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Important detail though: nothing has been implemented yet.

What’s been announced is a preliminary understanding after talks in Beijing. There’s no final quota, no confirmed implementation date and we still don’t know how any limit would actually be divided between manufacturers.

What makes this especially interesting is that the discussion apparently covers both fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

Until now, most of the EU-China car trade fight has focused on BEVs and the additional tariffs introduced after the EU’s subsidy investigation. PHEVs weren’t automatically covered by those same measures.

That matters because Chinese manufacturers have increasingly been using hybrids as another way into Europe.

Instead of only competing with cars like the Model 3 or ID.4, brands can offer PHEVs to buyers who want electric commuting but still aren’t comfortable relying completely on charging infrastructure.

And PHEVs are becoming a pretty significant part of the European market: there were more than 758,000 registrations in the EU during the first eight months of 2026.

For buyers, the big unknown is what a 50% reduction would actually look like.

Would manufacturers simply send fewer cars to Europe? Prioritise their most profitable models? Increase prices? Move more production into European factories?

We don’t know yet.

It could also affect European brands building cars in China, depending on how the final rules define vehicle origin. At the same time, a Chinese manufacturer producing cars inside Europe could potentially be treated very differently.

So I wouldn’t call this a “50% ban on Chinese cars” yet. It’s much more complicated than that.

But if the final agreement really does substantially restrict imports, the next phase of the Chinese expansion into Europe might be less about shipping cars from China and much more about building them here.

Would limiting Chinese imports protect Europe’s car industry, or just reduce competition and make cars more expensive for European buyers?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/china-eu-hybrid-export-limit-2026

BMW ran a survey in the US with just over 1,000 adults, and the gap between what people say they need and what they want from an EV is pretty huge.

Around 73% said 25–75 miles (40–120 km) would cover their normal daily driving.

But at the same time, 42% said they’d want at least 300 miles / 483 km of range before seriously considering an EV, and 18% wanted more than 400 miles / 644 km.

And honestly, I don’t think that’s as irrational as it sounds.

People aren’t buying a car just for their Monday commute. They’re thinking about winter, motorway driving, spontaneous trips, bad charging infrastructure, queues at chargers, or just not wanting to plan every longer journey around battery percentage.

The survey also suggests that faster charging could matter almost as much as a bigger battery.

53% said they’d be more interested in an EV if it could add roughly 150 miles / 240 km in 10 minutes, while 55% now consider a charging stop of 30 minutes or less acceptable.

But range anxiety isn’t even the biggest problem.

When asked what stops them from buying an EV, 51% mentioned purchase price, compared with 24% for range and 24% for public charging availability.

So maybe the industry has been focusing too much on building EVs with enormous batteries.

A cheaper EV with 400–500 km of real-world range and genuinely fast, reliable charging might be more useful than an expensive one with 700+ km WLTP.

What’s the minimum real-world range you’d personally want before buying an EV: 300 km, 400 km, 500 km, or more?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/bmw-ev-range-survey-2026

Pininfarina has revealed the Tensei, a one-off restomod based on the first-generation Honda NSX, and it looks like someone asked what the original car would look like if it were designed today without losing its ’90s character.

Rather than completely reinventing the NSX, the Tensei keeps the basic proportions and low, clean shape of the original, but adds a much more modern body with redesigned lighting, new aero details and a much more dramatic rear end.

The good news is that this isn’t some EV conversion either.

The car still uses a naturally aspirated 3.0-litre V6, paired with a six-speed manual gearbox, so the basic formula remains very old-school: light-ish mid-engine sports car, no turbo, no giant battery and three pedals.

Pininfarina hasn’t gone crazy with the interior either. It’s still recognisably an NSX cabin, just cleaned up with newer materials, revised trim and some modern details.

And honestly, I think that’s the right way to do a restomod.

The original NSX was never about huge power figures. It was about balance, visibility, usability and making an exotic mid-engine car feel easy to drive. Turning it into a 1,000 hp monster would almost miss the point.

The downside? Tensei is currently a one-off project, so this isn’t a new production NSX and there’s no price list you can walk into a Honda dealer with.

Still, if Honda ever decides to revive the NSX again, this feels like a pretty good reminder of what people actually loved about the original.

