I have seen the future of cars in Beijing and yes, it is electric (and very cool)

I remember when I was in Dubai and I attended GITEXthe largest technology fair in the world with its 230,000 square meters of stands spread across several pavilions. That seemed absolutely unbearable to me, even having two or three days to visit it relatively calmly. It was something absolutely insane.

Three years later I woke up not in Dubai, but in Beijing.

And if the 230,000 square meters of GITEX were overwhelming, the 380,000 square meters of the Beijing Motor Showthe 1,451 cars on display, the 181 new cars, the 71 concept cars and the 200 press conferences are, directly, mission impossible.

I would need a week to tour the two pavilions that shape this event, but I have only had a few hours. Not that I needed much more.

Not only because 99% of the cars I have seen here will not arrive in Spain, that too, but because just take a look around the stands of Chery, Xiaomi, BYD, Geely, Changan, Nio, Xpeng and company to discover that the future of the automobile does not have a European sealbut a Chinese flag that is displayed with pride.

The clearest sign that something is changing and that the sector is evolving is expectation. I have attended countless technology events, from CES to IFA to MWC or GITEX.

It had been years, many years, without seeing lines to enter a stand, to take photos of the latest product launched by a company. Here, well, this was the press conference of the Chery Group.

While consumer technology has become a commodity, as everyone has a cell phone, a laptop, a watch and headphones, the cars are transitioning.

Talking about cars is, perhaps, an understatement, because what Beijing is teaching me is that the car is passing to be a gadget. It is no longer just a matter of consumption, finishes and bodywork. Here talking about a car means talking about connectivity, charging powers, ecosystem, infotainment.

While technology is currently going through a period of relative stagnation, reducing innovation to incremental improvements in specific aspects, the driving force is quite the opposite. The sector is experiencing one of its best moments in terms of variety, capacity and technology.

The gasoline, or rather, the electricity that drives this evolution has a Chinese seal.

I wonder, now that I see firsthand the power of companies like BYD, Chery, Nio and company, If no one thought of this when manufacturers sold their long-term capacity for short-term profits.

Did no one think that China, which requires a partnership with a local partner and the transfer of intellectual property in exchange for being able to sell in its huge country, was going to hit the table one day? That, at some point, I would want to stop manufacturing for others to take what you have learned, improve it, optimize it and sell it herself?

Sure, outsourcing molding, part production, and engineering kept prices low and increased competitiveness in the past, but now the tables have turned.

Now it is the Chinese brand that also accumulates years of expertise competing in a ultra aggressive market and electrified like the premises, which is capable of vertically integrating and controlling the entire manufacturing process, from the batteries to the last screw, and if it does not do so, it surely has a nearby company capable of providing every last cable.

Because that is a huge competitive advantage.: If Europe or the United States wants a Chinese part, they have to wait for it to be shipped and it arrives. Days, at least.

If a Chinese brand needs it, I probably just have to cross the sidewalk or drive a few minutes to the manufacturer’s headquarters.

That capacity, that good work, I see clearly as I walk through the infinite halls in the Hall.

I see a BYD that fills an entire Hall 3 with its brands, showing off a 1,000 HP roadster like the Denza Z. Its finish has little to envy of any European car, although I doubt it will reach Europe.

I also see a spectacular supercar from their Fangchengbao brand capable of making anyone’s jaw drop.

At his side, a Denza Z9 GT and a Fangchengbao frozen at -33 degrees serve the brand to boast of fast charging in extreme conditionsnailing to the millimeter the promise that the car, frozen, is fully charged in 9 minutes. I can think of few more risky demos.

Then there is this car, also BYD, with a My Little Pony theme that I leave here for haha.

In the Chery hall, which has had the most crowded conference I have seen in years, the company’s executives explain their international vocation and their plans to continue extending their tentacles. And I must say that it is even dizzying. When a Chinese executive makes a presentation in English, it is not for pleasure. It is a declaration of intentions like the top of a pine tree.

Chery has introduced the Omoda 4, the Lepas L6 EV and the Tiggo V (which can be transformed into a pick-up, convertible and SUV and which we will see here as an Omoda, Jaecoo or Ebro). The signature, furthermore, intends to bring its Lepas brands (more elegant cut) and Exeed (which will be Exlantix and will be sold as a premium brand) to Spain.

We will see news from Ebro later, but in any case, the Chinese strategy is clear: the future is abroad, in the international market, and involves plug-in hybrids.

China has figured out its charging network to make the leap to the BEV, but the brands seem aware that Europe, especially in the south, is not.

Your proposal? While the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles arrives, here is a tremendous offer of hybrids and plug-in hybrids with which skyrocket demand for charging infrastructure. That brands are pushing this format is no coincidence.

In fact, it scares them. It only took Omoda three years to sell a million vehicles and Lepas, which was launched recently, aims to do so by 2030.

Another brand that you should not lose sight of is Nio. Nio is the Chinese Tesla. The company produces completely electric vehicles with spectacular capabilities and finishes. It was founded in 2014 and in 2023 it was already launching its first electric car.

In that video you can see the Nio ET9a beautiful sedan from the year 2025, inside which there is a 100 kWh CATL battery capable of offering more than 600 km of autonomy. That, and dancing, as is obvious.

The robotaxis They have also had their share of prominence. Companies such as Exeed and BAIC (Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation) have presented their respective proposals, all of them conceptual, although they look sensational, at least as far as finishes are concerned. For whatever reason, we have not been able to test them.

In conclusion, what has this room taught us? That the future will be electric or it will not bespeaking in silver.

That future will not come tomorrow, nor the day after, nor is it realistic Europe will jump to BEV in the blink of an eye, but it will have to do it. Sooner or later, but the reality is that oil is finite.

Who will sell the cars that will shape that transition? Who is leading the development of batteries, hybrid engines and optimizing processes? Exact.

In China there are literally drawing the future of mobility. Today, in this room, we have seen the present and immediate future of China, but also a preview of what, sooner or later, will end up happening in the rest of the countries.

The challenge, of course, is to develop the infrastructure necessary to facilitate that jump. Something challenging, without a doubt, but also clearly necessary.

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