Volkswagen (Anhui) Components Co., Ltd. (VWAC), Volkswagen Group’s first 100%-owned battery system plant in China, began production of its first high-voltage battery system. VWAC is the first battery system plant wholly invested by Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. With an initial annual capacity of 150,000 to 180,000 high-voltage battery... Read more →

Polestar has started production of the Polestar 4 electric SUV coupé (earlier post), with first deliveries to customers in China expected before the end of 2023. Official launch in all other Polestar markets is planned for early 2024, with customer deliveries in these markets expected within the same year. The... Read more →

Air Products has partnered with Chengzhi Shareholding Co. Ltd., a Chinese state-owned high-tech industry group, to accelerate transport decarbonization in China’s Yangtze River Delta. The two companies, through their joint venture, have launched their first commercial-scale hydrogen fueling station in Changshu city, Jiangsu province, capable of fueling city buses and... Read more →

The BMW Group’s Designworks innovation studio has a new location in the West Bund district of China’s economic hub of Shanghai—the city’s flourishing arts, culture and business district. The official inauguration of the new studio will take place during the West Bund Art & Design Fair Shanghai, which runs from... Read more →

In August, Pony.ai and Toyota announced they would form a joint venture to advance the future mass production and large scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. (Earlier post.) Pony has now unveiled the first BEV robotaxi concept in collaboration with Toyota based on the bZ4X (earlier post) produced by GAC... Read more →

Globally 58,423 tonnes of graphite were deployed in newly-sold electrified cars in August 2023, representing a 53% increase compared to August 2022, according to data from Adamas Intelligence. Full-electric passenger cars (BEVs) registered during the month were responsible for 43,396 tonnes of graphite deployed globally, an increase of 48% year-on-year.... Read more →

Through the first two months of Q3 2023, Chinese OEMs made up a record 37% of the nation’s EV exports to Europe (by GWh deployed), up from 22% in Q1 of this year, 8% in Q1 of last year, and just 6% in Q1 2021, according to data from Adamas... Read more →

Stellantis N.V.plans to invest around €1.5 billion in China-based Leapmotor to acquire approximately 20% of Leapmotor, making Stellantis a significant shareholder. The deal also outlines the formation of Leapmotor International, a 51/49 Stellantis-led joint venture that has exclusive rights for the export and sale, as well as manufacturing, of Leapmotor... Read more →

Sonangol and China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC) signed a contract for the construction of the Lobito Refinery in Angola. The final agreement, which provides for construction, technical support and supervision, follows the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties, signed four months ago in Beijing. The refinery is to... Read more →

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced that it will impose export controls on certain kinds of graphite, effective on 1 December. China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of graphite, which is, among other applications, pervasively used in the anodes of Li-ion batteries. According to the US Geological Survey... Read more →

Carbon Recycling International (CRI) and Jiangsu Sailboat successfully started up a CO2-to-methanol plant, CRI’s second in China. The Jiangsu Sailboat Methanol plant operates with CRI’s proprietary Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) technology, transforming waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases into sustainable, commercial-grade methanol. (Earlier post.) The facility is built to recycle 150,000 tonnes... Read more →

Israel-based Electreon, a provider of wireless charging technologies that charge EVs as they drive and while stationary, is entering the Chinese market via a partnership with the Shandong Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SITEC); a provincial science and technology innovation arm led by Shandong Hi-Speed... 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 →

CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.) announced that Lufeng 12-3 Oilfield Development Project has begun production. The project is located in the eastern South China Sea, with an average water depth of approximately 240 meters. Lufeng 12-3 Oilfield is the largest jointly-developed oilfield in the South China Sea in the... Read more →

Shell has opened its largest electric vehicle (EV) charging station globally in Shenzhen, China. The charging station is located about 2.5 kilometrers from the Shenzhen Airport Terminal and features 258 public fast-charging points. It is operated by Shenzhen Shell and BYD Electric Vehicle Investment Company Limited, a joint venture between... Read more →

Record volumes of crude oil were imported into China during the first half of 2023 because of refinery expansions in the country and initiatives to reopen the economy after the government eased COVID-19 mobility restrictions. China imported an average of 11.4 million barrels of crude oil per day (b/d) in... Read more →

In over little more than a decade, China has come to dominate completely the EV market by taking control of all aspects of the mine-to-megawatt supply chain, says market research firm Adamas Intelligence. Data from the Adamas Intelligence EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker show that the top 3... Read more →

