Spontaneous Zeekr 7X Fire in China Discussion: What Actually Happened?

Catch up on the latest in Electric Vehicle news from Australia and around the world! Hosted by Tom & Joy Gan of Ludicrous Feed, Riz Akhtar from Carloop and Roland Lam from Zapped

Transcript

Intro & Welcome

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Start again.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Hello everyone, I'm Tom, and this is Joy Next to Me. Welcome to tonight's show. Today is Wednesday, the 19th of August, 2026. How are you, Joy?

SPEAKER_04 0:40

I'm good. Yeah, good.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Excellent. Good. Hope you're all doing well in the LF world and EV world out there. And let's uh quickly say thank you to our sponsors for this evening. Thank you to Carloop, uh, Data to Empower Australia's EV Revolution.

Co-Hosts & Upcoming Events

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Speaking of Carloop, let's welcome our co-host for this evening. Let's say hello first to Riz from Carloop. Hello, Riz. How are we?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Hey, Tom and Joy, everyone. Yeah, going well. Uh, we've got a lot to cover tonight, I think a few unveils and uh few things spotted, so keep him coming, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Absolutely, thank you indeed. And uh welcome to our other co-host for this evening, Roland from uh Zap YouTube channel. Hello, Roland.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Hi, Tom, Joy, Riz and everyone. How's everyone going?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Very well, good to have uh the whole band back together again on a Wednesday night. Lots to cover, as Riz said. And uh before I just wanted before I jump in straight into it, I just wanted uh uh shout out to Everything Electric in Sydney, which is coming up on the 18th to the 20th of September 2026, which is not far away, probably a month ago now. Uh if you would like to get some tickets, we have a coupon code ludicrous. So ludicrous spelt the traditional way, ludicrous, not the rapper, ludicrous. Uh, you'll get 20% off 25%. That's a quarter, 25% off any ticket on the website. So check out, check out um the everything electric Sydney website link in the video description below. Don't forget ludicrous for 25% off for the show, which you might see a few of us down there in Sydney. So come along.

Riz on Ice: Zeekr 001 FR in New Zealand

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Right. Uh let's uh start off. Speaking of ludicrous, uh no, this is not ludicrous, this is Riz on Ice. Uh last week in New Zealand. Riz, tell us about it, bro.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Um I think you really give some context, Riz on Ice, in case people on audio podcast is listening.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

I don't actually think. Um and they had quite a few of their cars uh up in the Southern Alps. Um, I guess to uh showcase what they have here already and what's coming up. That is a photo of uh 001 FR, um, which for whatever reason uh a lot of people wanted to get into it, but they just left it for me to take away on ice. And then it was this is the quad motor version, and I was surprised at how well it drifted with very little throttle input on ice. Um and uh so yeah, spent a day um up there on the mountain. Uh never been on ice before, uh, and uh not since the AFP told me I shouldn't be on ice. So then yeah, in New Zealand it's a different story, bro. Um and uh yeah, it was it was very, very good fun. Um, quite a few different models. The current models Zika has this was the one off that they bought in from China, the 001 FR, and then they had the 7GT, um which you know is on its way to Australia and New Zealand. Um, and then the 8X and the 9X, the bigger SUVs, the plug-in hybrids that they've sort of launched in China that are also going to be coming to Australia and New Zealand in 2027.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Thanks, Riz. Great recap. And this is uh this is Riz sporting the Z cabini and scarf, I think, and the bright orange colours on ice.

SPEAKER_04 4:24

And padded jacket as well, I think. Yeah, yeah. Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Nice merch.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

They're man all out.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I mean, you gotta stand out in the uh in the ice, right? On the on the snow, so that's great. And uh, you know, we we always

Drifting with "Ray the Drift King"

SPEAKER_01 4:38

mention double on 001 FR, Kimi Riken and co-designed, of course. We have to mention that.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

And and Tom, you may appreciate this. Uh our friend from Zika in China, Ray, the Drift King, the Guinness World Brook record himself, he was there as well. Which I think uh maybe even you met him, Joey. Uh, I'm not sure if he was part of the activities in April. Yeah, so he was he was there, it was always good fun. And um, I was uh fortunate enough to go on a bit of an ice drifting session with him. Um and uh yeah, he's just remarkable how how much skill that man has on ice. So yeah, really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yes, the man himself, Ray, Ray on ice. He uh he is quite the drifter, and I can imagine on the ice it'd be pretty cool as well. Uh, did he do a little um donut for you, Riz? How many how many burnouts did he do on the ice for you?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Look, uh just uh just two. He didn't want a record for everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

