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POSCO International (earlier post) has received an order for 1.03 million drive motor cores to be mounted on Hyundai-Kia Motors’ electric vehicle (Seltos class) to be produced locally for the first time in Europe from 2025 to 2034. 550,000 units of drive motor core will be supplied to Hyundai Kia... Read more →


Iveco Group chooses BASF as first recycling partner for electric vehicle batteries

Iveco Group has selected BASF (FWB: BAS), the world’s leading chemical company and biggest chemical supplier for the automotive industry, as its first partner to provide a recycling solution for the lithium-ion batteries of the Group’s electric vehicles. This decision is part of Iveco Group’s circular economy strategy which follows... Read more →


SAE International, Intel announce committee to develop standard for enhancing energy-efficiency and sustainability of EVs; J3311

SAE International and Intel announced the formation of the Vehicle Platform Power Management Committee (J3311) at CES 2024. The new SAE standard committee will accelerate progress by adopting and enhancing advanced power management concepts from the personal computer (PC) industry, helping all electric vehicles (EVs) become more energy-efficient and sustainable.... Read more →


Infineon and GlobalFoundries extend long-term agreement with focus on automotive microcontrollers

Infineon Technologies AG and GlobalFoundries announced a new multi-year agreement on the supply of Infineon’s AURIX TC3x 40 nanometer automotive microcontrollers as well as power management and connectivity solutions. The additional capacity will contribute to secure Infineon’s business growth from 2024 through 2030. Infineon and GF have been partnering since... Read more →


Volvo Trucks has launched a completely new Volvo VNL in North America. Optimized aerodynamics and new technologies have improved fuel efficiency by up to 10%. The new Volvo VNL is based on an all-new platform for all upcoming technologies, including battery-electric, fuel cell and internal combustion engines running on renewable... Read more →


A research consortium including Farasis Energy, Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG (supplier of energy storage systems) and the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMI is working to make plastic-based battery housings safer by means of virtual design and thus increase the safety of electric vehicles. Farasis, a developer... Read more →


Germany-based Ecoclean has recently begun series production of EcoLyzer modular systems for pressurized alkaline electrolysis (AEL). The robust, low-maintenance electrolyzers are available as scalable standalone solutions and turnkey systems with outputs ranging from 1 to 20 MW. Ecoclean EcoLyzer stack. Photo credit: Ecoclean GmbH Before beginning series production, Ecoclean initially... Read more →


Plug Power has started operation of the largest liquid green hydrogen plant in the US market. This is the largest electrolytic liquid hydrogen production plant, and largest PEM electrolyzer deployment operating in the US, representing a landmark achievement in Plug’s build-out of a vertically integrated hydrogen ecosystem. The plant showcases... Read more →


Rio Tinto to drive development of Australia’s largest solar farm at Gladstone

Rio Tinto will drive development of Australia’s largest solar power project near Gladstone, after agreeing to buy all electricity from the 1.1GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm to provide renewable power to Rio Tinto’s Gladstone operations. The agreement will bring more renewable power into one of Australia’s most important industrial hubs... Read more →


Topsoe selected as technology provider for Preem’s renewable fuels plant in Sweden

Topsoe, a global technology and solutions provider for the energy transition, has signed a licensing and engineering agreement with Preem, Sweden’s largest fuel company, to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel, using Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology. The demand for SAF is rapidly growing. According to the International Energy Agency’s... Read more →


Amogy and Infinium partnering to explore ammonia and eFuels solutions

Amogy, a developer of ammonia power solutions (earlier post), and leading eFuels provider Infinium (earlier post) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities to integrate their technologies and develop commercial applications across the ammonia and eFuels value chain. To accelerate the decarbonization of heavy industry sectors,... Read more →


Today’s electrical motors are generally made by cutting and moulding pieces from a metal sheet. 3D printing can radically increase efficiency and reduce material consumption. 3D printing larger motor parts has proven difficult, however, as the parts become too brittle and may easily break. Through an EU-funded project together with... Read more →


Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation unveiled the Active Air Skirt (AAS) technology that minimizes the aerodynamic resistance generated during high-speed driving, effectively improving the driving range and driving stability of electric vehicles (EVs). AAS is a technology that controls the flow of air entering through the lower part of... Read more →


Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced the coming release of six new J3-Series power semiconductor modules for various electric vehicles (xEVs), featuring either a silicon carbide metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (SiC-MOSFET) or a RC-IGBT (Si) (a reverse conducting IGBT with on IGBT and one diode on a single chip) with compact designs... Read more →


The United States Postal Service (USPS) unveiled its first set of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at its South Atlanta Sorting and Delivery Center (S&DC). Charging stations like these will be installed at hundreds of new S&DCs across the country throughout the year and will power what will be the... Read more →


ZeroAvia has been awarded $3.25 million in funding by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a first-of-a-kind mobile liquid hydrogen (LH2) refueling truck for heavy-duty applications, including aviation and maritime. Funding for the project comes from the Gas R&D Program administered by the CEC and authorized by the California... Read more →


TECO 2030 is starting its second EU Horizon project, Zero Emission Adriatic Ship (ZEAS), together with 13 partners from various European countries. The overall project grant from EU Horizon is more than €13.5 million; more than €2.3 million is reserved to TECO 2030’s deliverable of 1.2 megawatts (MW) of fuel... Read more →


New cars in Europe are getting 1 cm wider every two years, on average, according to research by environmental NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). T&E says the trend will continue due to the rising sales of SUVs unless lawmakers take action. Around half of new cars sold are already too... Read more →


MAN Cryo wins approval for ammonia fuel-supply system

MAN Cryo’s design for an ammonia fuel-supply system to provide ammonia safely to marine-engine applications has been awarded an Approval in Principle from classification societies DNV and Bureau Veritas. Part of MAN Energy Solutions and a leading expert in the field of storage and handling of LNG and natural gas,... Read more →


BMW Group endows RWTH Aachen University with a new chair in quantum computing

The BMW Group is endowing RWTH Aachen University with a new professorship in “Quantum Information Systems” in the Department of Computer Science. Prof Dr Dominique Unruh will head the chair. In addition, the funding of an endowed chair at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has already been approved. The... Read more →


Sunoco and NuStar Energy entered into a definitive agreement whereby Sunoco will acquire NuStar in an all-equity transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion, including assumed debt. Under the terms of the agreement, NuStar common unitholders will receive 0.400 Sunoco common units for each NuStar common unit, implying a 24% premium... Read more →


Archer Aviation, a developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has signed a Space Act Agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The collaboration will kick off with an initial project focused on studying high-performance battery cells and safety testing targeted for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)... Read more →


ORNL team develops metal-free current collector

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a lighter, metal-free current collector made of a polymer-based composite with carbon fibers. The aligned fibers work together with a thin film of carbon nanotubes to enhance directional and uniform current flow. Lab tests conducted at medium-fast battery... Read more →


Toyota’s Woven Capital invests in Corvus Energy to expand zero-emissions energy and international reach for maritime industry

Corvus Energy, a provider of zero-emissions energy solutions for maritime, offshore and port applications, secured an investment from Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, to accelerate the development of its growing product portfolio in battery storage and hydrogen fuel cells, and to support expansion into new geographies. Woven Capital invests alongside... Read more →


Rimac upgrades vehicle battery warranty for Nevera hypercar to 8 years

Rimac has upgraded the vehicle battery warranty of its Nevera hypercar to 8 years and unlimited miles. The warranty is complimentary for all new buyers, and will also be applied to all cars delivered so far, giving Nevera owners an additional seven years of warranty cover for the advanced liquid-cooled... Read more →


Solaris has signed a contract with German operator Ruhrbahn GmbH to supply 19 hydrogen-powered buses to Essen. The vehicles are scheduled for delivery in 2024 and 2025, marking the first presence of Solaris buses on the streets of Essen. The order includes the delivery of nine Urbino 12 hydrogen models... Read more →


