This Week's News Bites: BYD expands, e-Bikes surge, and Kia wins big

Welcome to News Bites: your quick catch up across all things automotive.
If you’re struggling to stay of top of the endless news, but still want to know what’s going on, this is the article for you. Think of this as your end-of-week pit stop for everything happening in the world of automotive. From fast-rising brands to record-breaking electrics and the future of two-wheeled tech, we’re skimming the headlines, digging into the details, and serving it all up in easy, snack-sized portions. So strap in, here’s what’s been happening.

• The upcoming Nissan Leaf will offer a range of up to 386 miles and a starting price of around £32,000. It’s also one of the few electric cars in the UK qualifying for the full £3,750 government grant (the full list of eligible cars is here), making it an even more attractive option for those considering a new electric car.
• Speaking of the Electric Car Grant, the UK government has clarified the rules a bit this week: if you buy a new electric vehicle costing less than £37,000 and it meets the eligibility criteria, you could save up to £3,750. Read more about that here. • We’re seeing a wave of Chinese car brands and models arriving in the UK and shaking things up for the established manufacturers. This means more options for buyers, and the increased competition is putting pressure on prices. With all these new choices, it could be a good idea to look beyond the traditional names to see what extra feature or competitive prices could be available. • Mitsubishi is gearing up to return to the UK in 2026 after a few years away, which means more choice for car buyers. With another big name in the mix, there’s likely to be more competition, so it’s worth watching how Mitsubishi prices and equips its new models, as this could lead to better deals for everyone.

With so many Chinese brands arriving in a short space of time BYD (which launched here in 2023) already feels like it’s been around for ages. Its expansion has been phenomenal – the very definition of “China speed” – and it has now sold upwards of 14m electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles globally. But it’s not stopping there. Earlier this week we drove BYD’s latest hybrid model in Spain, the Atto 2 DM-i and during the event, BYD’s Executive Vice President, Stella Li, said we can expect two more new models coming soon. She also shared BYD’s aspiration to sell its vehicles in 33 European countries by the end of 2025 and told us the brand will be scaling up production of the Atto 2 and Dolphin Surf at its new plant in Hungary next year helping to localise manufacturing in a bid to preserve its momentum.

Autotrader was at the NEC this week for the Motorcycle Live show which, you might reasonably assume, is the last chance saloon for lovers of petrol-powered machinery. Not so! Electrification is big news in bike world as well, and we were pleasantly surprised at the diversity of battery-powered bikes on show, from e-bikes and electric scooters on up. Cool stuff included Royal Enfield’s electric sub-brand Flying Flea , the retro-modern Maevings built just down the road from the NEC and a glimpse of the future in the shape of Honda’s WN7 electric motorbike. Honda of course has shared technical expertise across cars and bikes and, while the challenges are similar in terms of purchase price, range anxiety and cost of ownership, the brand already has electric scooters like the EM1e: and CUVe: we’ve already tested. Which has us genuinely excited at the prospect of riding the WN7 next year. The show continues over the weekend if you fancy checking the bikes out in the metal, or even having a go on one yourself courtesy of the indoor demo areas.

It’s a Cinderella story for the ages … in the van world at least … as Kia’s new PV5 electric van has been awarded the prestigious International Van of the Year award for 2026. One day back in 2022, Kia decided being a great electric car manufacturer wasn’t enough and that it would try its hand at building a van. The result is the excellent PV5, a fantastic overall package available as a commercial or personal vehicle and priced lower than some small diesel vans! It even set a Guinness World Record for ‘the greatest distance travelled by a light-duty battery-powered electric van with maximum payload on a single charge’ by driving 430.85 miles before the battery ran out. A new van like this is a seismic reminder to established manufacturers that you should never rest on your laurels because new companies are always ready to come to market if they spot a gap. You can read all about how we got on with the PV5 Cargo in our first drive article.