not Porsche ?Here we are. Your opportunity to build your own electric car. Start off with a complete CATL working drive train and battery chassis.
Could practically drop a VW body on top of it .. Nah.
That is the big issue IMO, efficiency, that was what turned me from the EV5 to the Kona.But the efficiency is the thing reviewers keep mentioning, the 7 is a heavy vehicle.
saw one last weekend .. fairly new ( less than a week old )I just had an opportunity to look at a used BYD Ute, looks and drives pretty good. But, and a big but at that, I saw light brown rust colouring running down the white paintwork. Rust already?
I Googled it and found -
While BYD vehicles, including the Ute, have been reported to have some corrosion issues, particularly around attachment points and undercarriage components, it's not universally a widespread problem.
What cars will we be driving in the future? Just look to Shangh-AI
In 2018, I visited Shanghai to watch the Power play the Gold Coast Suns. Port won that day.
An amazing city with a population of near 25 million, roughly the same as Australia, and you sense it is a place where east meets west.
I recall the noise of the city. Cars, buses and scooters everywhere – an assault on all the senses.
The other week, I had the opportunity to return to Shanghai to attend Auto Shanghai 2025 – the biggest automotive show in the world.
The quietness and blue sky of Shanghai left an unforgettable impression. Yes, you read that correctly. You can hear the beat of the city and see the skyscrapers. The scooters have become electric, the buses too, and my best guess is that half of all vehicles were electric or hybrid, although most did look like Tesla cousins.
It was a strange feeling. Recent data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that new energy vehicles, such as EVs, now make up more than 50 per cent of new vehicle sales.
In Shanghai, so much has changed in such a short time.
It was in stark contrast to the streets of Adelaide, where just 5.4 per cent of new vehicles are fully electric.
Looking further afield, the United Kingdom has 20.4 per cent of the new vehicle sales as fully electric, demonstrating that the rest of the world still has a long road ahead towards full decarbonisation of passenger transport.
Back to the car show.
What I experienced at Auto Shanghai 2025 was nothing short of mind-blowing.
The show is housed across eight two-storey arenas, each the size of the Adelaide Convention Centre. The size and scale of the event were only the beginning. I noticed lots of young people, teenagers and children experiencing the technology in the cars like in an Apple Store.
Of course, I expected to see electric vehicles and hybrids, and there were plenty on show with names I dare not try to pronounce.
Xpeng, Ora, BYD, Xiamoi, Zeekr, Aion, Roewe, Voyah, Wuling and many more.
But it wasn’t the fact that these vehicles had the latest battery technology or that they could drive up to 1500 kms without needing a charge or fuel. It was the integration of artificial intelligence that astounded me.
The dashboard as we know it today will soon be no longer, replaced by screens from the left to the right. Video screens displaying the side mirror view, a driver’s screen, a central screen for all the car connections and a passenger screen for entertainment.
The rear vision mirrors replaced with live video from the rear of the car. In the back, personalised controls on the door for each passenger to adjust air conditioning, seat heating or sound levels for your speaker. One car even had a full cinema screen that drops from the roof lining behind the front seats and a projector, allowing passengers everything from video on demand to video conferencing.
Beyond the screens and dozens of cameras placed all over the car, connectivity is the new frontier being led by Chinese manufacturers.
Think mobility meets connectivity to provide convenience and ultimately another step towards the Internet of Things.
One car I sat in, retailed at $USD35,000 ($AUD55,000), featured all of the aforementioned, but what it really did was connect with your life. Through speech recognition, motorists can order takeaways on the way home, put on the air conditioner at home before arriving home, ask it where a car park spot is nearby and conduct everyday banking through it.
Then there are these pods on the top of the car, just above the front windscreen. Remember the London Taxi sign? In concert with the dozens of other cameras around the vehicle, we are seeing the start of the next generation of autonomous vehicles.
I returned home from Auto Shanghai 2025 trying to imagine what from the motor show and the streets of Shanghai will arrive in Australia. Auto Shanghai is a looking glass into Australia’s automotive future.
While some of the technology at Auto Shanghai were prototypes, for display purposes only, a lot will trickle down into vehicles Australian consumers will purchase in the coming years.
No doubt our design rules and regulations will come into play.
The current uncertainty of global trade, courtesy of tariffs imposed by the USA and the European Union to protect their local automotive manufacturing industries, will come into play. We don’t build cars here anymore, and as takers of technology, Chinese-built cars will undoubtedly grow their local presence as the federal government chases ambitious targets under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard.