Wabtec’s Trip Optimizer software surpasses 1B miles; 752M gallons of fuel saved

Wabtec’s Trip Optimizer surpassed a major milestone as railroads used the energy-management software to efficiently operate their trains for more than 1 billion auto miles, the equivalent of more than 40,000 trips around the Earth. The 12,000 locomotives worldwide using the Trip Optimizer system accounted for significant reductions in fuel... Read more →


Report: Lithium lull makes nickel top priority for US battery OEMs despite difficult sourcing environment

Rethink Energy has published a new report analyzing battery raw material supply chains up to 2030, looking at how current raw material prices will affect future supply and whether or not this can meet demand. The report also analyzes battery cell prices and how prices will continue to fall amidst... Read more →


Hyundai signs 4-year supply agreement with Ganfeng Lithium

Hyundai Motor has signed a long-term lithium hydroxide supply agreement with Ganfeng Lithium. The contract runs from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2027. The annual supply volume will be executed according to the agreement, the actual purchase volume and sales amount shall be subject to the final purchase orders.... Read more →


Pilbara Minerals expands Ganfeng Lithium offtake agreement

Australian lithium producer Pilbara Minerals Limited executed an amendment to its existing offtake agreement with Ganfeng Lithium Group Co. Ltd and its subsidiary (Ganfeng) which materially increases short- and medium-term supply of spodumene concentrate to one of the world‘s leading lithium chemical converters. Under an existing agreement with Ganfeng signed... Read more →


Thailand discovers lithium resources; size in question

According to a Nikkei report, Thai officials reported the discovery of lithium deposits that they at the time of the announcement described as the world’s third-largest reserves. Lithium deposits were found at two locations in the southern province of Phang-Nga—the Ruangkiat and Bang Etu sites. According to initial reports, the... Read more →


Samsung SDI to invest US$18.5M for 8.7% stake in Canada Nickel; right to purchase 10% of Crawford project for US$100.5M

Canada Nickel Company entered into a subscription Agreement with Samsung SDI to make a US$18.5-million investment in Canada Nickel at a price of C$1.57 per Common Share. Upon closing of the private placement, Samsung SDI will own approximately 15.6 million shares of the common shares of Canada Nickel, representing approximately... Read more →


Stellantis N.V. unveiled STLA Large, its all-new, highly flexible, BEV-native platform that is the foundation for a wide range of upcoming vehicles for global markets in the D and E segments. The platform enables embedded energy, charging efficiency, high-performance vehicle dynamics and Trail Rated off-road driving. Full-size vehicles based on... Read more →


Ford increasing production of Bronco & Ranger, cutting production of F-150 Lightning

Ford Motor Company plans to create nearly 900 new jobs as part of a new third crew at Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to meet demand for the popular Bronco and Bronco Raptor and the all-new Ranger and Ranger Raptor. Ford is also reducing production of F-150 Lightning electric pickup... Read more →


DOE awarding $46.5M to 30 projects to enhance EV charging and workforce development

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $46.5 million for projects in 16 states and Washington, DC to boost electric vehicle (EV) charging performance, resiliency, and reliability; support equitable access to clean transportation solutions; and grow the clean energy workforce. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and the... Read more →


ClassNK issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for a maritime hydrogen fuel cell system developed by YANMAR Power Technology Co., Ltd. (YANMAR PT). (Earlier post.) This is the first AiP certification for a maritime hydrogen fuel cell system developed by a Japanese manufacturer. Hydrogen fuel cells are gaining attention as... Read more →


Yamaha Motor intends to acquire electric marine propulsion manufacturer Torqeedo

Yamaha Motor recently concluded a stock purchase agreement with Germany’s DEUTZ AG, which owns marine electric propulsion manufacturer Torqeedo, to acquire all of Torqeedo’s shares. The intended acquisition of Torqeedo, which is subject to clearances, permits, etc., required by competition laws and other regulations, further supports Yamaha’s strategy to implement... Read more →


Figure, a California-based company developing autonomous humanoid robots, signed a commercial agreement with BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC to deploy general purpose robots in automotive manufacturing environments. Figure’s humanoid robots enable the automation of difficult, unsafe, or tedious tasks throughout the manufacturing process, which in turn allows employees to focus on... Read more →


