Tag: Batteries

In Hungary, Voters Exposed the Limits of China’s Ties to Orban

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The gigantic Chinese lithium battery factory under construction for three years on the edge of Hungary’s second biggest city hasn’t started production yet. But it has already contributed to a political earthquake. As the biggest Chinese investment in Europe, the $8.5 billion project in the eastern city of Debrecen had been hailed by Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orban, as proof of the economic benefits of his close relations with China. Instead, the factory helped bring about his downfall. In the April 12 election, Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party lost all…

Ford Says an Affordable Electric Pickup Truck is Still Coming Next Year

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Last year Ford Motor suspended production of an electric pickup truck, shut down a battery factory in Kentucky and booked a $20 billion loss to account for its diminished plans. Then, last month, the senior executive who oversaw development of this new technology left the company. But Ford executives insist that those setbacks do not mean that the company has given up on electric vehicles. As evidence, they point to a former warehouse here in Long Beach, Calif. There, a team lead by Alan Clarke, a Tesla veteran, is building…

China’s Clean Energy Push is Powering Flying Taxis, Food Delivery Drones and Bullet Trains

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By The New York Times Dec. 17, 2025 Battery-swapping robots for carsLunch from the skyVery rapid transitTaxis that drive themselvesRobot trucks don’t need windowsSubways get a makeover NYT

How China Went From Clean Energy Copycat to Global Innovator

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A single red rectangle with a patent drawing. 18 red rectangles. A grid of 5,206 red rectangles. A line chart that spans the years 2000 to 2022, with lines in different colors showing the trends in annual high quality patent filings from China, Japan, Europe, Korea, and the United States. Smart Grids Supercapacitors Methodology NYT

There’s a Race to Power the Future. China Is Pulling Away.

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ChinaSolar in Shanxi Province Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times U.S.Oil in California J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times Lithium-ion batteries China$65 bil.United States$3 bil.Asia$21 bil.Europe$26 bil.Africa$2 bil.Americas$17 bil.Oceania$1 bil. Solar panels and modules China$40 bil.United States$69 mil.Asia$11 bil.Europe$20 bil.Africa$2 bil.Americas$6 bil.Oceania$1 bil. Electric cars China$38 bil.United States$12 bil.Africa$281 mil.Oceania$3 bil.Europe$26 bil.Asia$14 bil.Americas$8 bil. Crude oil China$844 mil.United States$117 bil.Asia$50 bil.Americas$16 bil.Oceania$799 mil.Europe$52 bil.Africa$359 mil. Natural gas China$3 bil.United States$42 bil.Asia$13 bil.Europe$22 bil.Africa$3 mil.Americas$11 bil. Coal China$1 bil.United States$15 bil.Africa$718 mil.Americas$3 bil.Asia$8 bil.Europe$5 bil.Oceania$16 thou. ChinaElectric car…

Republican Bill to End E.V. Tax Credit Could Hurt G.M. and Ford

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Sales of electric vehicles have been rising in recent years, partly because of a $7,500 tax credit from the federal government that helps lower the cost of buying one. But a budget bill that House Republicans released on Monday would end that tax credit. Their proposal would also put new restrictions on other tax breaks that have encouraged automakers to invest tens of billions of dollars in new battery plants in the United States. By next year, the bill would do away with the $7,500 tax credit for buyers of…

U.S. Accuses Two Men of Stealing Tesla Trade Secrets

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A Canadian man who lives in China was arrested Tuesday and held in New York after he and a business partner were accused of trying to sell secret battery manufacturing technology belonging to Tesla. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn asked a judge to hold Klaus Pflugbeil without bail on a charge of theft of trade secrets. He was arrested after meeting with undercover agents Tuesday on Long Island and trying to sell them technology used to produce battery parts, the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New…

How China Built BYD, Its Tesla Killer

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China’s BYD was a battery manufacturer trying its hand at building cars when it showed off its newest model in 2007. American executives at the Guangzhou auto show gaped at the car’s uneven purple paint job and the poor fit of its doors. “They were the laughingstock of the industry,” said Michael Dunne, a China auto industry analyst. Nobody is laughing at BYD now. The company passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year. BYD is building assembly lines in Brazil, Hungary, Thailand and Uzbekistan and…

China’s BYD Sold 3 Million Electric Vehicles and Hybrids in 2023

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The Chinese corporate giant BYD said Monday that it sold three million battery-powered cars in 2023, its most ever, capping a turbulent year for China’s electric vehicle industry. Even as sales surged, heavy competition and a sustained price war took a financial toll on many automakers. But BYD last year sold 1.6 million fully electric vehicles and another 1.4 million hybrids, which are powered by both batteries and gasoline. Together that is a 62 percent increase over 2022. BYD is also making money, tripling its profit to $1.5 billion in…

Why Volkswagen Is Hiring 3,000 Engineers in China

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A bright orange robot, 10 feet tall, looms over Volkswagen’s new electric car assembly line in central China. It was imported from Germany. The factory’s other 1,074 robots were made in Shanghai. Volkswagen used to import shock absorbers from Central Europe for cars it makes at Chinese factories. Now it buys them from a company in China for 40 percent less. After relying for decades on engineers in Germany to design cars for the Chinese market, Volkswagen has begun hiring for a team of nearly 3,000 Chinese engineers, which will…