Would you rather see a future NSX follow this lightweight, naturally aspirated philosophy — or should Honda go all-in on hybrid/EV performance again?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/honda-nsx-tensei-pininfarina-2026

It’s called Twingobay, and the glass panel covers 0.7 square metres of the roof, with rounded contours designed specifically around the shape of the new Twingo E-Tech electric.

Renault says the glass blocks 99.9% of UV rays and uses a multi-layer construction designed to manage heat without needing a conventional sunblind.

There’s also a playful detail around the edge of the glass: Renault has integrated a “Twingo graphic alphabet”, with shapes inspired by elements of the car’s design.

Mechanically, nothing changes.

The Twingo E-Tech electric still uses:

• 60 kW / 82 hp
• 27.5 kWh LFP battery
• up to 263 km WLTP
• 12.2 kWh/100 km claimed consumption
• AmpR Small platform

The new Twingo starts from €19,490 in France before incentives, although the panoramic roof is not included in that base price and Renault hasn’t revealed how much the Twingobay option will cost yet.

There are still some unanswered questions too: Renault hasn’t said how much extra weight the glass adds, whether it affects range, or what replacement costs might look like if the roof ever gets damaged.

Still, on a tiny city EV, a large glass roof could make the cabin feel considerably bigger.

Would you pay extra for this on a €20k city EV, or is a panoramic roof completely unnecessary on a car like the Twingo?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/renault-twingo-twingobay-panoramic-roof-2026

The company’s new strategy includes a much stronger push toward affordable cars, including a new family of small EVs for Europe called E-Car, expected to enter production in Italy from 2028.

There are no confirmed prices, battery sizes, range figures or final model names yet, but Stellantis says the focus will mainly be on smaller A- and B-segment cars.

That would fit brands like Fiat, Peugeot, Opel and Citroën perfectly, especially as European buyers increasingly struggle with new-car prices.

Stellantis also wants to cut production costs significantly and reduce the price gap between electric and combustion cars.

The real question is what “affordable” will actually mean by 2028.

If Stellantis launches a decent EV for around €20,000–€25,000, would you buy it — or would you still prefer a larger used EV for the same money?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/stellantis-affordable-cars-2026

Between 2026 and 2030, Renault Group plans to modernise its operations in Valladolid and Palencia and prepare five new models, including two fully electric C-segment cars.

The more interesting part is what’s happening in Palencia.

The factory will receive Renault’s new RGEV Medium 2.0 electric platform, which supports:

• 800V architecture
• up to 750 km WLTP
• range-extender versions with up to 1,400 km combined range
• very fast charging, with Renault mentioning charging times of around 10 minutes under certain conditions

Valladolid will also get a new battery assembly line, while the wider investment is intended to support the future of more than 6,000 direct jobs in Spain.

There’s still a lot we don’t know: Renault hasn’t revealed the names of the two EVs, their battery sizes, prices, power figures or exact production dates.

But the strategy is pretty clear: Renault is preparing another major European production base for its next generation of electric cars rather than relying only on existing EV plants.

And if one of these models can actually deliver close to 700+ km WLTP with 800V charging at a competitive price, things could get interesting very quickly.

What would matter more to you in a future Renault EV: 700+ km of range, very fast charging, or a lower starting price?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/renault-investment-spain-2026

A new ACEA-commissioned study estimates European battery-cell production could reach around 306 GWh by 2032, but even that may not be enough to satisfy demand created by the EU’s proposed local-content rules.

Under the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, access to some incentives, tax benefits and public procurement could depend on how much of a vehicle — including its battery — is produced in Europe.

The study estimates that if these rules started in 2028, around 3 million cars could fail to qualify for related “Made in EU” incentives simply because there wouldn’t be enough compliant battery supply.

There’s another issue: cost.

ACEA cites an estimate suggesting European-made battery cells could add roughly €2,100 to the cost of an EV compared with imported cells. That could be especially painful for small, affordable electric cars where margins are already tight.

And building more gigafactories doesn’t solve the problem overnight. Europe is also short on upstream materials, while much of the planned production is focused on NMC batteries even as cheaper LFP chemistry becomes increasingly popular.

The goal is understandable: reduce Europe’s dependence on imported batteries, particularly from China.

But if localisation rules arrive before European production is ready, could they end up making EVs more expensive instead?

Would you accept slightly higher EV prices if it meant building a stronger European battery industry?

Source: https://carboratory.com/news/european-battery-local-content-iaa-2026