China is exporting so many EVs that it needs more ships – a lot more
Chinese EV makers are looking to export electric vehicles by the tens of thousands around the globe, but they need a lot more car-carrying vessels to make that happen. Demand is so high that the country is on track to amass what will be the world’s fourth-largest fleet in a few short years, with new trade routes being created especially for Chinese EVs.
China now has the world’s eighth-largest shipping fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, according to data from shipping consultants Veson Nautical and reported by Reuters. By comparison, Japan tops the list with 284 ships, followed by Norway, which has 102. South Korea comes in third with 72 and the Isle of Man, which has 61 registered ships, in fourth.
Yet, the current state of affairs is rapidly changing, with Chinese companies putting 47 ships on order, which accounts for a quarter of all orders globally. Customers buying the ships include SAIC Motor, Chery, BYD, as well as shipping companies COSCO and China Merchants “on behalf of Chinese automakers,” reports Reuters.
“After this armada has been delivered to China, the Chinese controlled car carrier fleet will jump from current 2.4% to 8.7%,” Veson analyst Andrea de Luca told Reuters. “We expect to see new trade routes established almost exclusively for Chinese OEMs.”
China has already overtaken Japan as the world’s largest auto exporter, with BYD alone exporting more than 240,000 vehicles last year, making up about 80% of its global sales. This year, it plans to export up to 400,000 EVs. The EV giant already has one purpose-built 7,000-EV-capacity ship and plans to add seven more such vessels in two years.
Tesla and Volkswagen have also expanded their exports from China, which of course leverages the country’s cheaper supply chain to their advantage.
Cars are typically transported by sea using roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships that allow vehicles to be driven directly on rather than using a crane. But these ships have been in short supply in recent years, with older vessels being retired and new ship orders down due to both the 2008 financial crisis and the industry upgrade to less-polluting fuels, reports MIT Technology Review.
In Japan, Nissan and Toyota each have fleets of RORO ships that can carry tens of thousands of cars, but for China, its domestic car-carrier vessels have represented a tiny portion of the global shipping capacity – only 2.8% – leaving Chinese companies few options for exporting their cars.
As a result, access to RORO ships has cost a fortune, with the daily rate to charter ships reaching $115,000 a day. That’s more than seven times higher than the price in 2019. So companies have turned to just buying the ship themselves.
Electrek’s Take
This is all happening as China is under scrutiny for what the European Commission says is unfairly subsidizing EVs exporting to Europe, with Washington keeping a close eye. For one, in China, the state subsidies paired with the economic slowdown have created a massive pileup of oversupply, with companies looking to export and clear out inventories. Hence, cheap EVs coming your way (well, not in the US, at least not yet anyway). Still, steep import tariffs await on European borders.
And let’s peek under the hood a bit too: Chinese President Xi “had accelerated an industrial drive centered on EVs, semiconductors and artificial intelligence and renewable energy” to try to compete with the US, China correspondent Lingling Wei told Reuters. But behind the scenes “is a struggling overall economy that many economists say could see even greater waste down the road because of the state-led industrial drive,” she said.
Not to mention, the shipping industry is currently facing its own carbon emissions reckoning and needs to radically decarbonize in the coming years to meet Paris climate goals. It’s currently sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide, which puts it between Japan and Germany, according to the World Bank. So moving EVs all over the world certainly comes at a price, environmentally, of course.
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File this under “wishful thinking” if you want, but a fresh trademark filing for the Buick Electra name could mean that the storied nameplate is set for a return to US shores.
GM Authority reports that Buick parent company General Motors has renewed its trademark for the Buick Electra name in the US in a filing from 09DEC2025 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and received an assigned serial number 99538079. The application carries a Goods and Services of, “Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles.”
Electra a nameplate that holds a long history with the near-luxe Buick brand and has generally been believed to be one that’s especially relevant to Buick’s electrification strategy in the US. That’s a notion that seems especially true when you consider the following two facts:
- the Buick Electra nameplate is already featured on a number of hugely successful GM products being sold in the ultra-competitive Chinese market
- 2027 is the fortieth anniversary of the Buick Grand National, and GM’s marketers are way too smart to let that moment slide
It’s worth noting, of course, that this most recent renewal for the Buick Electra trademark is a long, long way from a confirmation of a new all-electric Buick for the US market and even further from a confirmation that we’re getting the hot, sexy Electra GM sells in China. If anything, it’s likely just a matter of course legal thing that GM needs to protect its IP in China while, at the same time, preventing some kind of disastrous Sierra Mist scenario from playing out at home (which– yeah, I get that it’s not true, but you got the idea).
That said, I want to believe.
Electrek’s Take
I’m a huge fan of GM, GM’s EVs, and the way Mary Barra has managed the General over the past several years. I also think a big, sexy sedan is sorely missing from GM’s lineup, and the fast, flashy electric sedan formula might play better at the Buick store than at the Cadillac brand.
Combine that with an overwhelming desire to see a new-age Buick Grand National parked in my garage next Christmas and you can see that I’m not to be trusted. So, what say you? Head on down to the comments and let us know what you think of an American Electra revival just in time for the 2027 model year.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GM Authority; GM.
