Tesla Model Y is already feeling the pressure of Xiaomi’s YU7
The Tesla Model Y has long been a dominant force in the EV world. It is the best-selling electric vehicle in the world, and it briefly became the best-selling car globally.
But it is being seriously challenged. In China, the Model Y is already feeling the impact of Xiaomi’s YU7.
Xiaomi wasn’t shy about positioning the YU7 against the Model Y when it unveiled the vehicle earlier this year.
The Chinese electronic giant turned EV manufacturer compared virtually every spec and price to Tesla’s best-selling EV, and it wasn’t surprising since the YU7 compares extremely favorably to Tesla’s refreshed Model Y.
The company announced that it aims to outsell the Model Y, and it made a strong start with more than 200,000 pre-orders within minutes of unveiling the vehicle.
The impact of the YU7 has already been felt throughout the Chinese EV market, as many buyers are expected to wait more than a year for the vehicle due to the backlog of orders, and Xiaomi still needs to ramp up production.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO, is so unworried about demand that he even recommended people order from competitors due to the size of the YU7 backlog.
Despite being only two months into the start of YU7 deliveries, the vehicle appears to already be putting pressure on the Model Y.
New insurance data shows Model Y versus YU7 deliveries over the last 3 months (via ThinkerCar):
The sheer volume of YU7 pre-orders disrupted the entire small EV SUV market in China, but it has settled back after it became clear that someone placing a new order wouldn’t get the vehicle until next year.
Nonetheless, as deliveries ramped up to over 3,000 units per week over the last two weeks, Tesla’s deliveries are going down and they are still far off their highs.
It is increasingly looking like the YU7 will have a similar impact on the Model Y as Xiaomi’s SU7 had on the Model 3.
Over the last year, the SU7, Xiaomi’s first EV, has been consistently outselling the Model 3. Earlier this month, there was hope that Model 3 was making a comeback, but it looks like it is already back to normal:
Tesla’s sales are down 6% year-to-date in China based on registration data.
Electrek’s Take
China is the most interesting EV market because it is by far the most competitive one. That’s because Chinese automakers are not penalized there like they are in other markets.
Furthermore, Tesla can’t complain since it basically got the same deal as Chinese automakers with its Gigafactory Shanghai in the free trade zone.
For the last 5 years, the American automaker enjoyed some dominance in the Chinese market, but now local companies have caught up and Xiaomi is one of the best examples.
The impact of the SU7 on Model 3 is undeniable.
It’s still early to see the impact of the YU7, but it appears to be happening already. It is also cannibalizing SU7 sales.
If this trend continues, it appears that YU7 will outsell Model Y by the end of the year – although I would expect Tesla to start cutting prices before then, likely with the new stripped-down Model Y, which should delay YU7 becoming the sales leader into next year.
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Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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