Zhejiang Geely Holding Group

Major EVs Discontinued in the U.S. in 2026

Multiple automakers scaled back or exited U.S. EV offerings in 2026 as sales softened following the end of a $7,500 federal tax credit, rising tariffs, shifting consumer demand, and regulatory actions. Honda confirmed cancellation of the Prologue and earlier halted development of several O Series models; the Sony–Honda Afeela joint venture abandoned its Afeela-branded EVs before production. Other moves include Hyundai discontinuing the Ioniq 6 in the U.S., Nissan not offering the 2026 Ariya, Volvo pulling the EX30 variants, Volkswagen pausing ID.4 production in Chattanooga and delaying ID.Buzz in the U.S., and Polestar being effectively barred from U.S. sales pending Commerce Department authorization. Tesla ended Model S and Model X production to refocus capacity. Q2 2026 U.S. EV sales were 247,226 units (about 5.8% of the market), per Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive.

Roundup: Piketty Plan, AI Slowdown, Drones, Borjas Errors

This roundup criticizes Thomas Piketty and the World Inequality Lab’s new global plan—centered on degrowth and a proposed Global Justice Fund—arguing it relies on an outdated RCP8.5 baseline and is politically impractical. The newsletter also highlights data and market signals around generative AI: a chart (via John Burn-Murdoch) using Demirer et al. (2026) suggesting the number of apps with significant usage is falling despite many new releases, and reporting that Sam Altman warned of a meaningful pullback in AI spending. Other items: analysis of modern drone warfare and Western militaries’ slow adaptation, China exporting manufacturing capacity abroad, a paper claiming India’s recent GDP growth may be misestimated, and critiques showing errors in George Borjas’s recent research on immigration and ideology.

China's AI Car Race Expands Beyond Cars

At the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, Chinese tech firms and automakers signalled that the AI competition in vehicles is moving beyond hardware into a new intelligence and control layer. ByteDance’s Volcano Engine model Doubao is now used by more than 50 car brands (about 145 models and over 7 million vehicles), while Alibaba’s Qwen model announced multiple automaker integrations. Automakers are also racing on local compute—XPeng, Li Auto, NIO and Geely showcased custom AI chips delivering thousands of TOPS. The article argues that as cockpit features converge, the competitive frontier shifts to vehicle-level intelligence systems and the software-defined interface between user intent and vehicle action. Companies building that interface (not just carmakers) may capture value and reshape automotive supply chains, with implications that could extend beyond China.