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Heavy equipment giants Caterpillar have signed an agreement with Vale that will see the company dramatically expand its fleet of autonomous haul trucks deployed at iron ore operations in the Carajás region of Brazil over the next three years.
Vale’s Northern System mining operation currently has 14 CAT, 320-ton autonomous haul trucks in service. With this new deal, sold by Caterpillar’s Brazilian dealer, Sotreq, the autonomous haul truck fleet will expand to some ninety (!) of the massive, self-driving trucks by 2028. The big yellow trucks will be operated by CAT®, MineStar™ Command for hauling, and ship with a payload capacity of between 240 to an almost unimaginable 400 (!!) tons.
“We’re proud to introduce Cat Command for hauling at Vale’s Carajás site,” says Marc Cameron, Senior Vice President at Caterpillar. “By equipping Vale’s haul trucks with our autonomous technology, we will be delivering scalable solutions that meet their needs across a mixed fleet.”
CAT says this new deal represents, “a transformational leap,” citing the fact that autonomous trucks remove workers from hazardous areas and enable safer and more inclusive environments for mine employees – and more efficient operations for Vale.
That fact is backed by results from other Vale operations that have deployed large numbers of autonomous vehicles, which saw gains of up to 15% in operational performance and a 7.5% reduction in fuel use (more with electric drive), contributing to the reduction of the company’s carbon emissions. And, because this is end-stage capitalism 2025, they’re crediting AI for discovering those efficiencies.
“By integrating autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and advanced data analysis, we are modernizing our mining operations in the Northern Corridor, becoming a global benchmark in smart mining, promoting the transformation of the industry, and connecting us to international best practices,” says Rafael Bittar, Vale Vice President, Technical.
The trucks will be delivered over the next three years, and are expected to be in full operation and up to speed by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
As I’ve said before, EVs and mining to together like peanut butter and jelly. In confined spaces, the carbon emissions and ear-splitting noise made by conventional, ICE-powered mining equipment can create dangerous circumstances that can lead to serious injuries (or worse), and that’s just going to make it even harder for a mining operation to keep people working and minerals coming out of the ground.
By working with companies like Caterpillar to prove that forward-looking electric equipment can do the job as well as well as (if not better than) their internal combustion counterparts, Vale will go a long way towards converting what’s left of the ICE faithful.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Vale, Caterpillar.
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Electric medium-duty startups Motive and Workhorse have logged millions of miles across their customer fleets — and by joining forces, they’re out to prove, once and for all, that electric vehicles can get the job done.
Following shareholder votes last month, Ohio-based Workhorse and San Francisco-based Motive are merging to form one of the largest commercial electric vehicle and last-mile delivery telematics solutions companies in the industry.
The all-stock transaction, announced last week, values the combined company at approximately $105 million and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to Workhorse shareholder approval.
Under the terms of the agreement, Motiv’s controlling investor will become the majority owner with approximately 62.5% of the combined company, while Workhorse shareholders will maintain a significant equity stake of approximately 26.5%.
The move is intended to combine Workhorse’ manufacturing capabilities and nationwide dealer network with Motiv’s proven product portfolio and existing fleet relationships to serve the growing $23 billion medium-duty truck segment with a full range of Class 4-6 electric vehicles that plays to the strengths of both companies while, at the same time, proving them with economies of scale they’ll need to survive the next wave of fake “the EV market is dead” headlines.
“Bringing together two leading OEMs in the medium-duty space strengthens our ability to reduce the cost of electric trucks and make the total cost of ownership even more compelling,” said Scott Griffith, CEO of Motiv, who will lead the combined company. “We believe this is a coming-of-age moment — not just for Motiv and Workhorse, but for the industry as a whole.”
The companies anticipate a minimum of $20 million in cost synergies by the end of 2026 through reductions in redundant R&D, G&A, and facility costs (and, of course, the associated layoffs).
Workhorse’s Union City facility has the capacity to eventually produce up to 5,000 trucks per year — a significant manufacturing scale for the merged operation and light years ahead of what Motiv’s existing facilities can crank out.
“This transaction represents a significant milestone for Workhorse, our customers, our stakeholders and our shareholders,” Rick Dauch, CEO of Workhorse and advisor to the new, combined company told FreightWaves. “We believe Motiv is the right partner to support the advancement of our combined product roadmap and capture new growth opportunities.”
The new, combined electric box van company will being life with 10 of the largest medium-duty fleets in North America as existing customers, and hopes to expand their line of offerings into the electric bus and RV markets in the years to come.
Electrek’s Take
Workhorse and Motive can spin this merger however they like — but this move is as much about survival in the new, incentive-lite era of Trump 2 than it is about anything else. That doesn’t mean it’s not a smart move, as each of the parts of this new whole has eliminated a very strong competitor while, at the same time, gaining all at least some of their best features.
As cynical as I am about corporate consolidation and layoffs (especially during the holidays), I can’t help but think this could be a winning move.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Workhorse; via FreightWaves.
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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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