FAW Group, one of the largest Chinese automotive groups, and Mobileye, a global leader in autonomous driving solutions, announced a new strategic partnership leveraging their respective industry advantages in software, hardware and technology products. The two sides will work together to create new products based on Mobileye SuperVision and Mobileye... Read more →

TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., which operates an industrial precious metals business as a core company of TANAKA Precious Metals, signed a technical assistance agreement with Chengdu Guangming Paite Precious Metal Co., Ltd., an affiliated company in China, in the area of fuel cell electrode catalyst manufacturing technologies. TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo... Read more →

China-based BYD unveiled a full spectrum of electric passenger cars at the Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA) in Munich: five all-electric cars and a sixth new energy model, the DENZA D9, an exclusive European premiere of the premium BYD sub-brand, DENZA. The BYD HAN (E-segment sedan) and the BYD ATTO 3 (C-segment... Read more →

BASF has commenced construction of its syngas plant at the Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. This world-scale syngas facility, fully integrated into the Verbund site, is scheduled to start up in 2025. BASF will adopt unique process concepts in the syngas plant to reduce carbon emissions compared to conventional syngas... Read more →

XPENG, a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company, intends to accelerate the adoption of Smart EVs and technologies through a strategic partnership with DiDi Global. XPENG plans to launch an all-new EV brand in 2024, currently being developed under the project name “MONA”. The company will leverage the new brand... Read more →

Kia presented its all-electric compact SUV, the Kia EV5, at the Chengdu Motor Show in China. The company had unveiled a concept version of the EV5 at Kia Chinese EV Day in March. (Earlier post.) The Kia EV5 was created to redefine the compact SUV genre with a form shaped... Read more →

Horizon Robotics, a leading provider of energy-efficient computing solutions for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in consumer vehicles, has formed a strategic partnership with Aptiv PLC and its subsidiary Wind River in China. (Aptiv acquired Wind River in 2022.) Aptiv is a global technology company focused on making mobility safer,... Read more →

China-based NaaS, an EV charging service company, is partnering with Hyundai Motor Group (China), to develop efficient charging management services for Hyundai car owners. The two parties will empower potential EV charging businesses via partnership. The partnership have made an order management service for charging and charger installation to be... Read more →

CATL introduced Shenxing, the first 4C superfast charging LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery, capable of delivering 400 km (249 miles) of driving range with a 10-minute charge as well as a range of more than 700 km (435 miles) on a single full charge. CATL expects Shenxing to alleviate fast... Read more →

Geely Holding Group and Baidu Inc announced a significant milestone in their strategic partnership with the introduction of JI YUE, a premium intelligent technology brand. Inaugural JI YUE 01 model will enter production with first deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023. JI YUE’s primary goal is to provide an... Read more →

In June, BorgWarner announced the next phase of its “Charging Forward” strategy for advancing its position as a technology leader in e-Products, while maximizing its foundational portfolio. In its subsequent Q2 report, BorgWarner listed a number of e-Products wins, including: iDM for Chinese OEM. BorgWarner will supply a new integrated... Read more →

Prices for black mass material—from process scrap fell by 5% in July from a month earlier, according to Benchmark’s inaugural black mass price assessment, due to a decline in the underlying prices for lithium. Black mass production is the first step in the battery recycling process and is based on... Read more →

BYD has produced its 5 millionth new energy vehicle (NEV), a DENZA N7. BYD spent 13 years reaching the milestone of one million NEVs, another 18 months to reach three million, and now just 9 more months to hit the five million mark. In 2022, BYD’s new energy vehicles saw... Read more →

An analysis by Nikkei in Japan concludes that nearly 40% of the suppliers for materials used in Tesla’s electric vehicle batteries are Chinese companies. Nikkei sent a letter to Tesla asking about its dependence on Chinese suppliers but said that it had received no reply by the publication deadline. China... Read more →

Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving company, Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (TMCI) and GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC) will form a joint venture to advance the future mass production and large-scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. The joint venture company will be established in 2023, with an... Read more →

In November 2021, Finnish Minerals Group announced that it was negotiating with China-based Beijing Easpring Material Technology on the possibility to establish a cathode active materials (CAM) plant in Kotka, Finland. The parties have now agreed to set up a joint venture company by the end of 2023, of which... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is strengthening its position on the Chinese automotive market with cooperations between the VW brand and XPENG and between Audi and SAIC. The VW brand has concluded a technological framework agreement with XPENG. The initial stage of the cooperation will provide for the joint development of two... Read more →

