There’s a major shift on the automotive horizon as China introduces tough new safety regulations for electric cars. Starting July 1, 2026, two mandatory national standards will officially take effect across the country. The new rules target both the vehicle and the battery systems inside it. Government bodies like the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the State Administration for Market Regulation, will enforce strict requirements to protect buyers and emergency workers. With ownership climbing to 44 million vehicles in China by the end of last year, regulators decided that voluntary guidelines are not enough to manage public safety.

The unstoppable growth of the Chinese market highlights the need for updated safety rules. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that production and sales recovered strongly in May 2026. Local automakers produced 1.554 million cars and sold 1.496 million new energy vehicles in that one month alone.

One of the most important vehicle-level updates comes from the new safety standard named GB18384-2025. This regulation introduces a mandatory, physical “one-touch power-off” mechanism inside the cabin. In the past, automakers relied on software programs to shut down high-voltage electrical circuits during emergencies – because everyone knows software never crashes or freezes during a serious accident… The new physical switch allows drivers or rescue workers to cut off the main energy storage system manually with a single movement, increasing efficiency during emergency operations.

The second piece of legislation, referred to as GB38031-2025, completely upgrades battery-level safety requirements. The biggest change involves how the system handles thermal runaway (when a battery cell overheats and triggers a chain reaction). Until now, regulations required a battery pack to send a warning signal at least five minutes ahead of a fire or explosion, which sounds almost unbelievable. Thankfully, the updated standard shifts the requirement completely: the battery pack has to remain free of any fire or explosion. The system must still sound an alarm to alert the driver, but the physical pack itself must prevent fires entirely, and smoke must not harm vehicle occupants.

In addition to thermal protection, the updated battery regulations introduce tough physical testing methods to simulate real-world accidents. A new bottom-impact test forces manufacturers to evaluate how well a battery pack resists collisions underneath the vehicle, such as striking debris on the highway. This test ensures that the protective casing shields the internal cells from puncture. The legislation also addresses battery degradation over time by requiring a safety test after 300 fast-charging cycles. Following the fast-charging cycles, the pack must successfully withstand external short-circuit tests without catching fire or exploding.

Automotive experts believe the new safety benchmarks will change the market landscape. By forcing all companies to meet strict legal rules, the regulations will likely accelerate industry consolidation. Manufacturers that rely on low-quality components and low-price strategies to win customers will struggle to survive. This shift should stop unfair competition based on cheap, unsafe items. Clearer safety regulations will help the financial and automotive industries as well – Dr. Han Guangshuai from Tongji University noted that the clear standards will give the insurance industry better data, which could resolve the high premiums and insurance difficulties affecting used EVs.

Major battery manufacturers and vehicle brands have already prepared for the transition to the new safety levels. CATL, the largest global producer of batteries for electric cars, reported that its full line of mass-produced passenger and commercial vehicle battery products successfully passed the national testing procedures back in May 2025. BYD confirmed that its second-generation Blade Battery passed the new standards and even exceeded the minimum legal safety numbers. These early preparations show that top companies saw the regulatory changes coming and adjusted their engineering early.

According to Wu Kai, a well-known scientist from CATL and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the full implementation of the new rules will change safety expectations completely. He explained at the 2026 Equipment Power Forum that once these rules are active, the spontaneous combustion rate of Chinese EVs should drop to a level that is an order of magnitude lower than that of traditional gasoline cars. Chinese regulators continue to work on additional rules. The government recently published another safety standard called Fire Detectors for Vehicles (GB47497-2026) to improve early warnings for thermal events.

The long-term benefits of the new laws look great for consumer trust, but the rules might create some short-term challenges for vehicle prices. Industry analysts expect the strict testing and updated battery structures to put some pressure on manufacturing costs, and these higher expenses could influence the retail prices of EVs launched after July.

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Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift quickly recaps the news, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Hope you had a great weekend—here’s your bulletin for Monday, June 1, 2026.

