The entire auto industry is pissed off at the United States following President Donald Trump’s decision to invoke sweeping 25% tariffs on imported cars, light-duty trucks, as well as auto parts. Rightfully so, as many countries simply didn’t expect the tariffs to be as wide-reaching as Wednesday’s announcement revealed—and even Tesla, which builds some of the most American-made cars, isn’t free from impact.
Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup for all things electric and tech in the automotive space. Even Elon Musk is sounding the alarm over Trump’s new auto-related tariffs. Plus, BYD’s megawatt chargers will go live as early as next week, and Tesla drops FSD branding in China. Let’s jump in.
30%: Even Tesla Can’t Dodge The Tariff Hammer
Photo by: Shutterstock
If you’re one of the folks who believe that Tesla will come out nearly unscathed given that it builds its cars for the U.S. domestically, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says think again.
Following the announcement of the tariffs, Musk called the new U.S. levies on imported cars, light-duty trucks, and auto parts a “significant” impact to the automaker. Despite having factories peppered across the U.S. and controlling a decent bit of its supply chain in-house, not even Tesla can fully sidestep what’s coming on April 2.
And if Tesla isn’t as insulated as expected, that spells big trouble for the rest of the carmakers.
The only exemption is for auto parts from Canada and Mexico previously covered under the USMCA trade agreement Trump brokered in his first term. Collections on these tariffs will begin on April 3.
When even the First Buddy is forewarning about tariffs, you know there’s something to be worried about. That’s why it’s important not to get things twisted when thinking about Tesla. Sure, it assembles its cars sold in the U.S., in the U.S. However, the automaker still relies on a global network of suppliers for certain raw materials, electronics, and other specialized parts.
Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that each domestic Tesla vehicle has between 20% and 25% of its parts sourced from Mexico, plus an undisclosed amount from Canada. Keep in mind that any imported steel and aluminum is also subject to new, separate, import duty fees from the Trump administration as well.
The same goes for just about every other automaker, whether domestic or foreign—the idea that a car is made in just one country simply is not true. Experts previously warned that this move could add as much as $12,000 to the purchase price of some new cars.
It’s unclear what these tariffs will mean for U.S. automakers that import vehicles to other countries. As mentioned, the entire world is pretty upset with Trump’s move right now. That could mean retaliatory tariffs, or simply exclusions from localized tax incentives—kind of like what Canada has recently done with Tesla. Either way, it’s very possible these tariffs could turn into a slapboxing match that nobody really wins.
60%: BYD’s Megawatt Fast Chargers Will Begin To Go Live As Early As Next Week
Photo by: Autohome
Charging has always been the Achilles’ heel of EVs. So when Chinese automaker BYD announced last week that it was unleashing a real-world 1,000-Kilowatt DC Fast Charging network alongside a pair of high-end EVs, the world was shocked.
Not literally, of course, but this was a groundbreaking moment in EV ownership. It means we’ve finally hit the point where charging your car can be just as quick as filling up a gas car at the pump. And it’s not a distant promise, either. In fact, BYD revealed that its first real-world megawatt fast chargers are expected to go live as early as next week.
Here’s Electrek, citing CNEVPost:
According to BYD’s general manager of brand and public relations, Li Yunfei, the company’s plans for installing 4,000 of these new EV fast chargers are already underway.
Furthermore, the initial rollout of 500 chargers is said to be ready to go when the recently announced Han L and Tang L EVs, which feature BYD’s new Super E-Platform technology, launch in early April.
Timing is everything, and BYD knows it. The launch of these chargers coincides with the launch of the BYD Han L and BYD Tang L EVs, both of which are built on BYD’s Super e-Platform. This means that both cars (which start at just $38,000, by the way) are capable of adding 249 miles of range in just five minutes. That’s eye-wateringly fast.
And as mentioned above, 500 of those chargers (12.5%) seem to be ready to roll next month alone. The brand hasn’t said how long it will take to roll out the remaining 3,500 fast chargers, though the fact that the automaker is prepared to launch such a large number of these chargers so quickly should speak to the brand’s commitment to its new fast-charging tech.
To be clear: a megawatt of charging power is a lot of energy. So much, in fact, that BYD has to plan out some of its charging locations with small energy storage facilities to ensure that drivers can actually replenish their cars at the full rate without disrupting the grid nearby. That does raise some other pressing questions, like what happens when enough megawatt-capable cars need to charge at one site? Teething problems, but one that is sure to be addressed in time.
Either way, BYD is hoping that it gets some competition on this front soon. Li Yunfei said that it is possible that other up-and-coming automakers could surpass its charging technologies in the future, and that “companies with good technology and products can all be accommodated by the market.”
In short: BYD knows its tech is good, but competition breeds innovation and demand. And right now, its megawatt charging means that BYD has a refueling advantage that only ICE cars can match.
90%: Tesla Drops FSD Branding In China After Inexplicably Pausing Rollout
Photo by: InsideEVs
Earlier this week, we learned that Tesla’s rollout of its Full Self-Driving software was paused in China. At the time, the reasoning was unclear. Rumors swirled that it could be related to the real-world performance of the software; one Chinese car blogger managed to rack up seven separate traffic violations in one night. Others suggested that new laws from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) could be to blame.
We still don’t know the exact reasoning, however, it would seem that the strict new regulation from MIIT governing vehicle autonomy may be the likely culprit, especially since Tesla has now officially dropped the “FSD” branding from its software stack entirely in China.
CNEVPost digs in:
Tesla has adjusted the name of its smart driving software in China, dropping the FSD wording from the highest-priced package.
The change was made yesterday, and the name of the software package priced at $8,820 was changed from the previous “FSD Intelligent Assisted Driving” to “Intelligent Assisted Driving“.
The name of the free basic version of the Assisted Driving software was changed from the previous “Basic Version Assisted Driving” to “Basic Assisted Driving.”
The name of the “Enhanced Version Automated Assisted Driving” software package, which sells for [$4,400], has been adjusted to “Enhanced Assisted Driving.”
The overall description of these functions has been adjusted from the previous “Autopilot Automated Assisted Driving” to “Assisted Driving.”
MIIT officially began its regulatory oversight on driving-related over-the-air updates in February. The regulations also included provisions that ban automakers from naming or marketing driver-assistance features in any way that hints at acceptable use of the systems as fully-automated driving systems.
Full Self-Driving, despite what the name might sound like, isn’t a fully autonomous driving suite. This is an argument as old as FSD, and has seen its battle in the legal system time and time again across the globe with mixed results. And while Tesla hasn’t explicitly said that it dropped the FSD moniker because of Chinese regulations, the timing of the rollout pause (which would likely be required for an OTA recall or to fix a product defect under the MIIT’s new regulations) when combined with the name change feels awfully coincidental.
Tesla is in a tough spot when it comes to Autopilot and FSD right now. Chinese competitors like BYD are dropping bombs on the American automaker’s prized tech at a hell of a discount, meaning that Tesla needs to innovate extremely quickly to stay competitive in a home team’s market. Killing off the branding it’s fought so hard to keep elsewhere in the world? Well, that’s a hit no matter how you look at it.
It also speaks to the broader implications of autonomy in general. As AV tech evolves, so must the regulations and frameworks that govern it—the use, sale and deployment. Tesla’s case serves as the delicate balance between the strong arm of the government and technological ambition. Which will come out on top?
100%: Are Tariffs Actually Going Through Or Not?
Your guess is as good as ours right now as the outcome of Trump’s latest move. Is this a permanent reset, as he calls it, or another negotiating tactic that will get pulled at the last minute? Share your theories in the comments.
