General Motors and Lithium Americas will jointly invest to develop the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, which is the largest known source of lithium in the United States and the third-largest in the world. (Earlier post.) Under the agreement, GM will make a $650-million equity investment in Lithium Americas, which... Read more →

With its new EV supply chain coming online, Ford says it is significantly increasing production of the Mustang Mach-E this year to help reduce customer wait times and to take advantage of streamlined costs to reduce prices across the board, making Mustang Mach-E even more accessible to customers and keeping... Read more →

The EU project HyInHeat is researching the use of hydrogen in the aluminum and steel industry. The EU is contributing €17.7 million in funding to the €24-million project. The main objective of HyInHeat is the integration of hydrogen as fuel for high-temperature heating processes in the energy-intensive industries. While some... Read more →

Emirates has operated a demonstration flight on a Boeing 777-300ER, powering one of its engines 100% with Neste’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The flight took off on 30 January from Dubai International Airport (DXB) flying for more than one hour over the Dubai coastline. It is the first demonstration flight... Read more →

Israel-based EVR Motors has signed an agreement with RSB Group, one of India’s Tier-1 automotive suppliers. The agreement with RSB is EVR’s fourth commercial agreement in India signed during the past eight months. Other agreements are in place with Badve Group, Napino, and, most recently, EKA Mobility. Each of the... Read more →

Nissan and Renault have agreed to a major overhaul of their alliance, which will result in a 15% cross-shareholding between Nissan and Renault Group, obtained by Renault reducing its stake in Nissan to 15% from around 43%. Renault Group would transfer 28.4% of Nissan shares into a French trust, where... Read more →

ABB E-mobility announced the delivery of its one millionth electric vehicle charger. ABB E-mobility has a presence in more than 85 markets. The launch of ABB E-mobility’s new $30 million, 16,000m2 production facility in Valdarno, Italy in 2022, completed a doubling of the company’s production capacity over the last two... Read more →

South Korea-based POSCO Chemical signed a contract to supply Samsung SDI with high-nickel NCA cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries for 10 years from this year to 2032. This 40-trillion won ($32.6-billion) contract is the largest and longest-term order since the creation of POSCO Chemical. With this contract, POSCO Chemical... Read more →

POSCO Chemical can now use its cathode manufacturing technology, a national core technology, in its overseas production bases. South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy recently held an Industrial Technology Protection Committee meeting and approved the overseas export of “technology used in designing, manufacturing, and processing cathode with nickel... Read more →

Proved reserves of natural gas in the United States grew to a new record of 625.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2021, a 32% increase from 2020, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) recently released Proved Reserves of Crude Oil and Natural Gas in the United States, Year-End... Read more →

The second-generation Toyota C-HR will be produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey (TMMT) in Sakarya—about 150 km east of Istanbul. Available in hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, the new Toyota C-HR will also be the first plug-in hybrid passenger car to be produced in Turkey. In addition, TMMT will be... Read more →

Microvast Holdings, a designer, developer, and manufacturer of lithium-ion battery solutions, and REE Automotive signed a supply and purchase agreement through which Microvast, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Microvast Gmbh, will offer MV-C Gen 4 HpCO high-energy lithium-ion battery packs for “Powered by REE” EV platforms. With its vertical integration capabilities,... Read more →

In the first half of 2022, motors with oil cooling became the dominant form in the electric car market, taking 50% market share, according to a report from IDTechEx. The downside of oil cooling is the addition of extra components and typically, the water-glycol circuit still exists to remove the... Read more →

Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse is working on systems and equipment to reduce fuel consumption and to contribute to more carbon-neutral aircraft. An emblematic project consists of using a hydrogen fuel cell power source to generate sufficient electrical power, in the range of 400 kW, to feed all the non-propulsion systems of next-generation... Read more →

With the keel laying, construction has begun at Next Generation Shipyards in the Netherlands of Neo Orbis, a 20m fuel-cell hybrid port vessel using sodium borohydride as a solid-state hydrogen storage medium. The pilot project is being executed in collaboration with H2Ships, Port of Amsterdam, TU Delft Fuel (the inventor... Read more →

The consortium of Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy and Marubeni announced that the Masdar-led initiative focused on green hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is actively working with licensors to certify a new production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from methanol. This novel pathway will provide one... Read more →

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, a developer of renewable energy projects and urban development, Port of Amsterdam, SkyNRG, Evos Amsterdam and Zenith Energy Terminals have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a green hydrogen supply chain between Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam to support Dutch and European markets.... Read more →