No, that's great. And uh yeah, thanks to Zika for inviting Riz and the uh rest of the media contingent now to uh Queenstown, New Zealand. It's great to see uh these cars can perform not just on the drive, but uh on interesting conditions as well. So uh hopefully we'll see some of these uh cars in Australia soon, uh available to own, hopefully. I saw your LinkedIn post. There's um there's stuff you can't reveal, right? As always, Riz, International Man of Mystery.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah, there's um well, there's stuff around uh the the next vehicle that's coming down to Australia and New Zealand. Uh I spent a bit more, or we

Riz's Embargoed News & Viewer Greetings

SPEAKER_00 6:17

spent a bit more time in it. Um, so that is still under embargo for another week or so. So when that stuff is allowed to be put out there, I think um a lot of people will be quite interested in reading and watching that content.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Nice, can't wait. Uh James says, uh, is Zika making ice cars now? Very good. Love that that jokes keep them coming. Different kind of ice car. Uh, does it come with ice in Australia asking for a friend? Well, we'll see. I don't think we have enough snow in Australia, to be honest, judging from the ski season this year.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Not this year, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

No, exactly. Actually, we should say sell a hello to some of our regulars who've joined us earlier. I forgot to mention uh people like Camus. Uh, thank you, Mr. Brightside. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Murray. Thank you, Rob Carr. Thank you, Jim, for the burbs. Thank you, Quavehead. He says, uh, hello from Brisbane. A week ago, I was watching this stream in the camp mode in the Model Y out in I can't pronounce this. Dolika. Sorry if I pronounce that wrong. Yes, the Serenity sounds good. Hello, EVS. I just want to mention too uh EVS says he's surprised no one, none of the YouTubers are talking about the Tesla FSD and the fail. It is on open road, 110 kph speed limits. Make sure you watch our FSD videos, our drive to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. We definitely mentioned the fact that it doesn't read 110 sometimes. So definitely we were one of the YouTubers who didn't mention it. Um hello Mark from Hamilton. Hello, Andrew from Cold and where Aurorat. Hello, Synagro. Thanks for joining us, everyone. Nice and only 160 viewers already seven minutes in. That's great. That's a good question from Joseph. How many Zika service centers, or I guess dealerships in Australia do we have? Riz, you should know this.

Zeekr's Australian Dealer Network

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Julie.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

So at the moment, there is 18 dealers. Uh I am not sure how many are also service centers. I think you'd think there'd be at least a couple in every major sort of city now. Um, but they're planning on growing that up to 25, I believe, by the end of this year, the number of dealerships. Um there's also potentially plans to get um uh another parts warehouse opened. Um, so they are they are in this expansion mode, but at the same time, I think they've they're recognizing, like most new brands, that there's got to be good solid parts supply as well as uh servicing locations because these cars, you know, a lot of them are still relatively new, uh, but they will get to a stage where they need to be serviced. So hopefully Zika Australia and New Zealand are listening, and you know, because that is a genuine concern that people have around purchasing a car from a new brand.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Absolutely. I mean, the four of us were at the recent X Pung launch in Melbourne. They took great pains to tell us that yes, a parts inventory warehouse is coming. I think that's a really important. I think all of them should have some sort of inventory somewhere to just make people happy that uh if something happens to their cars, it'll be serviced pretty quickly. So, yeah, good to see Zika doing that, good to see X Pung doing that. Uh, hopefully the other brands follow suit as well. I'm sure BYD's got something, surely, you would think.

SPEAKER_04 9:25

I'll send another boat.

Spot the Car: XPeng G9L in Camo

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Yes, send them all. Make Australia confident. Uh, all right. Right, right, right. Um, let's keep pushing on. So let's play spot this car. So the first one for tonight is this one. Uh Alistair Taylor on X asks the question Is this the X Pang G9 question mark? Sorry, G9L question mark, spotted in the wild, Mooney Ponds Junction. Uh, that's Victoria, isn't it? Mooney Ponds. Uh well, it's got X Pang all over the camo, so it is an X Pang.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Hey, this is the this is the sort of camo they should be doing.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

That's right. Don't make us guess. Yeah. I mean, I'm gonna say yes, it very much looks like the G9L to me. Joy, you've seen the G9L as well?

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I want to see the retractable um stepping uh stepping bit just, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, yeah. Roland Riz, do you guys agree? G9L?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Is that what they're taking up 005? Is that a Zika hiding behind the heart either?

