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Leapmotor D99 Signals China’s Next Electric Minivan Arms Race

Leapmotor has spent the past decade quietly sharpening its tools, and for its 10th anniversary the Stellantis-backed Chinese brand rolled out something big—literally. Meet the Leapmotor D99, the company’s first electric minivan and a clear signal that China’s MPV segment is no longer just about luxury sofas on wheels, but about battery bragging rights.

The D99 lands in familiar company. Rivals like the Xpeng X9, Zeekr 009, and Li Auto Mega have already turned the once-humble minivan into a rolling tech lounge. Leapmotor’s twist? Offering both a full battery-electric version and a range-extender variant that flexes some of the largest battery packs the segment has seen.

Visually, the D99 sticks to Leapmotor’s established design language. The nose is almost comically short, with the windshield pushed far forward past the front axle—a layout that should translate to excellent outward visibility and maximum cabin volume. Smooth surfacing dominates the profile, broken up by retractable door handles (still legal for now in China) and blacked-out B- and C-pillars that create a floating-roof effect.

At the rear, a full-width LED light bar gives the D99 a suitably futuristic send-off. It’s clean, inoffensive, and very much in line with what Chinese buyers currently favor—less statement piece, more high-end appliance.

Where the D99 really starts swinging elbows is underneath. The range-extender version rides on an 800-volt architecture and packs an enormous 80.3-kWh battery. That’s not just large for a plug-in hybrid—it’s the largest battery currently offered in any range-extender vehicle. For context, Zeekr’s 9X EREV tops out at 70 kWh, while the upcoming range-extended Xpeng X9 settles for 63.3.

Leapmotor claims the D99 EREV can cover up to 500 kilometers (311 miles) on electric power alone before the combustion engine needs to wake up. While engine details haven’t been officially confirmed, expectations point to a familiar 1.5-liter four-cylinder similar to the unit used in the C10 REEV.

If that still sounds too compromised, the fully electric D99 removes the engine entirely and turns the voltage dial even higher. Its 1000-volt platform supports a massive 115-kWh CATL battery, good for a claimed 720 kilometers (447 miles) of range. That puts it squarely in long-distance territory and suggests ultra-fast charging capability to match—details Leapmotor hasn’t yet shared but almost certainly will.

Interior photos remain under wraps, but expectations are easy to set. Leapmotor’s recent models lean heavily on expansive screens, plush seating, and an emphasis on rear-seat comfort. This is a minivan designed less for hands-on drivers and more for executives, families, or VIP passengers who expect to recline while someone—or something—else handles the steering.

Pricing and market availability are still unknown, though more information is promised in the coming weeks. Whether the D99 ever ventures beyond China remains to be seen, but its spec sheet alone makes one thing clear: the electric minivan is no longer a niche experiment. It’s a battleground—and Leapmotor just showed up with one of the biggest batteries in the room.

Source: Leapmotor

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Norway Just Quietly Killed the Gas Car—And Did It with a Spreadsheet

If the internal-combustion engine had a natural predator, it wouldn’t be lithium or silicon—it would be Norway’s tax code.

In 2025, Norway didn’t just continue its electric-car experiment; it all but finished the job. Nearly 96 percent of all new cars registered were fully electric, up from an already eyebrow-raising 88.9 percent the year before. By December, that number flirted with 98 percent, a figure that would sound like science fiction anywhere else in Europe. And this wasn’t a shrinking market limping toward electrification—total new-car registrations jumped 40 percent, reaching 179,549 vehicles.

This wasn’t an accident. It was a deadline.

Buy Now, or Pay Later

The surge came as buyers raced ahead of a tax reckoning. In October, the Norwegian government announced that new tax increases would arrive in January 2026, and the market reacted instantly. Shoppers didn’t wait around—they bought electric, and they bought now.

Under current rules, electric cars priced below 300,000 Norwegian kroner (about €25,300) will remain exempt from value-added tax even after 2026. That carve-out is the golden ticket. Below that price line, EVs aren’t just competitive—they’re the obvious choice. Above it, the math gets harsher, but it’s still far kinder than what internal-combustion vehicles face.

Gas and diesel cars, meanwhile, are buried under duties so heavy they might as well come with a warning label. In Norway, buying an ICE vehicle isn’t just old-fashioned—it’s financially self-sabotaging.

