In-depth intelligence on China's EV sector and its impact on Europe
Lynk & Co's first all-electric sedan launches in China in Q2 2026 with a 900V platform, 13-minute partial charge, and Nvidia Thor compute as standard. The engineering is Zeekr's. The brand already has a subscription footprint in Europe.
AUTOLINK, a Chinese automotive computing supplier, announced its European strategy in Paris on March 18. Every major European carmaker is currently deciding whether to build next-generation vehicle software hardware internally or buy it from a supplier.
Nio has produced 550,000 in-house chips and is now selling them to other automakers. BYD applied the same vertical integration logic to batteries. European OEMs source their entire ADAS computing stack from external suppliers. The pattern is the same. The sector-level implications may be too.
Xiaomi launched the second-generation SU7 in China with Nvidia Thor compute, LiDAR, and 4D radar standard across all trims, including the entry model at approximately €27,900.
WeRide has launched Slovakia's first national-level autonomous driving program, partnering directly with the Ministry of Transport, the City of Bratislava, and Slovak Post. It is a deliberate entry architecture: one government agreement instead of navigating fragmented regulatory frameworks across Western Europe individually.
Eve Energy has produced its first solid-state EV battery cells at its Chengdu facility and is targeting 100 MWh annual capacity by December 2026. The milestone confirms production progress. Commercial viability, cycle life, and cost competitiveness remain undisclosed by any manufacturer globally.
Xpeng has begun mass production of a steer-by-wire SUV below €65,000, using Bosch hardware designed for L4 autonomous driving architectures. European safety standards for the same technology are still being written.
Xiaomi's YU7 GT has filed with China's MIIT at 1,003 hp and a 3,000 mm wheelbase, targeting a segment where Porsche and Audi have faced no credible outside competition for decades. Whether a specification sheet is enough to move buyers in that market is a question Europe's premium manufacturers are now watching closely.
BMW has unveiled the i3 sedan with a 900 km WLTP-certified range and 400 kW charging capability. On motorways, European infrastructure is built to match it. Everywhere else, the cars are moving faster than the grid meant to serve them.
CharGo's European entry should be read separately from CATL's battery supply agreements with European OEMs. This is not battery chemistry or vehicle manufacturing. This is CATL moving downstream into the service layer of the European EV market, competing in infrastructure rather than components.
