Geely Can Now Charge An EV Battery In Under 5 Minutes

Happy Wednesday! It's September 23, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking at Geely's new charging tech, and Honda's plans for a bigger brother to the Pilot. We'll also look at a notable attendee of Trump's dinner with Xi Jinping, and a new Rivian recall. 

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EVs have to contend with range anxiety in their owners, while gas cars — often with comparable ranges from their fuel tanks — don't. When you think about it, the issue is less one of range than of charging speed. Geely is now trying to address that, with cars that charge from 10% to 70% in under five minutes. From Reuters: 

NINGBO, China, Sept 23 (Reuters) – China's Geely responded to the challenge ‌posed by rival BYD on Wednesday with a system that can charge an EV in just four minutes, the industry's fastest speed.

Geely also introduced a next-generation electric vehicle battery and an upgraded ​Galaxy E5 pure-electric SUV as it seeks to revive sales in China, ​where EV sales declined for 11 consecutive months through August.

...

Supported by a 2.2-megawatt charging infrastructure and ​a high-rate battery capacity, Geely said its new setup can charge a vehicle from 10% to 70% in 4.5 minutes, and from 10% to 97% in 8 minutes and 40 seconds under normal ​ambient temperatures.

I'd much rather have this than a car with a 1,000-mile range, honestly. I'm fine with charging more often, especially if those charging stops are short — let the charging stations bear the cost of development here, and ship cars with smaller, more economical batteries. This is the future, if we can make the logistics work. 

Honda's biggest vehicle is the three-row Pilot (at least in terms of passenger space), but Honda wants more. The company is now targeting an even bigger model, codenamed "Pilot XXL," to hit the market within six years. From Automotive News: 

Honda is considering a three-row flagship crossover positioned above the Pilot and entering production in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2032, according to a person briefed on the plan.

The model, identified as "Pilot XXL" in a Honda planning document, is expected to stretch nearly 8 inches longer than the current Pilot.

It would share its platform with a three-row crossover planned for the Acura brand, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

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The Acura crossover, first reported by Automotive News in July, is scheduled to begin production in September 2029. That model, internally labeled the Acura XL, is estimated to generate annual volumes of less than 30,000, the person said.

The naming scheme here is worth noting, because the larger Acura model is just called Acura XL — not MDX XL, or something similar. The inclusion of Pilot in the Honda's name could mean that it's a future generation of the Pilot, jumping segments, or that it's a big brother to be related somehow in name. 

Donald Trump is hosting Xi Jinping for dinner, and U.S. automakers and dealers are worried. Their specific fear is that Trump will allow BYD to start building cars in the U.S., and that such an arrangement would massively undercut the prices of other U.S.-built vehicles — forcing the legacy brands to restructure things in a major way. It seems like Mary Barra, head of GM, will do her best to act as a counterpoint to BYD. From Reuters: 

DETROIT, Sept 22 (Reuters) – General Motors CEO Mary Barra is ‌expected to attend US President Donald Trump's state dinner at the White House on Thursday for Chinese President Xi Jinping, two sources familiar with ​the matter said, as US automakers warn against allowing Chinese ​manufacturers into the market, while Trump signals he may ⁠be open to it.

Barra will not be joined by Stellantis ​CEO Antonio Filosa, who is out of the country, two ​sources said. Ford declined to comment on if CEO Jim Farley would attend the dinner. The automaker recently came under fire from US Transportation Secretary ​Sean Duffy for its business partnerships with Chinese companies.

If GM and BYD both build cars in the U.S., with the same union labor pool earning the same wages, then there's no reason the two shouldn't be able to compete on price — unless, of course, BYD is willing to either sacrifice profits or has some sort of other efficiencies behind the scenes. If costs are the same, and BYD can still beat GM, it's worth asking why GM loses. 

It's Rivian's turn to grab the coveted Recall Spot in TMS, this time with a recall that even includes the freshly-released R2 SUV. The issue is a minor annoyance, one that can be solved with an update, but it's technically a recall nonetheless. From Reuters: 

Sept 23 (Reuters) – Rivian Automotive is ​recalling 98,828 vehicles in ‌the US due to an obstruction issue with the ​rearview camera image, potentially reducing the driver's ​view behind the vehicle, the ⁠US auto safety ​regulator said on Wednesday.
Here are some ​details:

* The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the rearview camera ​image may be ​blocked by a notification when the ‌vehicle ⁠is in reverse, increasing the risk of a crash.
* The recall affects ​certain ​2022-2027 ⁠R1S, 2022-2026 R1T, and 2027 R2 ​models.

Putting a notification over the rearview camera isn't the end of the world, but it does technically run afoul of the backup camera mandate. I probably wouldn't even think about it from behind the wheel, but it's nice that Rivian is getting the issue solved anyway. 

About as American as it gets: The "You can say whatever you want about me, but you shut your mouth about my dog" attitude. 

Prices have largely stabilized from yesterday! Surely this is the worst they'll ever be, and everything will go back to normal soon. 

It's getting chilly out, at least over here in Queens. I spent yesterday in a lined denim jacket, and I was still cold in the autumn breeze.