SPEAKER_00 10:31

And it's right hand drive because I think the gentleman in there is on the other side.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Ah, good spot. Yep, yep. Not wrong.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

Not wrong. Unless it's self-driving. Oh, is it doing that? That would be even that would be even more amazing, but I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

We cannot confirm nor deny at this stage. Who knows? It might be. Uh, yes. Oh, look at this. Andrew says, Did anyone see that there are 15 2025 XP G6 EVs going up for auction at Pickles? That could be from the old batch guys. Right. The 2024, 25 ones. Interesting. Okay. Um, they should sell this to the Department of Defense. Perfect camo. Yeah, I'm not sure they have an XPNG on their on their stuff, but yes, interesting. Uh, yes, EV Review says there are two G9Ls testing in Australia at the moment. Okay, keep those picks coming. We want to see them in XP showrooms. Now, the next one is this one for another uh spot this car. So, what do we have? We'll let the audience uh have

Spot the Car: Mystery FAW Plug-in Hybrid

SPEAKER_01 11:38

a look and uh have a few guesses. Roland was kind enough to do some sleuthing for us, so he knows the answer. He'll keep us out to let us know very soon. Let's see. Get some uh answers in the audience, hopefully let's share this one as well. Another sort of mid-size SUV, I can see. Someone says that is a Mazda. Okay. Is it a D Pell? Another one. Yeah, okay. Kind of looks almost like a Gili, right? Possibly. Gili EX5-ish.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yeah, the taillights look a little bit like Gili, maybe cherry-esque.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yep, new Elad says is it the Gili? The new Gili, maybe. Yep, keep those guesses coming. Uh I think someone asked, was it the lepas earlier? Lefos? Could be. Is it fourthing? Is it fourthing at the mouth? Um don't know, could be. Uh all right, shall we uh shall we shall we have a look at what this is, Roland? What are you uh informus? What did you think this was?

SPEAKER_02 12:55

I originally when I first saw that, I was like, it's definitely not Chinese AV because the back was like Portia McCann, Porsche KN. And then I was like, Gilian What has other brands? And then I did the uh number plate stalking and I looked it up. FAW. Uh I've got to look at what it stands for. I forgot. Um, but it is actually uh plug-in hybrid. Yeah, that's the one. And that's of course, look at the range. Obviously, it's Chinese C or T C, so you won't get anywhere near that, but it's safe to say it's over a thousand kilometers.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Missed opportunity, should have been eight eight one, eight, eight, eight kilometers real world range. See if it's CLTC, why do they call it real world? We're all tested. Who knows? Uh okay, PHEV. Is there gonna be uh EV version? I wonder. Hopefully. Best Tune, how good's that, right? What a great name, best tune.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

My only I guess a bit of a doubt here is with the front headlights. And maybe it's the angle of the photos compared to this. This looks very slim compared to the the tail. I mean the back back end looks definitely looks pretty pretty good. But yeah, that this looks a little bit thicker, but yeah. Uh I think we're very close.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yep, I agree, Riz. It does look a bit different actually. Now you mentioned it. Maybe it's not. Could be different, like it could be FAW still, but it's not, yeah. Maybe not this one. Okay. Interesting. All right. Well, we'll uh I'm sure someone in the replay will hopefully do some more sleuthing for us. It's definitely FAW. I saw Roland's um lookup. Yeah.

unknown 14:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

All right. Well, best June, keep looking um and keep searching. Um now we should probably, oops, sorry, we should probably um report the good with the bad. So you've you've probably all seen this news this week. This is

Zeekr 7X Fire Incident in China

SPEAKER_01 15:01

the uh the Zika 7X fire in China this week. Um, as far as I know, and um this is the information I have, uh, is that it was a spontaneous combustion. Um, I believe it was in thermal runaway as well. It wasn't plugged in despite this photo and video showing it at a charging station. Um it just sort of combusted by itself, and uh the video shows people just basically running away, which is fair enough. Um Zika has come up with a statement saying this apparently this vehicle was in an accident that was undeclared. Um and they've said basically you should always get uh vehicles that have been involved in accidents checked out properly, unless you want something like this to happen potentially. So do we have any further information on this, guys? Apart from what I said? No, no, okay. Yeah, um, and this makes Zika's first fire definitely of the 7X. Possibly of the brand itself. I don't I don't know further. Um yeah, look, this kind of stuff will happen, unfortunately. Um, hopefully not too much more often in the future.

