What's going on?

Xpeng reported a mixed set of results on Tuesday, but the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker has a crack team of engineers working round the clock to nail it next time.

What does this mean?

Xpeng delivered more than 25,000 cars last quarter � a record high and nearly three times as many as the same time in 2020. That drove revenue up by a much better-than-expected 187% compared to the same time last year. But it had plenty of outgoings too: the company�s been spending big on developing new cars, as well as on self-driving tech that�ll allow it to build robotaxis down the line. So it follows that the company�s research and development costs were twice what they were in the third quarter of last year, and that the company made a bigger-than-expected loss. Still, the company sees that as a necessary bump on the road to glory: Xpeng said it�s expecting to break delivery records this quarter too.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: This is a big pond.
China�s the biggest EV market in the world, and it�s growing at a rate of knots: EV sales in the country are on track to hit 3 million by the end of the year � more than double last year�s total. And while there is a lot of competition from the likes of Tesla, NIO, and Li Auto, the market�s so big that Xpeng shouldn�t have any problem growing its sales for the foreseeable future.

Zooming out: Feel the power.
It�s not just the carmakers having all the fun: CATL � the world�s biggest manufacturer of EV batteries � became China�s second-biggest domestically listed company by market value earlier this week, having seen its share price more than double over the last year. And that might just be the start: the US government�s next spending proposal includes tax incentives for EV buyers, and it could boost demand for CATL�s batteries even more.