XPENG’s autonomous driving technology has been getting better and better (see Larry’s real-world experiences with the technology in recent weeks here, here, and here). Going further down that road, XPENG has just launched a robotaxi model, YOYO. We don’t know a ton about this model yet, but there are some … [continued]
Norway found a real remote-access risk in a connected Yutong bus, but its older European comparison could not establish that the risk was uniquely Chinese.
When Norwegian transit authority Ruter put a Chinese Yutong electric bus through cybersecurity testing inside an isolated mine, the investigation started with two very different concerns. One was geopolitical: could the bus act as a visual-surveillance platform near sensitive facilities such as Lutvann, home to Norway’s intelligence service? The other … [continued]
Battery swapping has been a concept for electric vehicles for much longer than I’ve been covering the technology (which is more than 14 years). Better Place launched and grew, and then went bankrupt. Some other battery swapping trials have come and gone much more quietly. And then there’s NIO. NIO … [continued]
OceanX survived severe Yagi wind and waves with little reported nacelle inclination, but its stayed, weather-vaning architecture is the more interesting result.
OceanX gave me two immediate reasons to be skeptical. It puts two turbines on one floating platform, and it puts the rotors downwind of their supports rather than in front of them. I had looked at both ideas years ago and found good reasons why the wind industry had largely … [continued]
Something interesting is going on in China, and I’m not exactly sure what to make of it. Typically, I don’t see a lot of rival narratives in Chinese media. One story is often covered the same across the industry, and there’s not a ton of competing narratives arguing with each … [continued]
More than 300,000 plant-protection drones now perform roughly 203 million hectare-treatments annually in China. The market has moved beyond adoption into service, maintenance, renewal and operating standards.
Agricultural spray drones are no longer an emerging technology in China. They are ordinary farm machinery at extraordinary scale. China entered 2026 with about 309,000 plant-protection drones, and those aircraft performed roughly 203 million hectare-treatments during 2025. A hectare treated three times counts as three hectare-treatments, so that figure measures … [continued]
High gas prices and a never-ending wave of new BEVs has allowed August to reach 65% EV market share, a new record! However, while record market share was achieved in the past thanks to strong EV sales, this time, the record achievement is thanks to a significant ICE (internal combustion … [continued]
China’s high-speed rail removes dense short-haul corridors from aviation while helping define the regional routes where electric aircraft can make more sense.
The electric-aviation contest is often presented as a race between aircraft startups. That is probably the wrong unit of analysis. An airplane that flies once, wins a certification milestone or accumulates a large order book has demonstrated something useful, but it has not demonstrated an industry. What matters is whether … [continued]
China has just released its newest 5-year development plan for plugin vehicles — its 15th — and the plan includes a target of reaching 70% plugin vehicle (or “new energy vehicle”) sales by 2030. That sounds pretty good — certainly much better than the US will do, and probably better … [continued]
Once upon a time, legacy automakers that were struggling to find growth at home or in traditional large auto markets discovered that fast-growing China could be a cash cow. It was the big growth machine for automakers that were 100+ years old but originated from stale, stagnant markets. Then the … [continued]