BYD has announced it will assume all financial responsibility for any crash that happens during proper use of its City Navigation autonomous driving system within one year of a vehicle’s delivery, or update to its latest “God’s Eye” software. The year-long limitation means this doesn’t solve one of the burning issues around autonomous driving, though it is a noteworthy development from China’s biggest automaker. [CleanTechnica]

There is concern that new legislation developing in the House prohibiting automakers from selling cars in the U.S. if they have “any direct or indirect equity interest by a foreign-adversary government” could ban Mercedes-Benz from the market. Chinese firms BAIC and Geely own a combined 19.67% of the company, and, as understood, the bill sets the threshold for “control” by a “foreign adversary” at 15% ownership. [CNBC]

7⃣ The next-generation BMW X7 will have a more wagon-like profile, differentiating it from BMW’s typical SUVs as well as its competitors, according to retailers briefed on the new model. [Automotive News]

There could be as few as 800 examples of the manual BMW M3 CS Handschalter earmarked for the U.S. market, with BMW M Certified dealers receiving two cars and non-M dealers only one, according to a BMWBlog report. Additionally, markups supposedly range from a few grand to $25,000. [BMWBlog]

There’s a class-action lawsuit brewing for owners of 2023-2025 Kia Tellurides in New York and Pennsylvania alleging that Kia was aware that the SUV’s 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster could fail. [Car Complaints]

Genesis’ Le Mans Hypercars will wear new orange liveries for their 24 Hours of Le Mans debut later this month. [Racer]

Weekend Race Results:

• WRC Rally Japan: Elfyn Evans won for Toyota
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Nashville: Layne Riggs won for Front Row Motorsports
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Nashville: Justin Allgaier won for JR Motorsports
• MotoGP Italian Grand Prix: Marco Bezzecchi won for Aprilia
• IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix: Alex Palou won for Chip Ganassi Racing
• IMSA Detroit Grand Prix: Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber won for Cadillac
• NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville: Denny Hamlin won for Joe Gibbs Racing

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

In a sea of big, long, technologically-advanced cars full of screens and AI and LiDAR and self-driving tech, one car stood out. With brown matte paint, this car was wedge-shaped and stylistically chic. Sure, there are plenty of classy, well-finished, and well-styled manufacturers from China’s domestic manufacturers, but this felt new. It felt fresh, and most importantly, it wasn’t a time-wasting concept meant to gauge opinion or preview a new model, but an actual production car with specifications and plans to enter China’s market within the next few weeks.

Imagine my suprise for me to walk to the front of the stand and saw a round grey “H” on the front of the car. It was a Hyundai, the new Ioniq V. “It’s a striking car, that’s for damn sure,” I said to myself, walking from Xiaomi’s stand to Geely’s stand at this year’s Beijing Auto Show. For once, I didn’t feel so pessimistic when it came to non-Chinese automakers in China. Based on vibes alone, it felt like at least one non-Chinese automaker understood where it went wrong and wanted to right the ship, so to speak. 

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

Two Years Ago, Legacy Brands Were Asleep At The Wheel

This was a marked improvement from the first time I had come to China, in 2024. That was one of the first shows China had after removing its COVID-19 contact tracing and quarantine requirements, allowing for significantly easier entry and exit to the country. At the time, I only knew what I had read about, mostly in Western media and via translated versions of Auto Sina or Autohome, and digital conversations with executives and other on-the-ground Chinese automotive enthusiasts. 

It was safe to say that there was a lot of riff-raff about China’s New Energy Vehicle market (NEV), with many in the West insisting that China’s car market was mostly fake, and that the reasons as to why so-called “Western” brands were losing against China’s homegrown car industry were largely due to unfairly low prices from China’s home brands. Seemingly every other news piece before I had gone to China had been automakers complaining about their sales and profitability woes in China, with news of retreat. Some hawks tried to blame it all on IP theft, trying to justify where their profit had gone.

