Solid-state battery company Factorial Energy (earlier post) has entered into Joint Collaboration Agreements with both Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis, each of which is also making a strategic investment in the company. Factorial’s technology offers a high level of operational safety and extends driving range by 20 to 50 percent, addressing two... Read more →

Element 1 Corporation has entered into a global agreement with NEXA Capital Partners LLC to accelerate the adoption of its methanol-to-hydrogen generators (earlier post) for fuel cell applications in aerospace and particularly electric vertical aircraft (EVA). Element 1 and NEXA are combining their expertise, along with NEXA’s capital market access,... Read more →

Initial findings from a world-first study of the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on both engines of a commercial jet have provided promising early results, according to the participants. The ECLIF3 study (Emission and Climate Impact of Alternative Fuels) (earlier post), involving Airbus, Rolls-Royce, German research center DLR... Read more →

bp confirmed it is planning a new large-scale green hydrogen production facility in the North East of England that could deliver up to 500MWe (megawatt electrical input) of hydrogen production by 2030. To be developed in multiple stages, HyGreen Teesside is expected to match production to demand and build on... Read more →

Researchers in the US and China have developed a catalyst that solves three key problems long associated with direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs): low efficiency, the cost of catalytic materials and the toxicity of chemical reactions inside the cells. The team from the University of Central Florida, Oregon State University,... Read more →

At Art Basel’s 2021 Miami Beach show, BMW M GmbH presented the new BMW Concept XM; the concept car looks ahead to the most powerful BMW M car ever to go into series production, which is set to begin at the end of 2022. Electrification underpins an extraordinary driving experience... Read more →

Dana TM4, the joint venture between Dana Incorporated and Hydro-Québec, North America’s largest renewable energy producer, is establishing a new manufacturing facility in Åmål, Sweden that will initially produce electric motors for the mobility industry. This $50-million fully sustainable operation has received $10.7 million in support from the Swedish business... Read more →

Pony.ai has received approval to run paid autonomous Robotaxi services in the Beijing Intelligent Networked Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone in southeastern Beijing. With this approval, Pony.ai will be permitted to charge fees for Robotaxi services provided to the public. This represents a significant milestone on the company’s path to commercialization,... Read more →

Nine national, regional, state and city-level governments signed up to Climate Group’s newly launched initiative ZEV Pledge. The ZEV Pledge asks governments at all levels, as well as individual departments, agencies and public sector bodies, to pledge to convert their entire owned or leased fleets, where feasible, to zero-emission vehicles.... Read more →

A new report from Juniper Research has found that the automotive sensors market will grow to more than $92 billion by 2026—a 30% increase over 2021. This growth will be driven by sensors that enable automated vehicles and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). Sensors monitoring various vehicle safety parameters in... Read more →

Baidu, Inc., JiDU Automotive and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced that JiDU’s first production vehicle will feature an intelligent digital cockpit system assisted by Baidu and Qualcomm Technologies. This system is based on the 4th Generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform from Qualcomm Technologies, together with the next generation intelligent cockpit system... Read more →

A team of researchers from the US NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers based at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has demonstrated the use of a dual cellular–heterogeneous catalytic strategy to produce olefins from glucose. Wang et al. These renewable liquids could serve as a more sustainable replacement for today’s... Read more →

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) can leverage its abundant cobalt resources and hydroelectric power to become a low-cost and low-emissions producer of lithium-ion battery cathode precursor materials, according to a new study on a unified African supply chain by BloombergNEF (BNEF). The BNEF study—undertaken at the behest of... Read more →

Nissan Motor unveiled Nissan Ambition 2030, the company’s new long-term vision for empowering mobility and beyond. With this vision, Nissan wants to deliver strategic value by empowering journeys offering confident, exciting, and more integrated experiences to customers, and through collaborations, empower society to build a smart ecosystem with integrated mobility.... Read more →

Honda Motor recently unveiled its work on two key advanced future safety technologies being developed with the goal of realizing “zero traffic collision fatalities involving Honda motorcycles and automobiles globally by 2050”. The first is artificial intelligence (AI)-powered “Intelligent Driver-Assistive Technology” providing assistance that is suited to the ability and... Read more →

