We’ve said it before and will say it again: Build Your Dreams (BYD) is coming. The Chinese automaker continues to gain momentum in global NEV sales and does not expect to hit the brakes anytime soon. According to multiple sources, BYD aims to have half of its vehicle sales come from other markets outside China within the next five years.
Most of the time we’re covering BYD, we’re either talking about low-cost BEVs with advanced technology, or marveling at the pace at which the Chinese automaker is becoming one of the most innovative and fast-growing companies in its respective segment.
BYD has already expanded its market reach throughout Asia and into new markets with sales and localized production around Europe, South America, and (maybe) North America. 2024 marked a record year for BYD’s financial results, tallying over $100 billion in sales. With Q1 of 2025 now behind us, BYD’s momentum has done everything but falter.
Through the first three months of 2025, BYD had sold over one million New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), up 60% from the 626,263 sold in Q1 2024. This led a tech research firm to predict once again that the Chinese automaker will finally overtake Tesla in total BEV sales this year.
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In April, BYD outsold both Tesla and Mercedes-Benz in the UK and has seen its overseas sales double. If these trends continue, BYD could very well become the most recognizable vehicle badge on roads worldwide, and according to recent reports, that’s precisely what it is targeting.
A BYD BEV on display at the Shanghai Auto Show / Credit: Scooter Doll
BYD looks to become a global player in EV sales by 2030
As reported by Reuters, four people familiar with BYD’s business strategy state that the Chinese automaker has set a goal of having half of its vehicle sales come from outside its native China by the end of the decade. While brands like BYD remain deterred from entering a potentially fruitful market in the US due to trade tensions and tariffs, quick adoption and growth in South America and Europe provide evidence that BYD could reach its target.
If BYD did enter North America, more specifically the United States, its odds of garnering at least half its sales from other markets seem inevitable. However, that’s a pipe dream right now, given the current political and economic climate broiling between the US and China.
Per one of the sources, BYD has been sharing its 2030 sales target with small groups of investors since late 2024, citing continued expansions into Europe as a vital factor in said strategy. A second source attended a private event with BYD executives at the Shanghai Auto Show and relayed that BYD’s confidence in achieving the astronomical uptick in global sales comes from its speedy growth among Chinese consumers. For reference, nine out of every 10 vehicles sold by BYD last year came from a local Chinese buyer.
With such success at home in the last five years, BYD now feels confident it can adapt those learnings and find additional success in new markets overseas. If successful, BYD would become a major player in the global automotive discussion, rubbing elbows with household names like Toyota, Ford, and GM. That feat seems even greater when considering it would be the first Chinese automaker to reach such prominence.
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The Dodge Charger Daytona EV made headlines when it rolled out fake engine noises as a way to make the EV appeal to muscle car drivers. As it turns out, they weren’t the right sort of fake engine noises – and now Stellantis has to recall 8,000 of them for a fix.
What’s more, the recall’s “suspect period” reportedly begins on 30APR2024, when the first 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona was produced, and ends 18MAR2025 … when the last Charger EV was produced.
RECALL CHRONOLOGY
On April 17, 2025, the FCA US LLC (“FCA US”) Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance (“TSRC”) organization opened an investigation into certain 2024–2025 model year Dodge Charger vehicles that may not emit exterior sound.
From April 17, 2025, through May 13, 2025, FCA US TSRC met with FCA US Engineering and the supplier to understand all potential failure modes associated with the issue. They also reviewed warranty data, field records, and customer assistance records to determine field occurrences.
On May 14, 2025, the FCA US TSRC organization determined that a vehicle build issue existed on certain vehicles related to a lack of EV exterior sound, potentially resulting in noncompliance with FMVSS No. 141.
Basically, if you have a Dodge Charger EV, expect to get a recall notice.
It just keeps getting funnier
My take on the Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust, via ChatGPT.
If you’re not familiar with the Charger Daytona EV’s “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust,” it’s a system that employs a combination of digital sound synthesis and a physical tuning chamber (translation: a speaker) to produce a 126 decibel sound that approximately imitates a Hellcat Hemi V8 ICE. That’s loud enough to cause most people physical pain, according to Yale University – putting it somewhere between a loud rock concert and a passenger jet at takeoff.
