Can Chinese carmakers win over enthusiasts?

Plus a £5,000 weekend car challenge on this week's episode of The Gassing Station

By Cam Tait / Thursday, 10 September 2026 / Loading comments

Another World EV day has come and gone, and had it not been for Matt B shining a light on the Audi e-tron GT Ice Race Edition it would likely have passed you by completely unnoticed. Now, a surprisingly large number of PHers have an EV on their driveway, and a good chunk of those who don’t are actively looking for one. And who could blame them? In a perfect world, an EV can slash your monthly running costs, which just means you can funnel more cash into something a little more special. The only problem is that precious few can be considered genuinely exciting to drive. Chinese carmakers are keen to change that, with record-breaking Nürburgring runs, sky-high power outputs and increasingly outrageous performance cars. But are they actually winning over enthusiasts? So for this week’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast, we take a look at why they keep missing the mark.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen the emergence of Denza, yet another performance brand from BYD, smartphone giant Xiaomi setting an electric SUV record around the ‘Ring and the Voyah Passion S (yes, really) briefly driving upside down in a tunnel. You certainly can’t fault any of them for trying, but records and marketing stunts alone do precious little to stoke the enthusiast coals. Trouble is, the rest of the world isn’t doing a considerably better job. Yes, there are the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 Ns, both of which have gone down a treat on PH, and the Renault 5 Turbo 3E may very well do the same. But if it’s a proper driver’s car you’re after, the EV market still leaves something to be desired. Still, we take a stab at trying to discern why the continuous barrage of Chinese performance EVs keep missing the mark, and why cars like the SC01 suggest some carmakers may already be working on the answer.

Don’t worry, it’s not all about EVs, as we’ve got a buying challenge to chew on. PHer RED5RACING is after a weekend car that’s “a bit old school and analogue” for £5,000, with an Abarth 500 and an NC Mazda MX-5 both making the shortlist. Sam, however, thinks this Peugeot 208 GTI should be on their radar, too, as it’s a bit more modern than the other two and packs a bigger punch. My suggestion is this Mazda RX-8, which not only comes in £2,000 under budget but, arguably, is more fun to drive. EV makers of the world, take note.

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