Hycamite begins construction of Customer Sample Facility for thermocatalytic decomposition of methane to hydrogen and carbon

Hycamite, the developer of a proprietary process for the thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of methane to produce hydrogen and solid carbon (earlier post) has begun construction of the new Customer Sample Facility (CSF) building in Kokkola, Finland. Hycamite has developed a family of catalysts that lowers the temperature needed for methane... Read more →


European Parliament and Council reach deal on reducing CO2 emissions for new heavy-duty vehicles

The European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on new measures to strengthen CO2 emission reduction targets for new heavy-duty vehicles. Negotiators agreed on CO2 emissions reduction targets of 45% for the period 2030-2034; 65% for 2035-2039; and 90% as of 2040, applying for large trucks (including vocational vehicles,... Read more →


Researchers at MIT have developed a layered organic electrode material with high electrical conductivity, high storage capacity, and complete insolubility to enable reversible intercalation of Li+ ions that allow it to compete at the electrode level, in all relevant metrics, with inorganic-based lithium-ion battery cathodes. In an open-access paper in... Read more →


DOE announces $131M to boost innovative clean mobility; Li-S batteries, hydrogen engines and USABC

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than $131 million for projects to advance clean mobility, with $71 million from Fiscal Year 2023 project funding (DE-FOA-0002893, earlier post) awarded to 27 projects. In addition, the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) of Southfield, Michigan, will receive $60 million... Read more →


Accelera by Cummins, Daimler Truck and PACCAR select Mississippi for LFP battery cell production in US

Accelera by Cummins, the zero-emissions business segment of Cummins Inc., Daimler Trucks & Buses and PACCAR have selected Marshall County, Mississippi, as the future site of advanced battery cell manufacturing for their planned joint venture. (Earlier post.) The joint venture will localize battery cell production for commercial electric vehicles and... Read more →


Expanding its collaboration with General Motors, EV Connect announced the availability of Plug and Charge on the EV Connect network through GM vehicle brand apps. GM drivers can now simply plug in and charge their vehicles on the EV Connect network without swiping a payment card or scanning an RFID... Read more →


Primetals Technologies (a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries company) has been refining the roll geometry of continuous casting machines for decades, resulting in an increasingly stable mold level during the casting process. Its most recent development is a model for establishing the ideal caster roll geometry already at the design stage. This... Read more →


Neste and partner companies conclude E-Fuel research project; progress in the development of electrofuels

Low-emission e-fuels produced using renewable hydrogen produced by green electricity and carbon capture and utilization (CCU) are suitable for segments that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation and marine. A joint E-Fuel research project demonstrating high temperature electrolysis (SOEC), carbon capture, and hydrocarbon synthesis technologies (earlier post) has now... Read more →


Setting an all-time sales record in 2023, Honda hybrid-electric vehicles are now leading US sales charts, with the Honda CR-V hybrid the country’s best-selling hybrid model (197,317) and the Accord hybrid sedan the most popular hybrid-electric car (96,323). Last year, sales of Honda electrified models grew more than three-fold to... Read more →


IVECO BUS has won a €300-million contract to supply 411 E-WAY units to ATAC S.p.A—Azienda per la mobilità, the public transport company of Italy’s capital city. With these E-WAY units, Rome’s public transport company will have the largest fleet of IVECO BUS electric buses operating in the country. The delivery... Read more →


Northvolt raises $5B to enable expansion of circular gigafactory

Batterymaker Northvolt has signed a $5-billion non-recourse project financing to enable the expansion of Northvolt Ett in northern Sweden. The deal represents the largest green loan raised in Europe to date. In addition to the expansion of Northvolt Ett’s cathode production and cell manufacturing, the finance package will enable the... Read more →


OneD Battery Sciences and Koch Modular partner for the large-scale production of silicon-graphite anode materials

OneD Battery Sciences, a developer of silicon anode technologies for EV batteries, and Koch Modular Process Systems will partner to enable large-scale production of silicon-graphite anode materials for the next generation of affordable electric vehicles (EV). Leveraging Koch Modular’s proven silane gas manufacturing expertise, OneD’s SINANODE technology (earlier post) efficiently... Read more →