SPEAKER_04 16:09

I think the initial reporting of this was not very accurate. Um, I think it was actually just over a week ago. Um, but they were just showing it out of context and not really saying that, you know, that the car had actually been involved in a um in an accident and they didn't mention anything about um the fact that um it had like unauthorized repairs and stuff on it. It was just kind of like, look, Azika is just caught on fire. Like, yeah. So um unfortunately, I think if you've already got that sort of bias on board and then you just see that or like a two-second video, um for some people I think it just reinforced for them, like, oh, EV equals bad, ev equals explode, even though you know we know that statistically EVs are less likely to um to block compared to petrol car fires, which happen all the time. They just don't get reported because they're so common. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Joy, news.com.au, what do you think is wrong with their reporting when they say EVs self-combust? That that's all you need to know. Don't need to know about the brand, don't need to know about what happened, whether it was it was EVs combust at a charging station.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

How many shares on WhatsApp and Facebook by now? Uh yep. Uh NCM battery says Michael, not LFP. I mean, I don't know. I don't even know the details. Uh, which variant this was.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

They have both, right? They like in this in the 7X, they have the golden brick battery, which is LFP, and then um, and I think we've been to Zika's um sort of uh facility in Ningbo and G Lee's safety center, where they do do a lot of testing around uh crash testing, around uh the type of impacts each one of their packs can take by dropping them, by running, I don't know, uh bulldozers and other things over them. Um, but yeah, when something is damaged significantly, these sort of things can happen, whether they're being charged or not.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yep. Yep. And look, cars spontaneously combust every day. That's just unfortunately EVs make the news, uh, even though they're much safer, as Joy said, they're less likely to combust. Uh yeah, Tesla killer is another favorite term, says as Padavel. Yep, as opposed to Zika. And yeah, Quavehead said luckily they said Zika, not Tesla competitor. Uh, but again, this is a this is a Chinese publication, or at least English-speaking Chinese publication. Okay, well, there you go. Uh, we have to report it. Uh, we'll keep an eye on that. Hopefully, there's more investigations. Hopefully, Zika's transparent on that and uh let us know what's what's happening. Right, let's uh let's move on. And just a bit of Tesla news, speaking of Tesla. Um, so Tesla in China has a new Model

Tesla Model Y Performance & Battery News

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Y variant. Uh same battery size as the long-range rear-wheel drive in China, which we don't get in Australia. Uh, but looks like this could be the new Model Y performance built in Shanghai. So, guys, we know the the Model Y performance at the moment in Australia is built in Berlin. Does that mean they'll switch over and deliver cars from China, making it cheaper? Fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

10k price cut. We can all take that.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

That sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Sounds good, Roland, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Maybe not for me, but for others, definitely, yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah. Um, there you go, 78.4 kilowatt hour battery. If you ever wondered how big the performance long-range uh model wise were, um, and that'd be NMC as well, of course. Yeah, I wonder why we don't get the long-range rewheel drive here in Australia, uh, like they do.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Um, I I think um the lineup and the way these models sell in Australia and the mix of them, uh if they're if they're, for example, are seeing that a lot of people are buying long range but aren't really buying it for their dual motor sort of capabilities, which the Model Y L is filled in some ways. Uh, maybe we will see the long-range rear-wheel drive variant come in, same as what they did with the Model 3 last year.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Yep. Yeah, for me, long-range rear drive does make sense. But anyway, we'll see. Uh, we've got some clarification on the Zika fire. So quickly just want to clarify. Yes, so what I'm sorry, it wasn't thermal runaway. Uh, the video showed that the fire did um get extinguished. So do apologize for that.

SPEAKER_04 20:46

Which I think was um, you know, carefully cut out of certain um publicized yeah articles. But yeah, I did see the one like the guy gets like a big spray thing and just like and it was like over and done with in a few seconds.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Yep, yep. Still pretty scary though. Yep. Uh we have also um Muza saying best dune Joy EE07. Someone using Joy's name, EE07, Fev Luxury.

SPEAKER_04 21:13

Wasn't it the was it the Honda Hongchi Honda or something?

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Hon Honda Last Honda last, yeah. Yes. And someone saying that uh Eevee Australia is saying, I think the vehicle you showed is the new Hongchi EV coming to Australia owned by four as well.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Okay, interesting is owned by them, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Okay, is Hongchi the one that uh uh Xi Jinping gets driven

Viewer Questions & GWM Ora 5 Review Update

SPEAKER_01 21:35

around in? That's the one okay. That is coming to Australia, we know. Okay. Um EHS7, okay, right. There we go. Get some more detectives out there.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Good. Alexis has something to want us to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Oh, this one. Sorry, the comments keep going. Alexis says, please talk about how how awesome my new car is the GW. Aura five. I mean, yeah, sure. Oh awesome is it, Alexis. You let us know. I mean, we're we're getting the car in a couple of days to review. So a couple of days? Yeah, a couple of days. So stay tuned. We'll have a video for you guys soon. Uh yeah, looks good. Looks good. So we'll uh we'll let you know.

