in the first two weeks of May.

Data table: China NEV weekly insurance registrations

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Tesla offers China-made Model 3 and Model Y in Canada, report says

Both models are eligible for a C$,000 federal incentive in Canada.

(Screenshot of Canada website.)

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is listing China-made Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles (EVs) for sale in Canada, confirming that it has completed its first shipments to North America from its Shanghai plant, according to a Reuters report today.

The rear-wheel drive Model Y and the long-range all-wheel drive version of the Model 3 are available for immediate delivery in British Columbia, with codes indicating they were built at Giga Shanghai, the report said.

Both models are eligible for a C$5,000 ($3,695) federal incentive in Canada, which, unlike the US, does not link EV subsidies to the location of the plant where the cars are built, the report noted.

Tesla and other EV makers have a cost advantage in China, and exports to Canada have opened up a new market for Giga Shanghai, the report said.

(Screenshot of Tesla Canada website.)

The company has designed and tested Model Y cars for export to North America and aims to produce nearly 9,000 for export this quarter, the report said, citing a Tesla production plan.

On April 24, Reuters cited people familiar with the matter and a production memo as saying that Tesla had begun production in Shanghai of the Model Y that will be sold in Canada this year.

It will be the first time the company has shipped cars from China to North America, a move that will connect Tesla's largest and most cost-effective factory in the world with its largest market, North America, the report said.

Tesla's Shanghai plant, which makes the Model 3 as well as the Model Y, not only supplies vehicles to local consumers but is also an export center for the EV maker.

Tesla delivered 39,956 vehicles in China in April, and the Shanghai plant exported 35,886, according to data released earlier this month by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

For the full year 2022, Tesla delivered 439,770 vehicles in China, up 37.11 percent from 320,743 vehicles in 2021.

Tesla's Shanghai plant exported 271,095 vehicles in 2022, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

Tesla's Shanghai plant produced about 727,000 units in 2022, up 49.7 percent from a year earlier, contributing 23 percent of Shanghai's auto manufacturing output, a local official said earlier this month.

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Tesla's revamped Model 3 nears final trial production in Shanghai, report says

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XPeng sees 1st G6 production vehicle off line

management previously said that the G6 will be officially launched and delivered by the end of the second quarter, with a price range of RMB 200,000 - 300,000.  |  XPeng US | XPeng HK

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) has seen the first production vehicle of the G6 roll off the assembly line, as the new SUV gets closer to its official launch.

The development was revealed in a leaked image on Chinese social media of XPeng production line employees celebrating the moment, and XPeng has not released any official content about it.

On March 17, XPeng management said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call that the G6 will be officially launched and delivered by the end of the second quarter, with a price range of 200,000 yuan ($28,450) to 300,000 yuan.

XPeng's monthly sales target for the G6 is two to three times that of the P7, the company's chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said in the call.

XPeng gave several previews of the model in early April and unveiled the SUV's exterior ahead of its official debut.

On April 16, the electric vehicle (EV) maker unveiled a new architecture, called SEPA (Smart Electric Platform Architecture) 2.0, at a technology conference in Shanghai, saying the G6 would be the first model built on it.

XPeng officially unveiled the G6 on the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, saying that the G6 is the ultimate form of car before full autonomous driving is achieved.

The model is based on the 800 V high-voltage platform and can get a 300-kilometer range in as little as 10 minutes on a charge, XPeng said at the time. The company's other 800 V-based model is the flagship G9 SUV.

XPeng did not release specific specs or pricing information for the G6, which they expect to know at a future official launch event.

The company appears to be ramping up production preparations for the G6 so that it can deliver it quickly after its official launch, as its local counterparts have proven that strategy to be effective in China's competitive EV market.

XPeng sees the Model Y as the G6's main competitor. The vehicle is positioned as an all-electric midsize SUV with a length, width and height of 4,753 mm, 1,920 mm and 1,650 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,890 mm, a regulatory filing in March showed.

For comparison, the Tesla Model Y has a length, width and height of 4,750 mm, 1,921 mm, 1,624 mm and a wheelbase of 2,890 mm.

G6 will need to be successful for XPeng to be truly relevant again in the marketplace, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team said in a research note sent to investors on May 17.

XPeng will report its unaudited first-quarter financial results on Wednesday, May 24, before the US markets open, when its earnings call is expected to provide more information on the model.

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XPeng Q1 earnings preview: Counting down to G6

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