Apple partner Foxconn helps revive EV startup Byton

Byton M-Byte pre-productionFoxconn—the Taiwanese firm best known for contract manufacturing Apple electronics—is helping to prop up Chinese EV startup Byton. The two companies have signed a "strategic cooperation framework" with the aim of finally getting the Byton M-Byte electric crossover into production by 2022, Byton said Monday in a press release. Under the...

Nio teases 150-kwh battery, next-gen battery swapping for flagship sedan

Nio flagship sedan teaserChinese automaker Nio on Tuesday revealed that a 150-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a next-generation battery-swapping system will be rolled out with its upcoming flagship sedan. Previewed with a shadowy teaser image, the sedan will debut as part of the Nio Day event January 9. Until then, the company is keeping most other details—like any...

Tesla nearly reaches 500,000 deliveries in 2020

2020 Tesla Model YIn a pandemic year that’s put some automakers on an austerity budget, Tesla was once again the outlier. As much of the legacy auto market expected to be down about 15% year over year, Tesla reported on Saturday that it closed 2020 with global deliveries up nearly 36% from 2019. Not only that, but the company has come surprisingly close to...

Chinese-built Tesla Model 3 ranks high in quality survey

Tesla starts delivery of Chinese-made Model 3 sedans on December 30, 2019Tesla Model 3 electric cars built at the company's Shanghai factory scored well in a Chinese-market J.D. Power quality survey, according to a recent South China Morning Post report. Tesla was ranked second in quality among battery-electric cars in the survey, behind Chinese automaker Nio, the report said. However, both brands' scores—113...