SPEAKER_04 22:13

And I'm seeing a lot more on the road in our area. So yep, I think um the word is getting out that uh yes, it's a very good buy.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Yep, if you don't mind waiting a little more, um, it's coming. The review is coming. Yes, that is for some. Oh, keep the dag jokes coming, seriously. That's great. Um, and yes, there is a new BYD Aspro 1 slash Seagull coming. It's longer, it's bigger, hopefully more range. 4.2 meters. That's big. That's big, that's bigger than the GLEX5 now. Um, 175 centimeter long wheelbase.

Xiaomi SU7 Sales Milestone

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Long sorry, longer wheelbase, not 175 centimeter wheelbase. That's pretty short. Um it's uh quality, not quantity. Um, pink aura for joy.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

Do you like the color pink? Uh it would have to be like more like this kind of stellar purple. Fair enough. The I think the aura purple is a bit too purple. Too purple. It's a bit too purple.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Oh, I like this. Auto 1.5. Yeah, bring it. Kind of at a 2.0 because that's there's already an auto two. Now, now this is interesting. Um Xiaomi, Xiaomi's SU7 series tops 500,000 cumulative deliveries. That is China numbers, everyone. That's huge, considering this car only came out two years ago. Um, it's pretty insane. Let's have a look at the graphs here. So, so the blue, sorry, this gray line is 2024. Yes, they're ramping up. Uh, in 25, they kind of declined a little bit, but then it's sort of kept steady in 2026. So half a million orders of this U7. And if you count the U7, which is the SUV, uh, three-quarters of a mil, 760,000 vehicles cumulatively. Uh, to put into perspective, that's um approximately seven months of new car sales in Australia, right? You get about 100,000 cars per month. So that's pretty impressive. So well done. We want to see this in Australia, don't we guys? We want to see this down under jeweling. That's a nice colour too. I like that. That's sort of baby blue.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

I'll take any colour, just give it.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Give it, bring it in white. Uh uh Necro, yes, we'd love to see this car for general sale in Australia. Yep. For sure. Right, okay. That's Yummy and BYD. BYD opening pre-orders for the C-Line 08. I think we kind of touched on this last week. Okay, what's the difference between this one and like the one we have now in Australia, the C Line 8? Is it the same thing or different?

SPEAKER_00 24:57

No, this one's slightly different. This is their new model that they are the 08 series, um, which they have launched

BYD Sealion 08: A New Luxury EV

SPEAKER_00 25:06

in the last sort of six months or so. Um, this one I think is available in both versions, a plug-in hybrid and a full BEV. And the BEV has uh over 100 kilowatt hours of their BYD Blade 2.0 uh batteries in them. I mean, for a vehicle this size, the price points like it's playing in, it's like under 40,000 Australian dollars. And this is like Range Rover size, full blown. Um, and this is sort of you know the the the luxury that BYD is now offering uh to compete with I don't know, Lexus, some of those other players, but still under the BYD brand, not the Denza brand.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

That's that's pretty swish, I must admit. Even for BYD, look at that trade table, probably a fridge, and then you've got TV screen, of course. I mean, that if you're not TV screening in 2026, what are you even doing? Um, you've got like compartments there on the side, in the middle. It's a pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_04 26:11

If you didn't tell me it was BYD, I would have thought it was a Denzer. It's sort of the the fit out in the photos looks more like that sort of higher premium luxury spec. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yeah, this is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

So if PYD can bring this for into Australia for on around 60 grand, it's um game over Kluga and a couple of other sort of larger, larger models. I mean, so much tech and luxury in these cars. And if this thing can flash charge in its um B V sort of version, um, and we have a few flash charges in the next, you know, hopefully 12 to 24 months. Um, I think it would this would do really, really well. Like it's pretty luxurious in the back.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Looks pretty cool. I mean, if you can fit if you can fit a five-meter car in your home, I mean this is this is uh awesome.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Yeah, I mean that was the original challenge I had with the Spectre, uh, that it just wouldn't wouldn't fit, so had to get an underground garage.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

First of all problems, Riz. First of all problems. Can't keep them all.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

Need to excavate like a bat cave to put them all in.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

A second one for himself.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah, personal collection. Uh yeah, I mean, look, this will help, you know, this could potentially bring the price down for the X Pung X9. What else? Zika 009s, maybe even the new G9L. This is uh this is competing in that space, isn't it? The G9L, you would think.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, that's a five-seater though, isn't it? G9L. So maybe not.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

Yes, it is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Still, it's good. Hopefully we see that in Australia. Uh good for dentistry on the go. I think he's referenced to this chair here. Mobile dentist.

SPEAKER_04 28:02

I mean, I I feel like they all come with zero gravity seats now. That that sort of second row. It's like if it doesn't have zero gravity seats, it's like, why even bother looking at that at the car?