It took me all of 15 minutes at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show to realize that what I was told here in the West wasn’t the full story. Sure, perhaps the incentives from China’s federal, provincial, and municipal governments definitely helped its EV industry develop probably faster than it would have otherwise, but once again, that ain’t the point. What I saw on the ground was that by and large, cars with “Western” badges were crap. They were old designs, with not-great interiors, basic infotainment, and none of the high-tech stuff that China’s car buyers had come to expect from its home-grown brands. 

China’s own brands had clearly innovated and created cars that were tailor-made for what its people wanted, and they had done so very quickly. By comparison, the non-Chinese competition felt low-rent, basic, and sometimes poorly made, for prices that were much higher than China’s homegrown brands. 

In 2026, They Came Back Swinging

But this time around, at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, it felt like legacy automotive brands had learned their lesson. The Hyundai Ioniq V is one of the most visible examples of a true renaissance from non-Chinese automakers to fight back in the country. The design felt fresh, but more importantly, it seems like Hyundai had taken its time to really listen and craft out a product that’s correct for China. The ADAS system came from Momenta, one of China’s autonomous-driving pioneers, and could end up being on par with the ones we’ve seen from China’s leaders, like Xpeng. For once, it felt like the car wasn’t lacking when it came to the rest of China’s very competitive market.

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

I’ve been using the Ioniq V as an example, but it wasn’t the only brand that came out in full force. Volkswagen showed off a series of near-production level models and concepts, like the ID Aura, T6, ID. ERA 9X  and ID UNYX 08. Buick is back with a recently launched version of the GL8 Encasa and Electra E7, both available in extended range EV (EREV) and full EV form. Mazda has leaned into its EZ-60 crossover with a full EV to supplement its EREV. Even in the concept realm, Peugeot and Citroen reaffirmed their commitment to China with swanky concepts that are refreshingly eye-catching compared to the low-effort slop it currently sells in China.

By China, For China, with China’s Speed

Whatever the case, China is now an unignorable part of the global automotive landscape. It is the largest car market for both car sales overall and for EV sales specifically; it’s a trendsetter, point blank. Although many Western brands are rethinking their China strategy, some think that retreating from China won’t solve any brand’s issues. Inevitably, the trends that China has started will spread across the globe. 

Like it or not, the rest of the world will have to keep up with China and how quickly it moves. That’ll likely require working in close quarters with China’s homegrown automakers. “The only path forward for legacy auto in China is to partner with Chinese tech companies,” wrote Tu Le, of Sino Auto Insights. 

“Even still, the companies that currently seem to be in retreat feel deep down in their hearts that eventually, by continuing to refine and pump future products designed and developed locally full of ‘local’ features, they can eventually launch products that can compete in the Chinese domestic market. And then they’ll recapture some past glory,” he continued.

Photo by: Volkswagen

That was the trend at this year’s auto show. Perhaps the taglines are a little cliché, but VW and Hyundai both used the same “China Speed” and “By China, For China” buzzwords, with the goals of reversing the collapse of sales in China. The Hyundai Ioniq V is said to be developed in partnership with  BAIC (Beijing Automotive Group), using local Chinese suppliers and tech companies for its infotainment and ADAS software. Similarly, Volkswagen made a big deal about speeding up its development and relying more on its local partnerships. It’s ID. Era, ID. Aura, and ID. Unyx (and AUDI) models are developed in conjunction with Xpeng and SAIC, and made by its local joint ventures. These partnerships are meant to jumpstart sales and get these big brands back on track in China. Hyundai said its Ioniq V is part of a push to grow sales to 500,000 units per year in China by 2030.

Will it Work?

Still, just because you try again doesn’t mean it’ll succeed. “Even with these local partnerships, there’s no guarantee for future growth and success. It just helps them survive the moment,” wrote Le. 

