China EVs & More

In this episode recorded at TechTown Detroit, Lei heads to Detroit to meet Tu in person for the first time!They spend the busy week participating in both auto show and non-auto show related events. Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu and Lei start out the podcast with a final recap of August sales and the 16 EV makers that made up a large percentage of total sales. The broader lesson is that the EV sector keeps chugging along despite all of the continuing challenges with BYD leading the way into a likely record 4Q. They then move to NIO earnings and the disappointing guidance for 3Q but the extremely upbeat 4Q sales forecast. NIO is looking at ~70K 4th quarter. Tu is skeptical and believes that Bin Li is calling on his Ops/Manufacturing team to step up and deliver NIO a recording setting quarter driven by ET5 sales. As an aside, Tu & Lei unpack the surprise announcement by Mobileye using NIO ES8s to test in Detroit and all of the implications of that announcement happening on the eve of the Detroit Auto show. Tu then switches over to a discussion about GM’s new import division that’s launching the Durant Guild in the Chinese market. Lei closes out the pod by talking about his upcoming trip to Detroit and being able to meet Tu for the first time in real life!Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu & Lei start off the podcast with a review of August sales numbers,  the pleasant surprises along with the disappointments. Tu and Lei then take a step back and talk about the global EV market, how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should help the US EV sector and how some Volkswagen customers in Europe have gotten so frustrated with their ID Series vehicles they're returning them.Tu then moves the discussion to the recent restrictions placed on Nvidia and AMD that limits the chips they can export to China and Russia which leads to a broader discussion about the restrictions by both countries that have given them advantages historically that have manifested into companies that are leaders in the space currently.Tu and Lei then move to unpack Baidu's Robin Li who said that most companies would likely skip L3 and go straight from L2 to L4 autonomy with their vehicles and systems. They close the pod with a brief discussion about some of the challenges ahead for the foreign automakers that they'll need to overcome in China vs. their domestic counterparts if they are to ultimately succeed there.  Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu & Lei start this podcast out confirming their prediction that the State Council would extend the NEV purchase tax exemption was correct. They then take a few moments to compare and contrast the speed and amount at which announcements and news comes out of the China market vs. the US & European markets. The conversation moves on to how China EV Inc collectively is investing in vertical integration in order to compete against one another, but to compete globally even if they're not profitable. Lei moves the discussion over to the XPeng earnings call and some of the notable takeaways from it. Tu then poses a question to Lei - When does he think the China market will reach 50% take rate on NEVs.Tu and Lei take a few minutes to discuss the launch of the electric Dodge Charger and the controversial artificial engine noise that's digitally produced when the car is accelerating. Tu and Lei close out the pod by chatting about the Detroit Auto show and where they'll be specifically that they'll be attending a happy hour at The Brakeman off of Woodward Avenue in Detroit on September 12th starting at 5pm. Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Lei starts the pod out with the announcement that China EVs & More reached its 10,000th download so both Tu and Lei took a moment to reflect, thank their listeners but also look forward to what’s up next for the podcast.Tu then moves over to discuss his adventures getting back to the US including detailing his multiple layover flight that included the screeching halt of the plane he was in headed to JFK. Lei then moves the conversation back to this week’s biggest news and summarizes a few of the battery related announcements with a specific focus on CATL. The discussion moves to Li Auto earnings, especially the Li management admitting that they’re seeing more cannibalization of the Li ONE from the L9 than they’d originally forecasted. Lei then unpacks XPeng’s event announcing their super fast charging that should be available in volume by the end of this year for all new XPeng vehicles.Tu and Lei move the conversation over to the significance (highly) Li Keqiang’s visit to BYD and the broader implications of continuing the NEV purchase subsidies in China. Lei’s prediction was that it would continue through 2023 and Tu agreed. The pod closes out with a brief chat about what to expect from the Chengdu Motor Show. Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu starts the pod out by talking about the last time he was in the US and his plans to head back to visit next week. The conversation then moves on to July sales with both Tu and Lei giving their take on the results. Lei then pushes the discussion to the XPeng G9 unveil and subsequent reservations that suggested that Chinese consumers are excited about it.They also discuss the AVATR 11 and Tu talks about his visit to the AVATR pop-up to see the 11 in real life, The pod ends with Tu and Lei sharing their opinions about the recent US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