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Fridge luxury. Fridge, yeah. Sorry, it's the base spec.

SPEAKER_04 28:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Yeah, fridge, zero gravity, TV screen, you name it.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Now, this is actually not even the the biggest car BYD makes now. So they make the dark tang, the great tang, which is uh supposed to be the currency line eight, but even more luxurious. So that is the pinnacle of BYD luxury. This is sort of nearly there, but I think they're just trying to fill any gaps they can. Um, which, yeah, I don't know, one at 50 grand, one at 40 grand, one at 30 grand. It's uh they I guess they can do it. It's just the top hat that's different, the rest of the car. And I also like the fact that the colors, these type of colours used to be like Maybach grade, real high-end, like the green and the purple that they have. Um, yeah, it's very interesting.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

I mean, I was just looking at the new Mercedes C-class EV. Uh, I mean, that that that's probably gonna ask a lot more money than something like this. Um, I mean, can Merck still complete compete, right? I know people will buy that badge, but geez, it's getting closer to that gaff.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Well, you look at the C class now, and iC class, I think we're lucky if we get a 490 grand drive away. That's a base model car. This thing, even like even if it gets at 60 or 70 grand, is a lot of car for um, yeah, and then you've got the Zika 8X, 9Xs, they're sort of on their way as well. Um, and yeah, everything just uh we've got so many options coming. So many.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Uh question for Reiz. Do you live in a Bonza Lounge terminal? Plenty of space for the fleet. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Uh basically, that's what I had to upgrade to to be able to fit the Spectre in.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

You bought one of the old hangers, didn't you? I do. Hongchi, the what else? Maestro.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

They're all parked there.

BYD's Sister Brand: The Denza N8

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Oh, yeah. Come with a robot. Yeah, why not? Robot Butler. Yeah. Uh no, if BYD is not enough for you, then you can go with their very plush sister brand Denza. This is the Denza N8, achieving 1000 plus electric range with a 130 kilowatt hour LFP battery. That's a big boy. Um, Denza N8, latest filings in China.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

And then there's the N8L, the long wheel.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

Oh, too funny. Seriously. Um, there it is, there N8L fast charging away. Wow, that's crazy, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:13

We are getting the Denza N9 though. It's a plug-in hybrid, but it is coming soon because uh we have previously spotted one on the back of a truck in Melbourne a couple of months ago, probably here for evaluation and stuff. So I think Denzel will be growing that line up and um maybe the N9 first and N8 full bev to follow next year.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Watch this space, watch this very big space. Yeah, looks good. Um now, speaking of luxury, here we go. I am IM Motors, uh revamped L6 sedan, which is the L5, sorry, IM5 here in Australia. Jimmy Chew Collaborations.

IM Motors L6 Sedan & Jimmy Choo Collab

SPEAKER_01 31:55

This is I've not seen this a shoemaker collaboration.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

You wouldn't be able to wear your typical Jimmy Chews to drive, I would think. Not the safest option, but maybe that's just me. I wouldn't want to try driving in still and those.

SPEAKER_01 32:11

I mean, given the chance, you know, if they gave you a pair of Jimmy shoes to try, I mean, I wouldn't say no, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:16

I I wouldn't drive in them though, because I I care about safety first.

SPEAKER_01 32:23

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Tom, I spot something. What? Check out the brake calipers.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Oh, yes. Blue. Good.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

They've copied you. They've copied you, bro.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

That's trademarked. Come on. Blue calipers. Who would have thought? Does it match the shoes, though? I mean, the color matches the shoes. Uh um, yeah. Well, I mean, IM5. Uh, we don't really see the IM5 feature in the uh the top-selling cars, do we? Month month to month here in Australia. So I don't know. Same with the IM6, it doesn't really feature either. Um, maybe that's why they've got this in a hand.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

I've only seen a hand for one road maybe like five at most.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Yeah, then maybe that's why they dropped the price, because it's not selling, which is a shame. I mean, I do like the drive of the I the IM5. I think it drives really well. And it's got a lift back up the back as well, so that's quite versatile.

SPEAKER_04 33:23

I don't know whether it's just the colour of this one, or or maybe they've yeah, I guess with Professor Jimmy Chu tweaking the shape of it as well, it just looks a bit um more sleek than than the IM5 we have currently, which is a bit bubbly, like it's just very yeah. This one doesn't look as bubbly. I don't know whether it's just the colour, the way they've taken the photos.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

Yeah, that prof Jimmy Chu in the corner there. I look, I must admit, today was the first day I learned that he was a professor.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

Did you know he was a professor? No, I didn't. Well, I mean, if his name's written like that, then yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

I mean, well, then again, Dre, is is Dre a doctor? Is Dr. Dre actually Dre? You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Like I mean, he might be. Oh dear. Um, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Well, concept, isn't that like a the BMW? What's it called? The Swatsky, I can't even pronounce it.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Sor Soroski, yes, crystal crystal, yes. Yeah, good call. She looks happy driving there. I mean, like you'd be happy wearing those shoes, I suppose.

