In China, Baojun showed the first images of its ne... Read more →

The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) announced the first research grants from the EPIC-UCAS Joint Center for Energy Policy Research in China. Formed in January 2019, the EPIC-UCAS Joint Center supports the development of research-based insights on... Read more →

Volkswagen has successfully launched its sub-brand JETTA in China with the new SUV VS5 and the VA3 sedan. Since market entry in September, nearly 30,000 vehicles were delivered to customers; almost 80% of JETTA deliveries were SUVs. This makes the JETTA launch the most successful recent brand introduction in China,... Read more →

Daimler Mobility AG and Geely Technology Group, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), unveiled the premium ride-hailing provider StarRides in China with inaugural services to begin in Hangzhou in December 2019. The ride-hailing joint venture will begin operating in Hangzhou, a city of more than 10 million... Read more →

The BMW Group and Great Wall Motor have launched a new joint venture—Spotlight Automotive Limited—and are building a joint plant in China, where the BMW Group will produce future fully-electric models of its MINI brand. The plant will have a standard capacity of up to 160,000 vehicles per year, which... Read more →

ZF Friedrichshafen AG is establishing a third Chinese research and development center in Guangzhou in southern China. ZF already has two development centers in China, both located in Shanghai. With their respective focus on the development of active and passive safety technology as well as driveline and chassis technology, the... Read more →

BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company’s US$10-billion investment project announced in July 2018. (Earlier post.) The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs... Read more →

BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company’s US$10-billion investment project announced in July 2018. (Earlier post.) The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs... Read more →

Volkswagen Group China, together with its Chinese partners, plans to invest more than €4 billion next year, with around 40% of this investment going towards e-mobility. This will accelerate the Group’s electrification strategy, which will be strengthened next year through the start of production of models based on the modular... Read more →

Up from just 1% in January 2019, NCM 811 is now the second-most used cathode chemistry in China’s passenger EV market, according to Adamas Intelligence’s latest “EV Battery Capacity Monthly” report. In September 2019, sales of new passenger EVs with NCM 811 battery cells were responsible for 18% of all... Read more →

China-based Kolbenschmidt Huayu Piston Co. Ltd. (KSHP) (belonging to Rheinmetall Automotive AG) has received an order from one of the world’s biggest car producers with a lifetime volume totaling more than €200 million for modern lightweight pistons for gasoline engines with ring carrier and coolant gallery technology. Lightweight gasoline piston... Read more →

China-based Xpeng Motors has closed a US$400-million Series C capital funding from a group of strategic and institutional investors. Xiaomi Corporation, a global leader in the technology and consumer electronics sector, is joining as a strategic investor. Xiaomi Corporation and Xpeng Motors have achieved significant progress through in-depth collaboration in... Read more →

The Chevrolet Menlo EV made its global premiere in China at 2019 Chevrolet Gala Night. The Chevrolet Blazer seven-seat mid-large SUV also was shown for the first time in China at the event. Chevrolet Menlo The Chevrolet Menlo will be the brand’s first fully electric vehicle available in China. The... Read more →

Blue World Technologies has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China-based new energy vehicle manufacturer AIWAYS, with the purpose of supplying the market with vehicles powered by methanol fuel cells for fast refueling and long range. During the Chinese International Import Expo 2019 (CIIE 2019) in Shanghai, Blue World Technologies... Read more →

The new plant of The SAIC Volkswagen joint venture’s new plant—which is dedicated to production of all electric vehicles on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB)—has been completed in Anting, Shanghai. Celebrating the start of pre-production, a first China-specific all-electric Volkswagen ID. model rolled off the production line. The start... Read more →

BYD Company Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation signed an agreement to establish a joint company to research and development for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). The new R&D company, which will work on designing and developing BEVs (including platform) and its related parts, is anticipated to be established in China in 2020,... Read more →

BorgWarner announced a partnership with one of China’s leading New Energy Vehicle (NEV) brands to supply the fully integrated drive module (iDM) for an all-electric vehicle. This partnership represents BorgWarner’s first iDM project in China. BorgWarner’s electric vehicle system solution integrates highly efficient power electronics with an advanced transmission system... Read more →

The Volkswagen brand is boosting its e-mobility offensive in China. Next year, about 300,000 electrified models will be handed over to customers there; this will then reach about one million by 2025. By 2023, the Volkswagen brand will offer 10 models based on the MEB modular electric drive toolkit on... Read more →