Automakers Follow the Money

Manufacturers saw the wave coming and scrambled to surf it. Supply increased as automakers diverted inventory to Norway to capitalize on demand. As Ford Norway director Per Gunnar Berg put it bluntly, vehicles not originally intended for the country were rerouted “as soon as possible” to meet appetite.

And who benefited most? No surprises here.

For the fifth straight year, Tesla topped the sales charts, grabbing 19.1 percent of the market. Volkswagen followed with 13.3 percent, and Volvo landed at 7.8 percent. But the real story may be China’s quiet advance: vehicles built there now command 13.7 percent of the Norwegian market, up from 10.4 percent a year earlier. BYD, in particular, more than doubled its sales, proving that Norway’s EV transition isn’t just reshaping powertrains—it’s reshaping brand hierarchies.

The Carrot Is Nice. The Stick Is Better.

Norway’s transformation stands in sharp contrast to the rest of Europe, where EV adoption continues at a slower, more cautious pace. The difference isn’t infrastructure or consumer enthusiasm alone—it’s policy philosophy.

According to Christina Bu, director of the Norwegian Association for Electric Cars, convenience isn’t the whole story. Incentives matter, yes—but so does pressure. The country didn’t just make electric cars easier to buy; it made gasoline cars harder to justify. High levies, rising ownership costs, and shrinking advantages have steadily squeezed combustion engines out of relevance.

In other words, Norway didn’t politely invite EVs in. It showed gas cars the door.

The Endgame Is Already Here

There’s a delicious irony in all of this: Norway, one of Europe’s most significant oil producers, is also the continent’s most successful EV market. It turns out that when the rules are clear, consistent, and unapologetically tilted toward the future, consumers adapt fast.

Norway didn’t wait for the market to “naturally” transition. It engineered the outcome—and now the gas car is functionally extinct.

The rest of Europe is still debating. Norway already moved on.

Source: Reuters; Photo: EPA-EFE

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Tesla Loses the EV Sales Crown—And the Margin for Error Is Shrinking

For the first time in years, Tesla isn’t sitting on top of the electric-vehicle world. The company that once made EV dominance look inevitable has officially ceded its global sales crown, as a mix of customer backlash, policy headwinds, and increasingly competent rivals took their toll.

Tesla says it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, a 9 percent decline from the year before and the second straight annual drop. That slide was enough to push the brand out of first place, overtaken by China’s BYD, which moved 2.26 million electric vehicles over the same period. The numbers, first reported by the Associated Press, mark a symbolic turning point: Tesla is no longer the default leader in a market it helped create.

The slowdown was especially visible at the end of the year. Fourth-quarter deliveries came in at 418,227 vehicles—well short of the roughly 440,000 analysts had been expecting, according to FactSet. That shortfall underscores how thin the company’s margin for error has become, particularly as price cuts lose their shock value and competition tightens across every major market.

Policy didn’t help. The expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit at the end of September—phased out under President Donald Trump’s administration—likely chilled demand in the U.S., where Tesla has long relied on incentives to keep monthly payments attractive. Pull that lever away, and suddenly a Model Y looks a lot more expensive next to a rapidly improving field of alternatives.

There’s also the Musk factor. Tesla’s polarizing CEO remains one of the brand’s greatest assets and biggest liabilities, with some customers openly rebelling against his politics and public persona. In a market that’s maturing—and one where buyers increasingly have choices—that kind of reputational drag matters more than it once did.

And yet, Wall Street remains oddly optimistic. Despite missed expectations and shrinking sales, Tesla stock finished 2025 up about 11 percent. Investors, it seems, are still buying the future rather than the present. Musk’s long-promised pivot toward robotaxi services and humanoid robots capable of basic household and office tasks continues to fuel hopes that Tesla is less a car company than a technology company waiting to cash in.

That may be true—but for now, the scoreboard is clear. Tesla is no longer the world’s best-selling EV manufacturer. Whether this moment marks a temporary stumble or a more permanent reshuffling of the electric order will depend on how quickly Tesla can turn ambition into reality—and how much patience buyers, and investors, are willing to keep.

Source: Tesla

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