SPEAKER_04 34:37

No, I I I would be stressed if I was like wearing those shoes and trying to drive.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

Maybe maybe calipers. Uh yeah, you can't see them anymore. Yeah, maybe there'll be a Nike collab with uh with another brand.

SPEAKER_04 34:52

Um sensible shoes, like yeah, or Converse or something.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Yeah, yeah. We'll see. This could be the start of a new thing. Anything, try anything. Um I feel like I get a wrist injury taking it around about with that steering wheel. Yeah, that's new, right? Is it wasn't that wasn't that ovoid before, was it? That's different.

SPEAKER_02 35:15

No, it was totally it was a full round steering wheel, the current one.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

I thought it was offered in China.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Is it okay?

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Oh, it was as one of the variants, but I think we only got the round one here.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Yeah, yeah, okay. Um, and moving right along. So GAC ION to debut Ray 7, first model in the ray lineup in China. This looks like a sedan.

GAC Aion Ray 7: A New Sedan

SPEAKER_01 35:45

There you go. How's JSC doing? Yeah, it's on the up. Oh, we know Riz told us how many? 4,000, right? Last stream we were on?

SPEAKER_00 36:05

4,300, and then they decided to start to um I guess put their sales out. So July, I think they had was the first month they reported their sales through VFAX, and they got about just over a thousand units.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

It's pretty good, pretty good, and that's across like all their cars, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Electric yeah, four models. Uh and we also saw in last week's episode they put every other uh cheap hatchback EV brand uh on notice that they are going to be putting their own ion, affordable ion UT out.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

On notice, that's right. It's very threatening. Short-range ion. Uh oh, Richard says lots of cars have tie it had tie-ins with shoe brands. Even Ferrari had a thing with Puma. Speaking of Ferrari, did you see that? How much they sold the first Ferrari for on that auction?

SPEAKER_02 37:02

40 million dollars. 40 million.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Was it US dollars or euro? Anyway, it's similar. 40 million. Was that you, Riz? It was right.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

No, no, did I actually get it?

SPEAKER_02 37:10

It was also me.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

It wasn't you, okay. Must be at someone else. It's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

Yeah, I it was US 40 mil, so 56 mil. I'm looking at it now.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

I like cash. Hopefully it was legit money, otherwise it'll be on um pickles pretty soon. You never know. Uh dear. All right. And oh, here we go. Speaking of someone said Ionic. Looks like the Ionic. So Ionic, first Ionic model for sale in China. Uh, I did see this in the Beijing Auto Show, Ionic V. So it looks like it's gonna be open officially at the Chengdu Auto Show. That'd be a cool one to go to. Go see the Pandas and see some cars at the same time in Chengdu.

SPEAKER_04 38:01

It's a cool shape, it kind of looks like origami.

SPEAKER_00 38:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:07

Which I know is Japanese, but it's it's very um what's the word?

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Pointy.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

Like yeah, like arrow arrow. At least it doesn't look the same as kind of like every other car.

SPEAKER_01 38:23

I mean, the Alexio is actually made in China, the battery and the car. That's a Yande. Oh okay. Well, uh keep an eye on that and see how much they they cost this at. Has to compete with uh local cars, of course. It's almost cyber truck-esque, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Yeah, it's like it's got cyber cabs from some angles, cyber truck from others, and then this gold is very reminiscent of the cyber cab. Um, and then the rear looks a little bit like uh Lamborghini of some sort.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Yeah, squash up. It looks like it should go fast. Gotta see the specs.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

Agreed. Agreed. Cool. All right. Uh any specs? Let's have a look. Oh, whoop it is. Let's have a look. Interiors. It's very Alexia-like. Alexia's got the big screen too. I think oh life lamp. Not quite zero gravity. Got a glass roof.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

Oh, Qualcomm Snapdragon. Buzzword of 2025.

