/daily ·09 JUL 2026 ·THURSDAY ·3 MIN READ ·7 STORIES

Waymo lands in Vegas, CATL hits 7 minutes

Waymo goes fully driverless in Las Vegas and announces four more cities, CATL launches a commercial battery that recharges in seven minutes, and China mandates physical buttons back onto car dashboards.

01 / The Day

THURSDAY 09 JUL 2026, ranked

Waymo goes driverless in Las Vegas, names Denver, San Diego and Tampa next

Waymo expanded fully autonomous operations — no safety driver — to Las Vegas including the Strip corridor, and announced Denver, San Diego, and Tampa as the next expansion markets. The pace of city launches in 2026 is the fastest since Waymo''s San Francisco debut, and Las Vegas is widely viewed as a more demanding operating environment than prior markets.

Why it mattersConsistent driverless operation in a dense tourist-traffic environment like the Strip moves the regulatory conversation in every city still watching and deciding whether to permit.

01 electrek.co↗

CATL''s new commercial EV battery reaches 80% charge in 7 minutes

CATL unveiled an ultra-fast-charging battery system for light commercial vehicles that reaches 80% state of charge in approximately seven minutes, alongside a low-temperature sodium-ion variant that maintains range at -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Both systems carry a million-kilometre warranty.

Why it mattersSeven-minute commercial charging effectively removes charging downtime as a practical differentiator from diesel for fleet operators — the electrification business case for logistics just got sharper.

02 thedriven.io↗

BYD Shark PHEV pickup launches in UK at £63,000 with 56 miles EV range

BYD brought its Shark pickup truck to the UK at a £63,000 starting price, with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain delivering 56 miles of pure-electric range and a combined range exceeding the Ford Ranger PHEV. The UK is the first western European market for the Shark, already on sale in China, Latin America, and Australia.

Why it mattersA Chinese pickup in Britain at that spec tests whether European buyers follow economics over brand familiarity — the first real western market data point on Chinese pickup acceptance.

03 electrek.co↗

Kia EV4 gains all-wheel drive and nearly 350 miles of range in Europe

Kia added an AWD variant to the EV4 hatchback for European markets, bringing range close to 350 miles while keeping the sub-compact footprint of the base model. The EV4 is positioned below the EV6 crossover in Kia''s line-up.

Why it mattersAWD with that range at a hatchback price puts the EV4 in direct contention with the Model 3 Long Range AWD — the most closely watched comparison in European EV retail right now.

04 electrek.co↗

China mandates physical buttons in cars, reversing Tesla-led touchscreen trend

China''s transport regulators enacted rules requiring physical buttons or knobs for safety-critical functions — hazards, window controls, door locks — across new car models, reversing the touchscreen-dominant dashboard philosophy that Tesla popularised and Chinese manufacturers widely adopted. The mandate applies to new model approvals entering the Chinese market.

Why it mattersChina is the world''s largest car market, and the regulation forces a redesign cycle across dozens of EV makers who copied Tesla''s all-screen UI — it signals a regulatory divergence that will spread.

05 electrek.co↗

Xiaomi announces Sky Nomad extended-range EV brand targeting 1,500 km combined range

Xiaomi confirmed Sky Nomad as its extended-range EV sub-brand competing directly with Li Auto, and announced a full-size SUV claiming over 1,500 kilometres of combined range. The brand targets Chinese consumers who remain range-anxious despite improved BEV infrastructure.

Why it mattersXiaomi entering EREVs rather than BEVs signals the range-anxiety market is not solved in China — a 1,500 km claim in this format will set consumer and competitor expectations for the segment.

06 electrek.co↗

MIT identifies solid-state battery dendrite mechanism and a fix

MIT researchers identified precisely how metallic dendrites — tiny spikes that short-circuit solid-state batteries — form under normal charging conditions, and demonstrated a solid-electrolyte-interface modification that prevents their formation. Dendrite formation has been the most persistently cited fundamental barrier to solid-state EV batteries surviving real charge cycles.

Why it mattersSolving the dendrite problem does not mean solid-state batteries are ready for production, but it removes the most-cited fundamental obstacle — the open question shifts from ''can it be done'' to ''at what cost and timeline''.

07 insideevs.com↗

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The Daily Archive

/SAT 01 AUGProbes, Fleets, and Flanking Moves /FRI 31 JULZoox wins driverless approval; Tesla eyes China exit /THU 30 JULThe Surge Edition /WED 29 JULWednesday, 29 July — Robots in London, a prince in Nevada /TUE 28 JULBMW goes topless; Porsche goes sideways /MON 27 JULUS BEVs Fell 25% in H1, BYD Revealed the Da Han with a Price, and Tesla's Robotaxi Timeline Is Under Scrutiny /SUN 26 JULSafety Numbers and an Own Goal from Honda /SAT 25 JULBYD goes long; NHTSA goes broad /FRI 24 JULToyota Blinks /WED 22 JULEurope surges, America stabilises, Honda exits /TUE 21 JULChina's ICE cliff, and other certainties /SUN 19 JULBYD's paperwork problem; America's charging comeback /SAT 18 JULGermany flips /FRI 17 JULFriday in EVs: Honda folds, Volvo flies /WED 15 JULSix in a row, and one near-miss /TUE 14 JULCalifornia draws lines, BYD draws power /MON 13 JULRecord quarter, shrinking margin /SAT 11 JULSoftware that delivers, hardware that charges /FRI 10 JULEV Friday: Sales surge abroad, deals at home /THU 09 JULWaymo lands in Vegas, CATL hits 7 minutes /WED 08 JULModel Y L, lamppost chargers, and the coming EV fee