EV Desk updated 2026-10-26

Can you buy a Chinese EV in North America? US: no. Canada: starting now. Mexico: everywhere.

United States: the 100% tariff on Chinese-built EVs from 2024 is still in place, and the connected-vehicle software rule keeps Chinese-brand cars out even if someone paid it. BYD has said publicly it is not coming to the US. Expect that to hold through 2027.

Canada went the other way. The January 2026 trade reset cut the tariff from 100% to 6.1% on up to 49,000 Chinese EVs a year (rising 6.5% a year), on condition that the makers set up Canadian vehicle or battery joint ventures within three years; China dropped duties on canola, lobster, crab and peas in return. BYD has applied to ship under the quota and is planning roughly 20 dealerships starting in Toronto, with a late-2026 launch reported. So far the quota has been lightly used, mostly Shanghai-built Tesla Model 3s and a few Lotus Eletres.

Mexico: Chinese brands are already mainstream on the road, which is why the US rule matters for cross-border shoppers: a Mexican-registered BYD cannot be imported.

Sources: CNBC (Jan 17), Electrek (Mar 24), Globe and Mail, Axios.

Battery watch: sodium-ion goes into mass production, solid-state is a 2027 story, 5-minute charging is a claim

• CATL Naxtra (sodium-ion): 175 Wh/kg, full-scale mass production by the end of 2026, and the first sodium-ion cell to pass China's new GB 38031-2025 traction-battery safety standard. Sodium cells are cheaper than lithium and shrug off cold; the trade is lower energy density, so expect them in city cars and hybrids first.
• BYD solid-state: a 2-GWh pilot line in Shenzhen running since February; a 20-GWh line in Chongqing planned; first car with its own solid-state pack in 2027, as a demonstration vehicle rather than a volume model.
• BYD second-generation Blade: BYD's March 5 claim is 10% to 70% in five minutes on its own megawatt chargers. Manufacturer claim; no independent test yet.
• SVOLT: the first 100-kWh semi-solid (hybrid solid-liquid) packs rolled off its line on Oct 26.

Sources: electrive (Feb 9), BigGo Finance, ChinaEVHome (Oct 26), CATL announcements.

Europe: Chinese brands at a record 11% of Western Europe, duties and all

Chinese brands took a record 10.7% of new-car sales across 18 Western European countries in the second quarter (5.7% a year earlier) and 11.2% in July with sales up 107%, per Schmidt Automotive Research. In pure EVs they passed 15% of the European market in April. The EU's countervailing duties on China-built BEVs are 17.0% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for SAIC on top of the standard 10%, which is why the factories are moving: BYD's Szeged, Hungary plant (150,000 a year in phase one), Leapmotor in Zaragoza, XPeng and GAC through Magna in Austria, Chery with Ebro in Barcelona. JPMorgan expects Chinese cars, locally built included, to reach 20% of Western Europe by 2028.

Sources: SCMP, Electric Cars Report (Aug), InsideEVs (Oct 20).

September scoreboard: BYD's best month of the year, Leapmotor over 100,000 again, Zeekr doubles

BYD sold 463,561 new-energy vehicles in September, up 17% and its best month of 2026, but the shape matters: exports were 180,700 (+154%) while domestic sales fell 13%. Nine-month exports of 1.34 million already beat all of 2025. Leapmotor (105,656) cleared 100,000 for a third month, Zeekr doubled to 37,216, NIO grew 7.7% on the strength of the NIO brand, while XPeng was flat, Xiaomi dipped 4.6% despite its best month of the year, Li Auto fell 6.3% and Huawei's HIMA brands dropped 29%. The full table is below.

Sources: CnEVPost BYD (Oct 1), CnEVPost roundup (Oct 1).

Leapmotor is now a European-built EV; XPeng ships the L05 abroad before China sees it

Production of the Leapmotor B10 crossover started at Stellantis' Zaragoza plant in Spain on Oct 16, with the B05 hatchback allocated to the same plant (EFE reports a Q1 2027 start). Stellantis owns 51% of the joint venture that sells Leapmotor outside China, and a Spanish-built car pays no EU countervailing duty. XPeng, meanwhile, began shipping its new L05 mid-size SUV to export markets days before its China launch on Oct 28, and its YOYO robotaxi unit picked up an L4 pilot permit in Guangzhou.

Sources: InsideEVs (Oct 20), eletric-vehicles.com, ChinaEVHome.

Why the stocks are falling while the cars sell: China's home market just hit a wall

NIO, XPeng, Li Auto and BYD shares sold off this week after CLSA roughly halved its NIO and XPeng targets and cut BYD and Li Auto. The trigger is at home: China's NEV retail sales fell 13% in the first 18 days of October while the overall car market dropped 26%. Two things changed in 2026. The NEV purchase-tax exemption was halved on Jan 1 (buyers now pay 5%, with the break capped at ¥15,000), which pulled demand into late 2025, and the price war has not stopped. XPeng trades near $9.90, 55% below its high for the year; Polestar, Leapmotor, Xiaomi and Chery are all down double digits in 2026. The export numbers are the other half of the story: the growth is abroad.

Sources: Benzinga (Oct 2026), Benchmark Minerals, CnEVPost (Jan 14).

Welcome to the EV Desk: why we follow the Chinese makers first

BYD alone sells more plug-in cars in a month than the entire US EV market does, Chinese brands are a tenth of Western Europe's market, and the technology that sets prices (LFP, sodium-ion, 800-volt charging, battery swap) is being decided in Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Hefei. This desk tracks the monthly scoreboard, the models worth knowing with their launch prices, the battery news that matters, and the one question American readers ask first: can I buy one. It is refreshed on weekdays; every number carries its source and date.