Israel-based Autotalks successfully showcased its V2X chipset’s conformance to the Chinese C-V2X standard and the Chinese OSCCA (Office of State Commercial Cryptography Administration) security standard in the first large-scale http://www.imt-2020.org.cn of multi-brand C-V2X communication. The IMT-2020 Promotion Group’s C-V2X ‘Four Layers’ Interoperability Application Demonstration brought together more than 20 automotive... Read more →

Ideanomics’ Mobile Energy Group (MEG) is expanding its activities with heavy-duty electric trucks as part of an ongoing effort to identify commercial vehicle activities where significant pollution reduction can be achieved by eliminating fossil fuels. In addition to the environmental considerations, heavy-duty electric trucks offer additional benefits such as reduced... Read more →

China-based Li-ion battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) has begun construction of its first lithium-ion battery factory in Thuringia, a state in east-central Germany. CATL has developed partnerships with a number of European companies in the automobile industry including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler, Volvo, and Bosch. Germany is home... Read more →

Buick launched the VELITE 6 PLUS MAV (multi-activity vehicle) electric vehicle in China. The newest member of the VELITE 6 family, the VELITE 6 PLUS has a constant-speed range of up to 410 kilometers (255 miles) under New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) conditions on a single charge. This enables it... Read more →

Loop Energy, a provider of fuel cell range extenders for medium- and heavy-duty motive applications, has established a joint venture and non-exclusive license agreement with IN-Power, a leading power electronics supplier to the transport sector in China. Under the terms of the Agreement, the two companies will collaborate to produce... Read more →

Siemens Digital Industries Software has partnered with Tianmu Lake Institute of Advanced Energy Storage Technologies (TIES), a major Chinese energy storage research and development center, to build an Advanced Battery Technology Innovation Center. The Innovation Center, to be located at the CNY500-million (US$70-million), 51,000 square meter facility in Liyang, China,... Read more →

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC), the corporate venture capital arm of the Bosch Group, has invested in Trunk, a startup based in Beijing. Trunk provides combined hardware and software solutions for autonomous trucking. Trunk is the first company to go into production with autonomous trucking solutions for the container... Read more →

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation signed a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement to deepen their partnership in the fields of electrification and intelligent networking. Chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group Zeng Qinghong (left) and Toyota President Akio Toyoda (right) Under the agreement, based on the basic concept that... Read more →

Ideanomics Inc. announced that its MEG Group, through its joint venture with iUnicorn, has finalized its first order of EV Taxis for the city of Chengdu. As part of the deal, MEG took over a previous order of 4,000 EV taxis from a third-party and helped facilitate the delivery of... Read more →

UL, a leading global safety science organization, is establishing a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) battery laboratory to support the growing EV market. To be fully operational by April 2020 and located in Changzhou, China, the facility will be one of the most advanced in the world and provide comprehensive EV... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has completed its creation of a global innovation network with the establishment of Hyundai CRADLE Beijing. With sites in Seoul, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and Silicon Valley, the China office is the fifth center in the network, which exists to explore and utilize various innovation opportunities and... Read more →

Ideanomics Inc. and its strategic Mobile Energy Group (MEG) announced a strategic partnership with the China National Petroleum Corporation Nanjing (CNPC or PetroChina) to begin converting existing fossil fuel gas stations in the city of Nanjing. PetroChina is the world’s third-largest oil company and plays a leading role in energy... Read more →

StreetScooter GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post and market leader for electric light commercial vehicles (eLCV), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chinese automobile manufacturer Chery Holding Group (Chery) establishing a joint venture between the two companies. Total investment could be up to €500 million. Chery is... Read more →

Silicon Valley-based Plus.ai has formed a joint venture with FAW Jiefang, China’s oldest and largest truck manufacturer, to develop autonomous trucks for China. Plus.ai specializes in developing full-stack self-driving technology to enable large scale autonomous commercial fleets. The exclusive partnership is also launching its first product, the first production-class L2... Read more →

Polestar, the electric performance brand jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding, opened its first production facility. Polestar also announced its World Manufacturing Identifier, which officiates the brand as a standalone car company. The new Polestar Production Center in Chengdu, China will produce the Polestar 1—a carbon... Read more →

