fact or fiction

Is it fact or merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the myths and beliefs we hold about gas guzzlers, self-driving cars and our on-road lives.

China’s Global Auto Share Fell to 32%. Here’s What the Number Says.
I. The 32% figure needs to be broken down In January-August 2026, China’s global auto share was 32.0%. In the same period of 2025, it was 35.4%. The 3.4-percentage-point decline was the first drop of this size since 2020.
By Jinabout 19 hours ago in Wheel
The 4 A.M. Charge
The service area lights were orange and tired. I parked behind a white SUV with its hazard lights blinking. A man in a blue jacket stood next to a silver sedan, holding a charging cable like a leash. His car showed 1 percent. Two teenagers pushed from behind. The car rolled forward one slow meter at a time. The charging station was fifty meters away. The queue of EVs stretched past the gas station and around the restroom building. A woman in a red coat leaned against her car and ate sunflower seeds. She had been waiting three hours. She said it without anger, the way you say the weather.
By Jinabout 19 hours ago in Wheel
The 1.7x Repair Bill: Why Electric Cars Are Cheap to Drive and Expensive to Crash
A driver backs into a pillar. The side mirror cracks. In a gasoline car, a body shop orders a replacement shell, maybe a motor, and returns the car in a day or two. In an electric car, the mirror is a module. It handles power adjustment, folding, heating, and blind-spot monitoring. The shop says the whole unit must be replaced. The part has to be shipped from another city. The bill: 5,700 yuan. The wait: nearly a week.
By Jin3 days ago in Wheel
BYD’s September Sales Hit 463,600. The Overseas Story Is Bigger.
On October 1, BYD reported September sales of 463,600 vehicles. Passenger vehicles accounted for 456,700. Overseas passenger vehicles and pickups hit 179,900, up 153.9% from a year earlier.
By Jin3 days ago in Wheel
I Make $20,000 a Month. I Still Can’t Afford to Fix My Electric Car.
We used to say, “It’s easy to buy a car, but hard to maintain it.” Now that sentence needs a rewrite: It’s easy to buy an electric car, but even harder to repair it.
By Jin4 days ago in Wheel
GAC Just Traded Shares for Half of FAW Toyota. Here’s What Changes.
On September 29, GAC Group’s A-shares resumed trading. The stock hit the daily limit at the open. Sealed orders reached 650 million yuan. The night before, GAC released 16 announcements. The company plans to issue shares to buy the 50% stake in FAW Toyota held by FAW. It also plans to raise matching funds. The pre-suspension closing price was 5.08 yuan. The issue price is 5.75 yuan, a premium of about 13%.
By Jin5 days ago in Wheel
Why Motorcycles Stay on the Edge of Everyday Transport
A 10°C wind at 60 km/h feels like 0°C. This is not a metaphor. Riders know. At 6:40 in the morning, the red light has ninety-eight seconds left. He has both feet on the ground. His fingers squeeze the brake. The tips go from numb to painful. The visor fogs. He lifts it a crack. Cold air rushes in. His eyes water. The engine throbs below. Heat rises and gets torn apart by the wind. He wears three layers. The outer shell is windproof. The zipper is up to his chin. Wind still finds his cuffs. He puts his hands beside the engine. Two seconds of warmth. The light turns green.
By Jin6 days ago in Wheel
Alibaba Wants to Be the Electric Company for AI Thinking
Alibaba Wants to Be the Electric Company for AI Thinking At Apsara 2026, CEO Wu Yongming made an economic case: machine thought will be sold like power. Alibaba is building the plants, the grid, and the meters.
By Jin6 days ago in Wheel
Alibaba Cloud Does Not Want to Build Cars. It Wants to Be the Road.
At the 2026 Apsara Conference Automotive Summit, Frost & Sullivan and LeadLeo released a report. The number was simple: Alibaba Cloud held 45.2% of China’s automotive public cloud market. It ranked first in six tracks, including intelligent driving, intelligent cockpits, and industrial efficiency.
By Jin6 days ago in Wheel
My Car Fits the Parking Space. I Still Can’t Get Out.
At 6:40 p.m. in the underground garage of Bairuijing community in Wuchang District, Wuhan, Ms. Liu parks her Li L7 and kills the engine. Then she does something she could not have imagined three years ago when she bought the car. She pulls out her phone, opens the app, and taps “remote park out.”
By Jin7 days ago in Wheel
Tesla Cut Prices Twice in One Month. New Owners Say They Got Played.
On September 25, Tesla China said customers who order by October 31, 2026, will get 5,000 yuan off the final payment on every Model 3 and 7,000 yuan off some Model Y trims.
By Jin9 days ago in Wheel
NIO Just Connected the Silk Road With 33 Battery Swap Stations
On September 26, a new route appeared in the NIO app. Open the map. From Xi’an westward, through the Hexi Corridor, past Dunhuang, and into Xinjiang, 33 battery swap station icons form a line. NIO says its Silk Road battery swap route is fully connected. It runs 3,605 kilometers and uses 33 battery swap stations.
By Jin10 days ago in Wheel