The EU's higher tariffs on China-made battery electric vehicles are reshaping global auto trade and investment. As Brussels tightens market access, Chinese carmakers are being pushed toward local production, while Europe's struggling manufacturers are becoming more important partners, targets, and bargaining chips.
AI-defined vehicles (AIDVs) are built on software-defined vehicles (SDVs), and Tesla is arguably the world's most representative company at integrating and commercializing these technologies. Yet the market rarely hears Tesla emphasize or explain the AIDV concept.
China's falling robotaxi supply chain costs could help push the global autonomous taxi market to US$1 trillion by 2040, with Waymo and Tesla leading worldwide as Baidu, Xpeng and WeRide scale rapidly in China, according to Morgan Stanley.
China is increasingly viewing 2026 as the launch year for sodium-ion batteries, as the technology's cost advantages in the energy storage market become more visible. The latest analysis from Bernstein and Morgan Stanley says sodium batteries are no longer just a low-cost alternative to lithium batteries, but are emerging as a complementary technology alongside them.
China's sodium-ion battery sector is drawing intense attention as surging lithium carbonate prices lift lithium battery production costs. But Chinese media say the market is already showing a split between "big-company heat and small-company chill," and that large-scale production could expose new material shortages.
