Wright Electric, a developer of electric propulsion systems for regional aircraft, launched Wright Batteries, an initiative to develop batteries targeting 1,000 watt hours per kilogram (wh/kg) pack density. Depiction of Wright battery When I founded Wright, the best vehicle batteries had an energy density below 250 wh/kg. Now several large... Read more →

StoreDot, a developer of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles, signed a strategic partnership agreement with Flex|N|Gate, a leading global automotive component manufacturer. This agreement will see both companies collaborate to sample and scale up the commercialization of StoreDot’s extreme fast charging battery cells for electric vehicles.... Read more →

Sepion Technologies, a leading battery product company focused on advancing lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) for electric vehicles (EVs) and e-mobility applications, opened of one of North America’s largest separator coating facilities for LMBs. This 100% renewable-energy-powered building spans 25,000 square feet, increasing Sepion’s separator coating capacity by 1,000-fold and polymer synthesis... Read more →

India-based Epsilon Group, a leading battery materials manufacturer, signed an agreement to acquire Johnson Matthey’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material technology center in Moosburg, Germany. Financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed. The facility features best-in-class technical capabilities and a workforce with expertise in LFP chemistry, comprehensive product... Read more →

Sales of Audi’s e-tron models in the US in Q3 rose to 7,538 units, representing 12.7% of total sales. This 93% increase from 3,911 units (8% of sales) in Q3 2022 was largely driven by the arrival of the two Q8 e-tron models, which together accounted for 3,597 units. For... Read more →

In the third quarter of 2023, BMW brand sales in the US totaled 83,949 vehicles, a 7.6% increase over the 78,031 vehicles sold in the third quarter of 2022. Through the first three quarters of the year, BMW brand sales total 254,363 vehicles, a 10.3% increase as compared to the... Read more →

Sales of Nissan’s two electric models in the US—the venerable LEAF and the Ariya—accounted for 3% (6,074 units) of the total 200,334 sold in Q3 2023. LEAF sales were 1,570 units, up 23% from Q3 2022, while the newer Ariya posted 4,504 units. YTD, the electric models accounted for 2.4%... Read more →

Verkor, which in April entered a long-term commercial partnership with Renault to supply the equivalent of 12 GWh of batteries each year (earlier post), recently secured more than €2 billion in financing following the signing of a minimum of €850-million Series C funding, approval of European Investment Bank (EIB) for... Read more →

Hystar AS, a spin-off from SINTEF that is developing efficient PEM electrolyzers, will build a fully automated 4 GW electrolyzer factory in Høvik, Norway (just west of Oslo), that will be delivered in 2025, with construction commencing in early 2024. Furthermore, the company is expanding into North America, establishing a... Read more →

NW Natural, Oregon’s largest gas utility, and Kokkola, Finland-based Hycamite TCD Technologies have signed a letter of intent to explore applications for Hycamite’s novel methane pyrolysis technology to produce and distribute clean hydrogen. Hycamite’s proprietary technology is based on the thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of methane molecules. The process developed by... Read more →

The Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) has evolved into the Engine Technology Forum, Inc. (ETF). Building off of 20+ years of success around the transformation of diesel technology, the scope, mission, and vision of DTF have expanded. This change recognizes the new opportunities and challenges for diesel as well as other... Read more →

Endolith, a subsidiary of Cemvita, secured a $1.1-million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to harness microbes for sustainable mining. This funding will be directed towards the optimization and expansion of sustainable lithium extraction with an eye towards field deployment alongside industry partner Arizona Lithium, and supporting companies, Lithium... Read more →

Nornickel, Russia’s leading metals and mining company, has begun extraction at the Glubokaya (Deep) shaft of the Skalisty (Rocky) mine, reaching depths of 2 kilometers. This move will enable Nornickel to substantially boost extraction of the most valuable and rich ore. To initiate the extraction, the company connected two independent... Read more →

Wallan Trading Company, a market leader in the Saudi automotive industry, is partnering with Zeekr Automotive to bring premium electric vehicles to Saudi Arabia. This collaboration aligns with the Saudi Arabian government’s Vision 2030, which mandates that 30% of the cars in Riyadh will be fully electric by 2030. Zeekr,... Read more →