SPEAKER_04 39:42

But one chip.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

One chip. 4.9. Cyber eye. Cybernot.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Oh, it's disappointing. The the power specs are there.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Oh, 140 kilowatts only. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 39:59

Should have been per motor.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Yeah. Yeah, all four of them, right? Single motor. EGMP, 800 volts. All right. 53 kilowatt. Oh, that's tiny. 53 kilowatt hour and 66 kilowatt hour. When body's talking about 100 and you know, 120, whatever it was. Alright. Okay. Um, yes, squirkle steering wheel. It's very um very trendy. Let's have a look. Yeah. Squirkle top and bottom, isn't it?

unknown 40:37

Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 40:38

Is there a head up display maybe so it doesn't block that? Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 40:42

Yeah, there is. I I saw when I was skimming through it said some cyber eye. Cyber I display. Oh, yeah. Cyber I. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 40:50

I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but maybe the squirkle, you know, cutting it off there means you can see the cyber eye head up display.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

It's got two AI large language models. Baidu's only bot and byte dances double. Interesting. Tony says if it's not RS, it's BS.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

I love that line. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

Uh all right. Let's push on. So um, bit of data here. Automakers in China's uh NEV market in July. So BYD, no surprises there leading 23.5%.

China's NEV Market Share Data (July 2026)

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Uh Gili is next, 11.1. Leap Motor, 8.8. What an auspicious number. Well done, number three. Then Chang'an, S A I C H I M A, which is Huawei, I think, isn't it? Um Cherry, Neo, more SIC, Xiaomi, and Tesla falling out of the top 10. Very interesting. Very interesting. There you go. So no surprises with the top two. Leap motor, yeah. Bit of a dark horse there. I'm I'm I'm yeah, I'm not surprised Leapotor does well. We all the auto shows, you always see the the big leap motor stands. Let's have a look at the export numbers here. So this is export to cars going out of China. Um, BYD 32. Um Cherry, 15%. I think Cherry is the first exporter to reach 200,000 cars outside of China. Uh and then Tesla, because Tesla's exporting more cars out of China than and um selling internally.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Um it makes sense because that's Tesla's normal cycle where they first quarter they sort of uh I'm sorry, first month of the quarter, which is July, they make for export markets, and then second, it's a combination of export and local, and then the third month is usually built for local so they can get them on the back of trucks and get them to the showrooms pretty quickly in China.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

Okay, makes sense. Uh look, expand's in there, top 10. It's good. 1.8% exports. Yes. Why don't lead motors so well in Australia? That is a good question, considering how big they are in China. Great question, actually. Dunno. Might need more um more stunts like flying a car um on a getting a helicopter to lift one out. Remember that stunt when they first arrived? Yeah. Okay.

Waymo Imports Zeekr Robotaxis to the US

SPEAKER_01 43:27

All right, and finally, uh, I thought I'd show this because this is quite interesting. So uh Waymo imported 3,200 Zika robo taxis in the US despite being slapped, obviously, with the 100% tariff in um the US for Chinese cars. Um, and it's still cheaper to import at that tariff, put the software in than to use the Jaguar no pace, sorry, iPace again, um, as they've been doing in the US. So very interesting indeed. But they are copying criticism there for using Chinese cars from WMO, which is uh unfortunate, but it is what it is in the US at the moment. So there you go. Be good to try Wermo one day, maybe. I don't mind trying an expang that cyber cab too, the Robo Taxi. Guangzhou, I'll have to reach out somewhere there. Right. Well, that might be it for today, guys and girls. So uh thanks everyone for joining us. Uh, not too much local news, a bit of spy shots,

Goodbyes & Upcoming Car Reviews

SPEAKER_01 44:30

but um just uh some information from China and and uh what's going on in that market. Riz, we'll start with you. Thank you very much once again for joining us this Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Thanks everyone. Uh yeah, it's um you know quite a bit of uh upcoming models that are being spotted. So if you see anything, uh tag Tom, Joy, Roland. And uh yeah, I look forward to the next uh episode of Ludicus Feed.

SPEAKER_01 44:56

Absolutely, thank you, Riz, and thank you, Roland, once again for joining us from Zapped YouTube channel.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

Thank you, thank you. And I noticed quite a few comments on the Ionic 66N. Yes, I'm not buying one, just gonna put it out there. I did say I loved it, I'm not buying one.

SPEAKER_04 45:13

We all love the 6N. That was a sweet card. I did not want to like hand that one back.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Yeah, it was good. The spoiler certainly uh was a bit of a game check.

SPEAKER_04 45:25

All the difference, it made all the difference.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Yep, yep. All right, well, uh thanks everyone. Thanks for watching. And uh, like I said, we have the aura coming up on the show. Uh, we actually have the Lexus as well uh in possession. So, yes, Lexus finally reached out to us and loaned us a car, which is nice. So, watch out. Um, so thanks for watching. And if you have any comments, if you're watching on replay, please drop them in the comments section. And thanks for watching us and listening to us on audio podcast as well. From Riz Roland, Joy, and myself. Uh, we shall see you next time on Ludicrous Feed. Until then, it's happy charging. See you around.