Motors Tracker

The Covid-19 pandemic did little to control Tesla fans' hunger for the US firm's electric vehicles in its biggest foreign market during the second quarter. The auto firm sold USD1.4 billion worth of cars in China over the quarter, doubling from a year ago, the California-headquartered firm said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. Next, the company is recruiting big in Shanghai to start making Model Ys in its first overseas plant. Tesla’s total revenue slid 5 percent to USD6 billion in the second quarter, according to the same report. Revenue on the home turf fell 11 percent to USD3 billion. The company is hiring 1,000 employees at its Shanghai Gigafactory, including assembly workers and quality inspectors, it said in a statement on We Chat earlier this month. This is the first time that Tesla is recruiting designers in China. The campaign is partly in preparation for Model Ys, Tencent's tech news arm reported, citing an insider. The automaker...

The US carmaker Tesla Motors announced to slash deposits Chinese customers have to pay for Model3, Model S and Model X to CNY1,000 today yesterday, while these deposits are neither refundable nor transferable. Customers are also required to take the car within 180 days.  Customers were asked to pay a refundable deposit of CNY20,000 - CNY30,000.  This is regarded as Tesla ’s tactics to keep sales momentum in the face of intensifying competition and reductions in the government’s electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.  Tesla also stressed that the long-range and high-performance version of Model 3 with prices over CNY300,000 ， will not be subsidized.

Chinese automaker BYD yesterday released its first vehicle equipped with the company's patented blade battery, the Han model. The vehicle is regarded as the major rival to the Tesla Model 3 in China. The company’s shares [SHE:002594] rose 6.83 percent to CNY95.08 (USD13.46) by mid-morning on the release. The BYD Han has three battery electric vehicle models with subsidized prices from CNY230,000 (USD32,848.23) to CNY279,500. Tesla Model 3 sells for more than CNY271,500 after subsidies in China. The blade battery is Shenzhen-based BYD's proprietary patented product. It is more stable than conventional ternary lithium and lithium   iron phosphate batteries and supplies more power on one charge. The Han BEV ultra-long life battery version can run 605 kilometers upon one top up, while the hybrid DM version can go more than 800 kilometers. The China-made Tesla Model 3 with a ternary lithium battery produced by LG Chem can run only 468 kilometers on one charge, by contrast. The BYD H...

Orders can now be placed in China for Tesla’s Cybertruck, a pure electric light commercial vehicle with sports car speeds. Reservations can be made for as little as CNY1,000 (USD142), according to the US electric car giant’s China website. The model, slated to be released next year, is available for between USD39,900 and USD69,900 in the US.Orders for the Cybertruck has exceeded 620,000 as of March this year. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the California-based startup sold over 30,000 units in China in the first five months of the year. It topped the country’s new energy vehicle sales in May.