Author of Driving The Dragon, and Chinese car market expert, Mark Andrews, also seconds Le’s assessment, insisting that legacy automakers are trying to do better in China’s car market by aligning themselves closer with Chinese automakers. Still, Andrews isn’t convinced that it is necessarily a winning proposition.“Whether they’ll actually be successful is debatable. Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s CEO, in 2024 predicted that the JVs’ share of the market would fall to just 10% in 3-5 years,” he wrote via e-mail. Andrews said that there are new headwinds in China’s car market and the economy as a whole. China’s economy is slowing, and there is evidence that consumers are becoming less willing to buy new cars. Also, the car market’s growth is stagnating, with a lot of Chinese automakers’ growth coming from overseas markets. It doesn’t do too much good to foreign manufacturers trying to rekindle sales in China if China as a whole is less able to buy its own cars. 

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

Still, we’ve already seen some modest successes from brands that have gone all-in with cooperation with China’s homegrown EV makers. The Kia EV5, based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform but developed for China, has helped the brand increase its sales by nearly 50% between 2023 and 2024. The Dongfeng-based Nissan N7 and NX8 sedan and crossover EVs have both had healthy preorders and sales. Buick’s GL8 Encasa and Electra cars, based on its Xiao Yao platform (developed with SAIC), have both received warm critical reception in China. Toyota’s GAC-based bZ3x is the best-selling SUV made by a joint venture in China, moving 80,000 units in its first year on the market. 

To me, those promising numbers say that success is very much possible, and that at the end of the day, the collapse of non-Chinese brands in China had much to do with the quality and execution of the cars themselves. And if China gets better cars, I think it bodes well for the rest of the world, because a rising tide lifts all ships. Even if those “ships” never make it to American shores. 

Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com 

Sales of electric cars reached 1.6 million units in April 2026 globally, bringing the total number of EVs sold so far this year to 5.6 million. According to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the market grew 6% compared to April last year – though it did drop 9% from a very busy March. The industry looks like a patchwork quilt at the moment – some regions are moving fast, and some are slowing down.

Europe is the main growth engine for the global market. Other regions seem to struggle, but European buyers continue to embrace electric cars in record numbers. In April alone, sales in the region jumped 27% compared to the last year, totaling over 400,000 units. High gasoline prices, caused by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, make traditional cars more expensive to run and force buyers to look at electric options. Additionally, generous government incentives and a surge of new models from Chinese manufacturers give customers more reasons to switch to EVs.

The growth within specific European countries is even more impressive. France saw its sales of electric cars rise 36% since the start of the year. Germany followed closely with a 33% increase. Italy took the spotlight by nearly doubling its market size, thanks to new government subsidies. It seems Italian drivers are finally trading their espresso-fueled city cars for battery power, with Chinese brands grabbing a large portion of those new sales.

Chinese automakers are no longer relying on only sending ships full of EVs to European ports – they are moving in. In 2025, Chinese-built vehicles made up 19% of the European market. That number has already climbed to 22% in 2026. To avoid trade tensions, many companies are building local factories. Stellantis and Leapmotor announced they will build the Leapmotor B10 electric SUV at a plant in Zaragoza, Spain, with production possibly starting as early as Q4 2026. Even Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume suggested that sharing empty factory space with Chinese rivals might be a “clever solution” to help his company manage costs.

Source: Benchmark Minerals

Europe thrives, but the North American market is facing a cold snap. EV sales across the United States and Canada fell 25% during the first four months of the year, with the exception of Mexico. Its market grew by nearly 50% because Chinese companies rushed thousands of electric cars into Mexico before the government introduced a 50% import tariff on countries without free trade deals.

Canada is trying to fix its 7% sales slump with a new Electric Vehicle Affordability Program. This plan offers buyers up to CAD 5,000 (roughly £2,660) for qualifying electric cars. To get the full rebate, the vehicle must cost less than £26,600, though Canadian-made cars do not have a price limit. Canada also set a dedicated quota that allows 49,000 Chinese EVs to enter the country without facing a 100% tariff, showing that the government still wants affordable options on the road.

