Tesla Semi Heads to Europe, EV Sales Split in Two, and Chinese EVs Eye the US

Electrek's weekly podcast dropped Friday, September 11, and the lineup reads like a snapshot of an EV market pulling in two directions at once. Editor in Chief Fred Lambert and the crew worked through Tesla's European Semi launch, a set of sales numbers that look great on one continent and grim on another, and a political story that could reshape what's parked in American driveways: the possibility of Chinese EVs being allowed into the US market.

What's on this week's episode

The Electrek Podcast runs live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek's YouTube channel, with viewer questions taken in the chat. After the show wraps around 5 p.m. ET, the video is archived on YouTube and the audio goes out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castro, and RSS. Here's the article slate the hosts said they'd cover:

• Tesla reveals European Semi specs: 550 km range, 800 kW charging
• EV sales are booming in Europe — and plunging in North America
• Volvo kills off another EV for the US, but a replacement is coming in 2027
• A senator claims Trump may open the US market to Chinese EVs in a deal with Xi
• Xiaomi launches four SkyNomad SUVs in China from $31,275
• BYD cuts Denza Z9 GT prices with a new e3 Premium trim starting around $50,000
• A first look at Nissan's new entry-level Pixo EV

The Semi finally gets a European spec sheet

Tesla's electric Class 8 truck has been a "coming soon" story for years, so a published European spec sheet is a real milestone. The headline numbers: 550 km of range and 800 kW charging. That charging figure is the one worth staring at — it's roughly three to four times the peak rate a typical passenger EV can accept, and it's the whole reason a battery-electric semi can work on a schedule built around driver break times rather than overnight depot sits.

"Tesla reveals European Semi specs: 550 km range, 800 kW charging" — Electrek, September 11, 2026

Two very different EV markets

The sales story is the "mixed bag" in the episode title. Europe is booming. North America is plunging. Same technology, same model year, opposite trajectories — which tells you how much of EV adoption is policy and incentive structure rather than product.

Volvo's move fits that pattern: another EV pulled from the US lineup, with a replacement not due until 2027. Meanwhile the Chinese market keeps stacking up options American buyers can only read about — Xiaomi rolling out four SkyNomad SUVs starting at $31,275, BYD trimming the Denza Z9 GT with a new e3 Premium at about $50,000, and Nissan showing an entry-level EV called the Pixo. That price-to-content gap is exactly why a senator's claim that the Trump administration might open the US market to Chinese EVs as part of a deal with Xi got as much attention as it did this week. Treat it as an unconfirmed claim for now, not a policy — but it's the kind of thing that would redraw the map if it happened.

What this means for EV owners

Here's the practical read: none of this changes the car sitting in your garage, and it doesn't change the one thing that determines your daily experience — how you charge at home. Megawatt-class truck charging is a fleet story. For the rest of us, the difference between a good ownership experience and an annoying one is still a properly sized Level 2 setup, not a spec sheet.

If you're still running off a wall outlet, a 48A Level 2 wall-mount charger on a NEMA 14-50 turns overnight charging into a non-issue; the 40A version is the pick if your panel or breaker budget is tighter. Browse the full lineup in the EV chargers collection, and if your current cable lives in a tangle on the garage floor, a charging cable organizer for Tesla US-standard connectors is a five-minute fix. Shopping for anything else? Start at the shop-by-vehicle collection and filter to Model 3 Highland, Model Y Juniper, Cybertruck, Model S, or Model X.

The bottom line

• The Semi is real in Europe — 550 km of range and 800 kW charging, which is the number that makes electric trucking schedule-compatible.
• EV sales have split by continent. Europe is booming, North America is falling, and Volvo pulling another US model is a symptom of that.
• Chinese EVs in the US is a claim, not a plan. A senator floated it in the context of a Xi deal — worth watching, not worth planning around.
• Nothing here changes your charging setup, which is still the highest-return upgrade most owners can make.

The full episode is archived on Electrek's YouTube channel and available on all the major podcast apps if you want the hosts' unfiltered take on any of it.