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Ontario Power Generation (OPG), SNC-Lavalin and Aecon have signed a contract for the deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at OPG’s Darlington New Nuclear Project site. This is the first commercial contract for a grid-scale SMR in North America. The BWRX-300 is a... Read more →

The UK Research and Innovation’s Faraday Battery Challenge is awarding £27.6 million (US$34.2 million) to 17 projects to support innovation in propulsion battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK. The projects aim to enable UK competitiveness across the battery value chain by: Building and securing the UK supply... Read more →

Solid-state battery company Ilika Technologies is leading a 24-month, £8-million (US$9.9-million) Faraday Battery Challenge collaboration project. The HISTORY (HIgh Silicon content anOdes for a solid-state batteRY) project will start on 1 February 2023 and focus on integrating high silicon content electrodes into Ilika’s Goliath SSB (solid state battery) for electric... Read more →

Solvay is investing at its Livorno, Italy site to launch the company’s first unit of circular highly dispersible silica (HDS) made with bio-based sodium silicate derived from rice husk ash (RHA). Rice husk is an abundantly available agricultural waste. Combustion of rice husk produces RHA, which consists mainly of silica... Read more →

onsemi signed a strategic agreement with Volkswagen AG to provide modules and semiconductors that enable a complete electric vehicle (EV) traction inverter solution for VW’s next-generation platform family. The semiconductors are part of an overall system optimization and provide a solution that will support the front and rear traction inverters... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $47 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002920) to accelerate the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of affordable clean hydrogen technologies. Projects funded under this opportunity will reduce costs, enhance hydrogen infrastructure, and improve the performance of hydrogen fuel cells—advancing the Department’s Hydrogen Shot... Read more →

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7917 withdrawing approximately 225,504 acres in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota from disposition under the United States mineral and geothermal leasing laws for a 20-year period, subject to valid existing rights. The Biden Administration said that this... Read more →

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, is partnering with Microchip Technology to expand testing for the 1000BASE-T1 PCS and PHY Control market to help further compliance for the automotive industry. The adoption of Ethernet... Read more →

Topsoe and Steeper Energy, a developer of biomass conversion technologies, signed a global licensing agreement for a complete waste-to-fuel solution. The agreement combines Topsoe’s technologies in renewable fuels and hydrogen production as well as decades of experience in engineering with Steeper’s proprietary Hydrofaction technology and industry know-how. With the agreement,... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award some $118 million in funding for 17 projects to accelerate the production of sustainable biofuels. Made from widely available domestic feedstocks and advanced refining technologies, energy-dense biofuels provide a pathway for low-carbon fuels that can lower greenhouse gas emissions throughout the transportation... Read more →

Audi has presented the activesphere crossover study with electric drive and quattro. As the fourth model in the series, the Audi activesphere concept marks the culmination of sphere concept vehicles, following on from the Audi skysphere roadster in 2021, and both the Audi grandsphere sedan, and the Audi urbansphere space... Read more →

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) will invest SEK 65 million ($6.3 million) into the production of electric wheel loaders from its plant in Arvika, Sweden. The Arvika factory specializes in the production of medium and large wheel loaders and has already been successful in driving down its carbon emissions. A... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz is the world’s first automotive company to bring SAE Level 3 conditionally automated driving to the US, with Nevada being the first state to confirm the compliance of the system with state regulations. The Mercedes-Benz DRIVE PILOT system is the first and only SAE Level 3 system in a... Read more →

Lynkwell, a charge point operator and charging solutions provider for the electric vehicle (EV) industry, announced the purchase of more than 50 fast chargers from Tritium DCFC Limited (Tritium). The chargers are expected to be installed primarily in retail settings as part of Lynkwell's growing charging network. Lynkwell has placed... Read more →

ExxonMobil’s majority-owned affiliate Imperial Oil will invest about $720 million (US$560 million) to move forward with construction of the largest renewable diesel facility in the country. (Earlier post.) The project at Imperial’s Strathcona refinery near Edmonton is expected to produce more than one billion liters of renewable diesel annually—about 20,000... Read more →

In his “State of the City” address, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to have zero-emissions fleets by 2030—more than 100,000 vehicles. Adams said that there will be no new costs for individual drivers and that both companies are embracing this shift.... Read more →

NEO Battery Materials, a low-cost silicon anode materials developer that enables longer-running, rapid-charging lithium-ion batteries (earlier post), is under the process to establish NBM America, a US subsidiary, in February. NBM America will be fully owned by NEO Battery Materials and will actively seek US expansion opportunities that include the... Read more →