The BMW Group further expanded its R&D footprint in China with the opening of a new R&D Center in Shanghai. China is already home to BMW Group’s largest R&D system outside of Germany, with locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing. Based on the concept of open innovation, all BMW’s... Read more →

China-based premium EV brand HiPhi—created by Human Horizons—launched its latest model—the mid-size SUV HiPhi Y—at a global event in Shanghai. The Y joins HiPhi’s dual flagship models, the X ‘Super SUV’ and Z ‘Digital GT’. Intended as a luxury mainstream model, the Y follows the same LuxTech philosophy as the... Read more →

Johnson Matthey (JM) signed an investment agreement with the Jiading District in Shanghai to help accelerate the hydrogen economy in China. JM and the Shanghai Jiading District plan to build a new catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) production facility, providing CCM production capability for multiple proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell applications... Read more →

Inceptio Technology, a China-based developer of autonomous driving technologies for heavy-duty trucks (earlier post), announced that the Inceptio Autonomous Driving System has powered more than 40 million kilometers of accident-free trucking on China’s highways. This latest milestone underlines the safety and reliability of Inceptio’s full-stack autonomous driving solution, as well... Read more →

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced that the Green Hydrogen Pilot Project in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, has begun producing green hydrogen to replace natural-gas-based hydrogen in its refinery in Xinjiang. As China’s first green hydrogen demonstration project of over 10,000-tonne capacity and based on solar... Read more →

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and Arun Plus Company Limited (Arun Plus) recently reached an agreement on CTP (cell-to-pack) cooperation in Thailand to serve local EV manufacturers, enhancing the potential for Thailand to become the battery production hub of ASEAN. CATL will supply a CTP production line to Arun... Read more →

BYD has introduced its fifth brand—Fang Cheng Bao—to meet the increasingly personalized needs of consumers by offering a series of unique and professional-grade new energy vehicle models. Fang Cheng Bao is a significant addition to BYD’s diversified brand matrix, following its Dynasty series, Ocean series, Denza, and Yangwang. The vehicle... Read more →

China-based Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) reported successful testing of non-desalinated seawater electrolysis technology for hydrogen production powered by offshore wind. The floating hydrogen production platform Dongfu One is sited in an offshore wind farm in East China’s Fujian province. This project was a joint effort by DEC and a research... Read more →

EcoCeres, an Asia-based bio-refinery company, announced its first shipment of 100% agricultural waste-produced cellulosic ethanol to the European markets, a milestone the company achieved after commissioning another facility in China. EcoCeres can produce a diverse range of renewable biofuels, covering Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Cellulosic... Read more →

PPG has inaugurated a battery pack application center (BPAC) in Tianjin, China. The $30-million facility features a full range of capabilities to test the application of PPG coatings technologies, materials and systems for electric vehicle (EV) battery packs, allowing customers to accelerate the development of new EV technologies. The new... Read more →

China-based EV startup U Power Limited entered into a framework strategic cooperation agreement with Quantum Solutions Co., Ltd., the first and only independent Japanese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to develop business initiatives relating to marketing, research and development of new energy vehicles, financial technologies,... Read more →

To mark the 20th anniversary of the BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA) joint venture, Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production, announced local production of the NEUE KLASSE in China. Following the market launch in 2025, models of the next vehicle generation will... Read more →

Innovations in the automotive sphere are increasingly driven by software engineering. One core enabler for this trend is the decoupling of hardware and software through a new generation of automotive middleware products that are now accelerating into stage of automotive mass production. Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital... Read more →

Under a new contract, China-based Gotion High-Tech will supply Volkswagen with LFP cells outside China. Gotion began supplying LFP cells to Volkswagen China in early 2022. The cells adopt the same design and specifications as those for the Chinese market, and are aimed at Volkswagen Group's full range of new... Read more →

SK IE Technology (SKIET) signed an MOU with Sunwoda, the 9th largest battery manufacturer in terms of global market share (according to SNE Research in 2022), to strengthen cooperation in supplying battery separators. The MOU signing ceremony took place at Sunwoda Group’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China. SKIET plans to supply... Read more →

In a paper in Chinese Physical Letters, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences report manufacturing practical pouch-type rechargeable lithium batteries with a gravimetric energy density of 711.3 Wh⋅kg−1 and a volumetric energy density of 1653.65 Wh⋅L−1. Current advanced practical lithium-ion batteries have an energy density of around 300 Wh⋅kg−1.... Read more →