Weekly Reads

China Pushes Battery Development as the U.S. Eases Fuel-Economy Requirements

This week’s Watch List items show China pushing battery development while the U.S. eases fuel-economy requirements. China’s new five-year battery-industry plan calls for the initial large-scale use of all-solid-state batteries by 2030. Meanwhile, NHTSA has reset U.S. fuel-economy standards through 2031, reducing pressure on automakers to electrify the vehicles they sell in the U.S. That could slow the shift to EVs in a market where they already make up a smaller share of new-car sales than in China or Europe.

This is the last Weekly Read. Starting in early November, I’ll publish a Monthly Read covering the preceding month’s most important developments and what they mean for the brands Road & Reason follows. I’ll continue publishing Articles, Evidence posts, and Watch List items throughout the month, and updating the Brand pages and Big Question assessments as developments change the analysis.

In This Week’s Read

Watch List · 2 items

Watch List

China

Connected to    Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz Expands Solid-State Battery Testing as China Targets 2030 Scale

Sep 29, 2026

ProLogium:

Mercedes-Benz AG and ProLogium Holding Inc. have signed a joint testing agreement, giving Mercedes-Benz priority access to test ProLogium’s latest Gen4 battery cells and further building on the companies’ nearly ten-year partnership in advancing next-generation battery technologies for mobility.

China’s State Council, summarizing the country’s new five-year battery-industry plan:

The plan envisions the initial large-scale application of all-solid-state batteries and a cycle life of 15,000 cycles for long-life lithium batteries by 2030.

Two concrete signs of movement toward broader industrialization.

Economics

NHTSA Resets U.S. Fuel Economy Standards Through 2031

Sep 29, 2026

NHTSA:

In accordance with the President’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order and the Secretary’s “Fixing the CAFE Program” Memorandum, NHTSA is publishing a final rule, The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicle Rule III for Model Years 2022 to 2031 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks. The rule resets the maximum feasible fuel economy standards in accordance with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and other applicable law. The final rulemaking brings the CAFE program into compliance with relevant statutory requirements.

NHTSA is also eliminating the inter-manufacturer credit trading system starting in MY 2028, and amending the light-duty vehicle fleet classification system to allocate vehicles into passenger and non-passenger automobile fleets appropriately, based on their attributes and capabilities, starting in MY 2030. NHTSA projects that the amended standards will correspond to the industry fleetwide average requirement of roughly 34.9 miles per gallon (mpg) in MY 2031.