The Genesis GV60 (earlier post) is based on the brand’s Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), the innovative features of which help deliver greater efficiency, performance and driving pleasure. The use of silicon carbide boosts energy efficiency by 3% and range by 5%. Using an ultra-fast charger and under optimal conditions, E-GMP... Read more →

MAHLE Powertrain is leading a project to develop sustainable propulsion solutions to retrofit to high-performance marine vessels where battery and other electrified technologies may not prove practical. The collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the University of Nottingham and Clean Air Power will initially target search and rescue... Read more →

Renault is launching electric retrofit kits in France in partnership with R-FIT. These kits can be installed on the popular Renault 4, Renault 5 and first generation Twingo. The Renault 5 electric retrofit kit will go on sale in France in September 2023 while the kit for the Twingo will... Read more →

Despite only about 25% of car travel happening after dark, almost half of fatal accidents occur at night. As vehicles become more advanced and even autonomous, the ways of detecting and avoiding these collisions must evolve too. Current systems are often complicated, resource-intensive or work poorly in the dark. But... Read more →

Nikola Corporation has created a new global brand, HYLA, to encompass the company’s energy products for producing, distributing and dispensing hydrogen to fuel its zero-emissions trucks. The HYLA brand represents Nikola’s hydrogen-focused energy business by supporting our fuel cell electric vehicles and those of other OEMs. Hydrogen energy is the... Read more →

Researchers from the University of Birmingham have designed a novel adaptation for existing blast furnaces that could reduce CO2 emissions from the steelmaking industry by nearly 90%. This reduction is achieved through a closed-loop carbon recycling system, which could replace 90% of the coke typically used in current blast furnace-basic... Read more →

IVECO BUS, a brand of Iveco Group N.V., signed a framework agreement with the Flemish government-owned public transport enterprise De Lijn for the sale of a first batch of 65 E-WAY full electric city buses and further batches up to a total of 500 vehicles. The vehicles will be deployed... Read more →

In its January 2023 Short-Term Energy Outlook, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that crude oil production in the United States will average 12.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2023 and 12.8 million b/d in 2024, surpassing the previous record of 12.3 million b/d set in 2019. In... Read more →

BMW i Ventures announced a lead investment in AMPECO, an electric vehicle charging management platform that enables large-scale public, business, fleet, and residential providers to manage EV chargers at scale. The funding will be used to drive further expansion into North America and Europe, while also growing AMPECO’s engineering and... Read more →

Polestar is giving the 5-door electric performance fastback, Polestar 2, a major update. For the 2024 model year, the premium compact EV features a new high-tech front end that reflects the design language premiered by Polestar 3, substantial performance increases with all-new electric motors, even more powerful batteries, sustainability improvements... Read more →

Tesla will invest an additional $3.6 billion in Nevada to continue growing Gigafactory Nevada with two new factories: a 100 GWh 4680 cell (earlier post) factory (with capacity to produce enough batteries for 1.5 million light duty vehicles annually), as well as its first high-volume Semi factory. Semi is Tesla’s... Read more →

Hitachi Astemo, Trend Micro and its subsidiary VicOne have expanded their collaboration to provide security solutions for connected cars, aiming for commercialization by 2025. Hitachi Astemo’s division that develops in-vehicle components for connected cars has been working with Trend Micro on the joint development of security solutions for connected cars... Read more →

In its 2023 Strategic Update, Albemarle Corporation raised its forecast for 2030 global lithium demand (LCE, lithium carbonate equivalent) to 3.7MMt—an increase of 15% from its previous forecast due to the impact of the US “Inflation Reduction Act” and strong EV demand. Albemarle also estimates the 2030 mined supply to... Read more →

A report prepared by the Climate and Community Project, a climate policy think tank, with researchers from UC Davis, suggests that the United States can achieve zero emissions transportation while limiting the amount of lithium mining necessary by reducing the car dependence of the transportation system, decreasing the size of... Read more →

Statevolt, a battery startup seeking to build hyperlocal gigafactories, has acquired a 135-acre site in Imperial Valley, California, as the location for its 54 GWh Gigafactory. (Earlier post.) The business will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and storage applications using resources and supply chains sourced entirely in the US.... Read more →

Honda Motor and GS Yuasa have reached a basic agreement toward collaboration for a high-capacity, high-output lithium-ion battery. The two companies will discuss specifics with the goal of establishing a joint venture company by the end of 2023. In order to address the rapidly growing demand for batteries, the two... Read more →