While you could argue that such noises are part and parcel with powerful combustion, they’re completely irrelevant to an EV, and speak to a particular sort of infantile delusion of masculinity that I, frankly, have never been able to wrap my head around. Something akin to the, “Hey, look at me! I’m a big tough guy!” attention-whoring of a suburban Harley rider in a “Sons of Anarchy” novelty cut, without even enough courage to ride a motorcycle, you know?
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Is it an electric van or a truck? The Kia PV5 might be in a class of its own. Kia’s electric van was recently spotted charging in public with an open bed, and it looks like a real truck.
Kia’s electric van morphs into a truck with an open bed
The PV5 is the first of a series of electric vans as part of Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle business (PBV). Kia claims the PBVs are more than vans, they are “total mobility solutions,” equipped with Hyundai’s advanced software.
Based on the flexible new EV platform, E-GMP.S, Kia has several new variants in the pipeline, including camper vans, refrigerated trucks, luxury “Prime” models for passenger use, and an open bed model.
Kia launched the PV5 Passenger and Cargo in the UK earlier this year for business and personal use. We knew more were coming, but now we are getting a look at a new variant in public.
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Although we got a brief glimpse of it earlier this month driving by in Korea, Kia’s electric van was spotted charging in public with an open bed.
Kia PV5 electric van open bed variant (Source: HealerTV)
The folks at HealerTV found the PV5 variant with an open bed parked in Korea, offering us a good look from all angles.
From the front, it resembles the Passenger and Cargo variants, featuring slim vertical LED headlights. However, from the side, it’s an entirely different vehicle. The truck sits low to the ground, similar to the one captured driving earlier this month.
Kia PV5 open bed teaser (Source: Kia)
When you look at it from the back, you can’t even tell it’s the PV5. It looks like any other cargo truck with an open bed.
The PV5 open bed measures 5,000 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width, and 2,000 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,000 mm. Although Kia has yet to say how big the bed will be, the reporter mentions it doesn’t look that deep, but it’s wide enough to carry a good load.
Kia PV5 Cargo electric van (Source: Kia)
The open bed will be one of several PV5 variants that Kia plans to launch in Europe and Korea later this year, alongside the Passenger, Cargo, and Chassis Cab configurations.
In Europe, the PV5 Passenger is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant is rated with a WLTP range of 181 miles or 247 miles.
Kia PBV models (Source: Kia)
Kia will reveal battery specs closer to launch for the open bed variant, but claims it “has the longest driving range among compact commercial EVs in its class.”
In 2027, Kia will launch the larger PV7, followed by an even bigger PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1 in the works, which is expected to arrive sometime next year or in 2027.
What do you think of Kia’s electric van? Will it be a game changer? With plenty of variants on the way, it has a good chance. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Senate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy projects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry’s expansion in the latest version of President Donald Trump‘s big spending bill.
The measures, if enacted, would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, hurt the electric grid, and potentially raise electricity prices for consumers, trade groups warn.
The Senate GOP released a draft of the massive domestic spending bill over the weekend that imposes a new tax on renewable energy projects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China. The bill also phases out the two most important tax credits for wind and solar power projects that enter service after 2027.
Republicans are racing to pass Trump’s domestic spending legislation by a self-imposed Friday deadline. The Senate is voting Monday on amendments to the latest version of the bill.
The tax on wind and solar projects surprised the renewable energy industry and feels punitive, said John Hensley, senior vice president for market analysis at the American Clean Power Association. It would increase the industry’s burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s a new tax in a package that is designed to reduce the tax burden of companies across the American economy,” Hensley said. The tax hits any wind and solar project that enters service after 2027 and exceeds certain thresholds for how many components are sourced from China.
This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity production tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar projects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to about $450 billion worth of infrastructure investment, Hensley said.
“It is going to take a huge chunk of the development pipeline and either eliminate it completely or certainly push it down the road,” Hensley said. This will increase electricity prices for consumers and potentially strain the electric grid, he said.
The construction industry has warned that nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades are at risk if the energy tax credits are terminated and other measures in budget bill are implemented. Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean technology manufacturing.
“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, in a statement. “Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects.”
The Senate legislation is moving toward a “worst case outcome for solar and wind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Sunday note.
Trump’s former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” The Tesla CEO posted on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”