Vulcan Energy Resources (earlier post) and Stellantis have signed a binding lithium hydroxide offtake agreement to supply, starting in 2026, a minimum of 81,000 tonnes and a maximum of 99,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide over the duration of the initial five-year agreement. The Stellantis deal marks Vulcan Energy’s fourth... Read more →

The UK Government earlier this month announced that it will support five local transport authorities with funding worth nearly £71 million (US$95 million) under the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme. The investment will support the introduction of up to 335 zero-emission buses. The winning authorities were: Cambridgeshire and... Read more →

Seattle-based e-bike manufacturer Ariel Rider has raised US$14.8 million in a Serie A round, which puts the company’s valuation at US$74.0 million. Founder of Ariel Rider, Arda Onal, stated that the new investment will help the growth of Ariel Rider and will be used mainly for inventory, improving customer service,... Read more →

An international team of scientists, led by NTU Singapore, has linked increased air pollution to an uptick in cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) worldwide. Lung adenocarcinoma—an aggressive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—is a type of cancer for which research strongly suggests that genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors play a part.... Read more →

Solvay Ventures, the venture capital fund of Solvay, invested in Sepion, a California-based start-up that specializes in advanced membranes for batteries with Li-metal anodes and liquid electrolytes. The $16-million funding round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, and also includes other climate tech investors. Sepion raised funds to accelerate commercialization... Read more →

Start-up DiviGas has announced a $3.6-million seed round to support the commercialization of a new next-generation polymeric hydrogen separation membrane. Divi-H, Divigas’ new polymeric membrane, can purify hydrogen up to 99.95% purity from any feedstock composition, with best in class recovery rate, and is the most robust system against adverse... Read more →

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a division of Nel ASA, has received a purchase order for a 20MW alkaline water electrolyzer from Ovako, a leading European manufacturer of engineering steel. The electrolyzer will be installed at Ovako’s existing plant in Hofors, Sweden. The fossil-free hydrogen will replace the use of fossil... Read more →

The UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and DNV are partnering to explore the potential of nuclear-derived hydrogen to support the conversion of UK gas networks to hydrogen. The ‘Nuclear Derived Hydrogen to Gas Networks’ collaboration is set to provide deeper evidence to support key up-coming government policy decisions on the... Read more →

Australia-based Li-S Energy has entered into an agreement with Janus Electric to develop and to test lithium sulfur and/or lithium-metal battery cells to suit the requirements of the Janus Electric exchangeable prime mover battery packs. Janus Electric has developed a system to convert diesel powered prime mover fleets to electric... Read more →

France-based specialty chemicals and materials company Arkema announced a 50% increase in its Kynar PVDF fluoropolymer production capacities at its Pierre-Bénite site in order to address the fast-growing demand for materials for lithium-ion batteries. Arkema now aims for sales of at least €1 billion in the battery sector by 2030.... Read more →

To conclude the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Renault 4, the car maker teamed up with motion design hub TheArsenale to create a futuristic showcar, reinterpreting this iconic model. More than 8 million units of the small economy car were sold in more than 100 countries between 1961 and... Read more →

Swedish Climate Leap, “Klimatklivet”, is investing €15 million in power-to-fuel Liquid Wind’s facility, FlagshipONE, producing eMethanol. (Earlier post.) The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency works on behalf of the Swedish government, conducting and coordinating Sweden's environmental work within Sweden, the EU and internationally. The aim of their initiative Climate Leap is... Read more →

Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), a subsidiary of Koch Investments Group, is making a US$100-million investment in Canada-based Standard Lithium (earlier post) through a direct private placement. In addition to the new capital, the company and several Koch Industries subsidiaries are exploring strategic opportunities to work collaboratively in several key areas.... Read more →

Cornish Lithium (earlier post), a mineral exploration and development company based in Cornwall, UK, secured an investment package of up to £18 million (US$24 million) from TechMet Limited, a leading technology metals investment company. Cornish Lithium said that securing long-term investment from TechMet is a significant step forward that allows... Read more →

The BMW Group is introducing its innovative eDrive Zones in another 20 European cities, including Copenhagen, Verona and Toulouse. A total of 138 cities in Europe are now benefiting from this technology; BMW expects to roll out the service in at least another 30 cities worldwide in the coming year.... Read more →