But one thing I do know is that Aussies love technology, and it is only a matter of time before this AI, electric vehicle and connected motoring future arrives at a driveway near you.
The wife and I went to Bejing in 2018, what surprised me even back then, was all the small motorbikes like the ones in Bali, Thailand etc, were quiet unlike Bali etc.The quietness and blue sky of Shanghai left an unforgettable impression. Yes, you read that correctly. You can hear the beat of the city and see the skyscrapers. The scooters have become electric, the buses too, and my best guess is that half of all vehicles were electric or hybrid, although most did look like Tesla cousins.
Who would have thought that a country like China, congested cities and overpopulated, would one day surpass first world countries like Australia and Europe with quiet and clean cities. One thing I hate when I eat out alfresco style is the noise combustion engines racing by, especially the gangster style Mercedes, VW's and Beemers with their race style exhaust.
And in Shenzhen, not only motorbikes but taxis and buses were electric, from 2018 as well.The wife and I went to Bejing in 2018, what surprised me even back then, was all the small motorbikes like the ones in Bali, Thailand etc, were quiet unlike Bali etc.
They were into electric motor bikes back then. Lol
Not as energy dense. Low end cars.Chinese CATL Unveils ‘Salt Battery,’ Shaking Korean Battery Industry
Chinese CATL Unveils 'Salt Battery,' Shaking Korean Battery Industry - SodiumBatteryHub
Chinese battery manufacturer CATL introduced its innovative Sodium-ion Battery, commonly referred to as the ‘salt battery,’ during its Tech Day event in Shanghai on April 21. This new technology, which eliminates the need for expensive lithium and is safer than traditional alternatives, is...sodiumbatteryhub.com
as i see it 'low end ' is the lion's share of the market , which will impact my exposure to lithium tech ( probably less demand as time goes on )Not as energy dense. Low end cars.
i am guessing the Chinese are using the 'ant' strategy ' smaller but many each vehicle break-down ( repair ) is less on an impact on the mining ( as would trucks off-line for recharging )Not cars but mining trucks, so posting here or in FMG?
View attachment 199663
From China news
To put things in perspective, i used to work with hauling trucks in Australia with around 400t capacity
4 of these trucks for one Komatsu or CAT
The coal face in blackwater mine is 15km long
So in one long hauling trip return, the diesel truck carries as much as 4 of these,and travel for 30 km.. but you can imagine a fleet of small trucks why not.i actually like that approach
But with a 90km range sadly,in 3 trips, the small truck needs to stop and recharge..Nope.maybe in a local gravel pit or quarry, not in our Aussie mines
Given the previous discussions between using LIDAR as the Chinese are heading, versus infrared and visible spectum cameras that Tesla use, I found the following article interesting.Not cars but mining trucks, so posting here or in FMG?
It's not a case of Chicken Little, the Sky is Falling in, more like the Chinese are taking over the world by any means, stealth etc.Given the previous discussions between using LIDAR as the Chinese are heading, versus infrared and visible spectum cameras that Tesla use, I found the following article interesting.
It seems that Lasers in the guise of LIDAR can do some real damage to cameras if you are not careful.
I wonder what might happen if the Chinese instructed its LADAR systems to sweep an area and ruin any cameras within the vicinity.
Security cameras, Cameras on Vehicles, peoples phones etc would all be affected.
View attachment 199683
View attachment 199684
Mick
Maybe they have 5 minute swap out battery packs, that would make sense a rack of batteries on charge and swap the dead one for a charged one.Not cars but mining trucks, so posting here or in FMG?
View attachment 199663
From China news
To put things in perspective, i used to work with hauling trucks in Australia with around 400t capacity
4 of these trucks for one Komatsu or CAT
The coal face in blackwater mine is 15km long
So in one long hauling trip return, the diesel truck carries as much as 4 of these,and travel for 30 km.. but you can imagine a fleet of small trucks why not.i actually like that approach
But with a 90km range sadly,in 3 trips, the small truck needs to stop and recharge..Nope.maybe in a local gravel pit or quarry, not in our Aussie mines
even if done so, it is a serious issue as hauling is not just A to B, it is hard enough to find a given place to shift workers..Anyway, I am sure plenty of greenies will explain how miners should run their minesMaybe they have 5 minute swap out battery packs, that would make sense a rack of batteries on charge and swap the dead one for a charged one.
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