Emirates announced an agreement with Shell Aviation for the supply of more than 300,000 gallons of blended SAF for use at the airline’s international hub in Dubai (DXB). The first SAF delivery under the agreement is expected to commence before the end of the year, making it the first time... Read more →

US petroleum product exports totaled nearly 6.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first half of 2023, 2% more than during the same period in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The first half of 2023 saw the most US petroleum product exports during the first... Read more →

Ideal Power, developer of the B-TRAN bidirectional semiconductor power switch, has launched its second commercial product, the SymCool IQ Intelligent Power Module. SymCool IQ builds on the bidirectional B-TRAN multi-die packaging design of the SymCool power module and adds an integrated intelligent driver optimized for bidirectional operation. The SymCool IQ,... Read more →

A team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Texas A&M has used in situ bias transmission electron microscopy to measure directly the electrical properties of SEIs formed on copper and lithium substrates. The study shows that the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is not an electronic insulator, as previously thought,... Read more →

VinFast has officially launched VF 6, its first electric model in the B-SUV segment, in Vietnam. With a starting price of 675 million VND (US$27,800), the VF 6 is available for order in the Vietnamese market from 20 October 2023. VinFast first announced the VF 6 at CES 2022 in... Read more →

Volkswagen is altering its planned vehicle manufacturingallocation plans for its German factories. Apart from the ID.3—that is being ramped up in 2023—the plant in Wolfsburg will produce a second electric model. Starting in 2026, large numbers of an all-electric SUV for the high-volume A segment are scheduled to roll off... Read more →

Australia-based is forming a JV to bring to market a new hydrogen injection technology that can be used to reduce diesel and gasoline fuel usage in passenger, commercial and stationary engines. UHL plans to target heavy diesel vehicles, such as trucks, buses, vans, utes, cement trucks and waste collection vehicles... Read more →

The Castings business unit of Rheinmetall’s Materials and Trade division has booked two new orders. The first order comes from one of the top ten global automakers, a company, headquartered in Shanghai, the product portfolio of which includes vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, hybrid models and fully fledged e-vehicles.... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Woven by Toyota, Inc. (Woven by Toyota) announced that to accelerate the implementation of software in social systems and vehicles, they intend to strengthen their relationship by making Woven by Toyota a wholly-owned Toyota subsidiary. Toyota intends to transition into the phase of accelerating vehicle intelligence... Read more →

Swiss marine power company WinGD has secured the first approval in principle (AiP) for two-stroke engines fueled with ammonia. Lloyd’s Register awarded the AiP to WinGD’s X‑DF‑A dual-fuel range (earlier post), giving shipowners the assurances they need to realize vessel designs using ammonia-fueled main engines for the first time. Development... Read more →

China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has ordered six MAN small-bore, seven-cylinder 21/31DF-M, methanol-burning GenSets in connection with the construction of 2 × 9,300 ceu (car equivalent units) PCTCs (pure car and truck carriers) for China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES). The business represents the first order for the new methanol-powered, MAN... Read more →

StoreDot, a developer of extreme fast charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles (earlier post), signed a multi-year agreement with Volvo Cars to develop an optimized battery for next-generation Volvo cars. This collaboration, with experts from Volvo Cars and StoreDot working together, will lead to the development of XFC cells... Read more →

Mining giant Vale signed a protocol of intent with Petrobras to develop low carbon solutions, taking advantage of the technical expertise of both companies and their synergies. The partnership is for a two-year period and will assess joint decarbonization opportunities, including the development of sustainable fuels—such as hydrogen, green methanol,... Read more →

Albemarle Corporation signed agreements with Caterpillar to collaborate on solutions to support the full circular battery value chain and sustainable mining operations. The collaboration aims to support Albemarle’s efforts to establish Kings Mountain, NC as the first zero-emissions lithium mine site in North America. These efforts include utilization of next-generation,... Read more →

Almost 50 countries from continents across the world—including large and emerging critical mineral producers and consumers—convened with leaders from industry, investment and civil society at the first IEA Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit to share experiences and discuss effective courses of action on critical minerals to ensure rapid and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $19 million in funding over four years for DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory to lead the multi-institutional Center for Steel Electrification by Electrosynthesis (C-STEEL). The center’s charge is to develop an innovative and low-cost process that would replace blast furnaces in steelmaking and... Read more →