Source: Benchmark Minerals

In the United States, manufacturers are focusing on future production. Rivian has officially started building the Rivian R2 at its factory in Normal, Illinois. The company is betting big on the R2 and plans to expand its future Georgia plant to handle 300,000 vehicles a year instead of the original 200,000. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that production has begun for the Tesla Cybercab. Do not expect to see many of them on the street yet – high-volume production of the Cybercab will not happen until late 2026.

China’s domestic market paints a confusing picture – local sales dropped 17% this year, mainly because the government changed subsidies for small, cheap electric cars. Without those discounts, buyers are playing a wait-and-see game, but Chinese factories are not sitting idle. They exported 400,000 EVs in April alone. In the first four months of 2026, China shipped 1.4 million EVs overseas – twice as many as the same time last year.

The global shift toward electric cars is far from a straight line. North American buyers are hesitating, Chinese domestic demand is shifting, and Europe is picking up the slack. The industry is becoming a game of local manufacturing and clever partnerships. As more brands like XPeng begin building models like the P7+ in Austria, the map of the automotive world continues to change every month.

Source

Australia’s new car market took another decisive step in April, and the message is now hard to miss: the centre of gravity is shifting away from internal combustion and towards electric cars.

And China is delivering that transition – more on that below.

The latest data shows battery electric vehicles jumping to nearly 17% of monthly new car sales in April, another sharp lift from the previous record set in March, while plug-in hybrids also surged.

On the numbers now visible in the market, the old petrol-and-diesel majority is shrinking fast. Pure ICE-only vehicles – petrol and diesel, excluding hybrids and plug-in hybrids – are now down to just 52.5% of new vehicle sales.

That is the real story in the April data. It is not simply that EVs had a strong month. It is that the combined rise of battery electrics, plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids is steadily hollowing out the old market dominance of petrol and diesel.

The drivetrain chart show this clearly. Petrol has been in long decline since the post-Covid rebound, diesel has flattened and then eased, while BEV share has climbed from almost nothing in 2020 to the high teens in April 2026.

Hybrids and plug-in hybrids have also continued to rise, meaning the share of the market with some level of electrification is now approaching half of all new vehicles sold.

That shift is also changing where Australia’s vehicles come from.

China is now firmly in the lead as the biggest source of new vehicles sold into Australia, with about 28% of the market on a year-to-date basis. Japan, which dominated the Australian market for decades, continues to lose share.

The April data reinforces China overtaking Japan on a monthly basis, and Japan’s share continuing to slide, and the longer trend now suggests that is no temporary blip but a clear structural change locked in the supply base.

The significance of that goes beyond a country-of-origin league table. Australia is not just electrifying; it is electrifying mainly with vehicles built in China.

And that reflects the reality of the global market. China moved early and fast on solar, but now is moving even faster on batteries and EV platforms and manufacturing scale.

Meanwhile, Japanese automakers leaned more heavily into hybrids and delayed full battery EV rollouts. The result is now visible in Australian showrooms and in VFACTS tables alike.

April also matters because it comes one month before the traditional run-up to the June end-of-financial-year sales spike.

Historically, June has often delivered a temporary rebound in ICE sales as dealers clear stock and businesses bring purchases forward before 30 June. That was visible in the June 2023 and June 2025 bumps, even though the broader petrol and diesel trend kept heading down afterwards.

But 2026 may look different.

This year’s EOFY push will land in a market shaped by three forces at once: strong EV momentum, the first full year of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, and still-elevated fuel prices from the 4 week war on Iran.

That means June could still be a big month overall, but the composition of the spike may be very different from the old ICE-heavy EOFY pattern.

If fleets and business buyers move early to lock in deliveries, some of that demand is now likely to flow to hybrids, plug-in hybrids and BEVs (especially with full FBT exemption for EVs confirmed to stay for another year) rather than just diesel utes and petrol SUVs.