In this special episode Tu and Lei unpack the dismissal of Herbert Diess, former VW Group Global CEO and the promotion of Oliver Blume, current head of Porsche to replace Diess.The 2nd half of the episode focuses on Tu's experience testing out a number of electric vehicles over a two week period with Inside China Auto's Mark Rainford.The electric vehicles they tested or tried out:Polestar 2Li Auto L9Evoke Motorcycles Urban ClassicZeekr 001XPeng P7They also made a special visit to Baidu Apollo to check out the just unveiled RT6, Apollo's 6th generation Level 4 capable robotaxi. **We apologize for the audio quality issues.**Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu and Lei start out the podcast talking July sales and deep dive into a few EV startups that are having challenges ramping and consistently increasing their MoM sales - Lei ranks China’s Big EV Three.Tu moves the conversation over to his experience riding Baidu Apollo’s robotaxi and how its progressed since the last time he rode it. Lei then moves onto a discussion about BYD and how they’re continuing their tear with no end in sight. How far can BYD go? Tu and Lei discuss what makes BYD different from everyone else.Tu’s quick takes this week include a shout out to Innoviz and landing the VW whale as a customer for their LiDAR equipment and he highlights an article that details the companies that likely have access to your driving/location data if you’re driving in the US. Tu and Lei close out the show with their announcement about sponsoring a happy hour on the evening of September 14th during the week of the Detroit Auto show. For those in town that week, don’t forget to RSVP for it! Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu & Lei begin the pod with a discussion about the unveiling of the RT6 - an Baidu Apollo branded, Level 4 capable robotaxi that will be hitting the streets sometime next year at the cost of ¥250K (~$37K) and the greater implications of Baidu's mobility strategy. Tu speculates that we could see announcements from Baidu about pilots launching outside of China next year.Tu moves the discussion over to battery cell manufacturers and how they're likely being approached by the legacy automakers with the opportunity to globally supply cells in the US + China + the EU(where applicable). Lei talks about Ford's bold announcement about a partnership with CATL.The topic of discussion then moves to Didi, its massive fine and what's next for them. The podcast closes with Tu & Lei briefly discussing the current foreign / local JV situation, Li Auto's 'spring-gate' and Tu's quick takes of the week. Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Tu starts the episode with an update on the ground and then quickly moves to his visit to Baidu headquarters to get a sneak peek at the Jidu Auto Robo-1 concept vehicle. Tu talks a bit about the overall shape, feel of the interior and thoughts on the single long coast to coast screen that makes up most of the front console. He notes that the lack of buttons and knobs really stands out and that the UX and UI needs to really be strong in order to pull the Human Machine Interface (HMI) off.Lei points out the UX may be behind the complaints about the Zeekr 001 and the reason Zeekr has decided to upgrade everyone for free while NIO said it would be too costly for them to do it, indirectly poking fun at Zeekr for the smaller number of cars they have on the road compared to NIO.Tu believes that our vehicle infotainment / touchscreen expectations are built on our experience with our mobile phone/tablets so any latency issues or general buggy-ness could lead to a bad UX. Tu and Lei then begin to discuss the 1st half sales and how the 2nd half is poised to be much larger and could possibly push full year sales to 6M units. They continued to game out that if 2023 saw >50% growth, the China NEV market could be over 10M units!  Lei then switches the topic over to Geely’s newest brand Radar that will specialize in electric trucks and both Tu and Lei share their reactions to the RD6 vehicle concept pickup that was unveiled and the changes of the brand’s success.Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify