Happy Wednesday! It's September 23, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking at Geely's new charging tech, and Honda's plans for a bigger brother to the Pilot. We'll also look at a notable attendee of Trump's dinner with Xi Jinping, and a new Rivian recall.

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EVs have to contend with range anxiety in their owners, while gas cars — often with comparable ranges from their fuel tanks — don't. When you think about it, the issue is less one of range than of charging speed. Geely is now trying to address that, with cars that charge from 10% to 70% in under five minutes. From Reuters:

NINGBO, China, Sept 23 (Reuters) – China's Geely responded to the challenge ‌posed by rival BYD on Wednesday with a system that can charge an EV in just four minutes, the industry's fastest speed.

Geely also introduced a next-generation electric vehicle battery and an upgraded ​Galaxy E5 pure-electric SUV as it seeks to revive sales in China, ​where EV sales declined for 11 consecutive months through August.

Supported by a 2.2-megawatt charging infrastructure and ​a high-rate battery capacity, Geely said its new setup can charge a vehicle from 10% to 70% in 4.5 minutes, and from 10% to 97% in 8 minutes and 40 seconds under normal ​ambient temperatures.

I'd much rather have this than a car with a 1,000-mile range, honestly. I'm fine with charging more often, especially if those charging stops are short — let the charging stations bear the cost of development here, and ship cars with smaller, more economical batteries. This is the future, if we can make the logistics work.

Honda's biggest vehicle is the three-row Pilot (at least in terms of passenger space), but Honda wants more. The company is now targeting an even bigger model, codenamed "Pilot XXL," to hit the market within six years. From Automotive News:

Honda is considering a three-row flagship crossover positioned above the Pilot and entering production in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2032, according to a person briefed on the plan.