At the same time, carmakers will be increasingly aware that extra low-emissions volume helps under NVES, while pushing more high-emissions stock becomes harder to sustain – just like happened with Dieselgate.

So April may prove to be more than just another strong EV month. It may be the clearest sign yet that Australia’s market is crossing a threshold: China is now the lead supplier, one in six new vehicles is a battery EV, and ICE-only sales are falling towards half the market just as EOFY pressure begins to build.

See The Driven’s detailed EV sales data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026; by model and by brand.

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Official images from China have finally shown us the new Lynk & Co 10+. This is not a regular family car – it is a high-performance version of the upcoming 10 sedan. It seems the company wants to prove that EVs can be both smart and very fast. This new model will replace the Z10, after a very short life since its debut in late 2024.

One look at the Lynk & Co 10+ tells you it wants to go fast. It has a very sporty body kit that sets it apart from the standard version. You will notice big, aggressive bumpers and side skirts. The most obvious change is the massive rear spoiler sitting on the trunk. It also has a smaller “ducktail” spoiler and a roofline that slopes down smoothly. To keep the air moving easily, the car uses semi-hidden door handles and mirrors without frames – every little bit counts when it comes to EV efficiency.

The new Lynk & Co 10+

This is a large car, even if it looks sleek. The Lynk & Co 10+ measures 198.8 inches long, 77.4 inches wide, and 57.8 inches tall. It has a long wheelbase of 118.3 inches, so there should be plenty of legroom inside. It sits on big 21-inch wheels that fill up the wheel arches. We do not know exactly how much wind resistance it has, but the design suggests it is built to cut through the air effectively.

Technology is a big part of modern electric cars, and this one is loaded with it. On the roof, you can spot a LiDAR sensor. This works like a laser eye to help the car “see” the road. It also uses three radars, 11 cameras, and 12 sensors. All that data goes into a powerful Nvidia Drive Orin chip. This system helps the car with advanced driving tasks, making it safer and easier to handle in traffic.

The new Lynk & Co 10+

The real magic of the Lynk & Co 10+ is under the floor. It uses two electric motors to drive all four wheels. The motor in the front delivers 310 kW, which is about 416 hp. The motor in the back is even stronger, making 370 kW or 496 hp. When they work together, the car puts out 680 kW – that equals 912 hp.

Even though it weighs 5,042 lb, this car is quite quick. The top speed is capped at 149 mph. The company has not said exactly how fast it hits 62 mph, but we can have a good guess. A similar car from the same parent company is the Zeekr 001, and it does the sprint in 2.91 seconds. Since the Lynk & Co 10+ is a bit lighter, it might reach 62 mph in just 2.8 seconds – fast enough to make your stomach feel a bit funny.

The new Lynk & Co 10+

If you do not need all the 900 horsepower, there will be a standard Lynk & Co 10. That version looks more modest and uses 19-inch wheels. It comes with a single motor in the back. One version has 300 kW, and a slightly faster one has 370 kW. These models can still reach speeds between 137 mph and 149 mph. These EVs are meant to offer something for everyone, whether you want a daily commuter or a bit of a track beast.

The old Lynk & Co Z10 model did not sell very well. Since it launched, only about 11,510 units have been delivered. By comparison, the hybrid version of that car sold nearly three times as many units in a similar timeframe. By making the new 10 sedan look better and go faster, the company hopes to attract more buyers. They are betting that high tech and high power will be the winning formula.

The new Lynk & Co 10+

We are still waiting to hear about the battery. It will likely use a system that allows for very fast charging. We expect to see battery sizes around 95 kWh or 103 kWh. For reference, the older Z10 cost between RMB 186,800 ($27,200) and RMB 229,800 ($33,400), and the price of the new 10+ will be a bit higher because of all that extra power.

Via