In 2015, ship emissions increased summer PM2.5 concentrations and O3 mixing ratios by 1.4 μg/m3 and 1.9 ppb, respectively, within the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, according to a new study by a team from Emory University and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). This resulted in an estimated... Read more →

In June 2019, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were responsible for 91% of all passenger electrified vehicle battery capacity deployed globally (in GWh) versus just 84% in June 2018, according to Adamas Intelligence’s latest ‘EV Battery Capacity Monthly’ report. There are two causes for the increase in capacity deployed by BEVs... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group opened Hyundai Hydrogen World—an exhibition hall dedicated to the fuel-cell electric vehicle, related technologies and energy—at the center of the Century Square in Shanghai. The exhibit is open to the public from 26 August through 8 September. The oval-shape arena covering 406 square meters enables visitors to... Read more →

A study by a team of researchers from China, the US and Germany suggests that future climate change may worsen air quality for more than 85% of China’s population, leading to an additional 20,000 deaths each year. An open access paper on their work is published in Proceedings of the... Read more →

A team of researchers in China suggest that, in the context of promoting the use of clean fuel vehicles and increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions of China’s urban passenger transport sector could reach a peak of 225 MtCO2 in 2030. If the mode share of public transport could further... Read more →

Daimler AG, with its wholly owned subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Energy GmbH, and Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (BJEV), a subsidiary of the BAIC Group, have entered into a development partnership to establish second-life energy storage systems in China in the future. Together, Mercedes-Benz Energy and Beijing Electric Vehicle plan to set... Read more →

Adamas Intelligence reports that according to the Association of China Rare Earth Industry (ACREI), China’s domestic manufacturers produced approximately 7.6 million liters of vehicle exhaust gas catalyst in the first half of 2019—a decrease of 13% year-over-year on weak passenger vehicle production. Vehicle exhaust gas catalysts comprising platinum-group metals are... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) concluded an agreement with Didi Chuxing (DiDi) to expand collaboration in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in China. As part of this agreement, Toyota will invest US$600 million in DiDi and a joint venture, which the two companies will establish with GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.... Read more →

Magna and the BAIC Group have signed a framework agreement governing their electric vehicle manufacturing joint venture (earlier post) in Zhenjiang, China, which marks another milestone of their continued cooperation. The transaction, which is pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of... Read more →

BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd. and Tencent signed an agreement to work together on building the BMW Group China High Performance D³ (Data-Driven Development) platform. The BMW Group will use the platform to develop automated driving technologies and products which suit the complex local traffic conditions and meet local customer... Read more →

BYD Company Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation have signed an agreement for the joint development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The two parties will jointly develop sedans and low-floor SUVs as well as the onboard batteries for these vehicles and others with the aim to launch them in the Chinese... Read more →

Groupe Renault and Jiangling Motors Corporation Group (JMCG) announced the official establishment of their joint venture to further promote the development of the EV industry in China, following a first agreement on 20 December 2018. Groupe Renault will increase its share capital by RMB 1 billion (about €128.5 million) to... Read more →

China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and Toyota Motor Corporation have entered into a comprehensive partnership agreement for the stable supply and further development of New Energy Vehicle (NEV) batteries. The two companies have also commenced discussions that cover a wide range of fields, including: supply of batteries, new... Read more →

New battery company SVOLT Energy Technology Co. Ltd, whose precursor was the Battery Business Unit of Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd, introduced its cobalt-free lithium-ion battery cell (NMx) and four-element lithium-ion battery cell (NCMA). SVOLT product roadmap. In the product launch event, Yang Hongxin, General Manager of SVOLT, said that... Read more →

Researchers from the University at Buffalo (UB), with colleagues in the US and China, have provided pathophysiologic evidence of the effect of air pollution on cardiovascular disease in China. Their findings also suggests that China may need to revise its standard for one type of pollutant. Spatial Distribution of Estimated... Read more →

BASF and Sichuan Lutianhua Co., Ltd. (Lutianhua) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-develop a pilot production plant that will significantly reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency in producing dimethyl ether (DME) from syngas compared to the traditional process. DME is a methanol equivalent and can be used... Read more →

A study by researchers at Tsinghua University in China has concluded that the overall impact of autonomous vehicle deployment on greenhouse gas emissions is not significant in the near-to mid-term. In the study, published in the journal Energy Policy, the researchers found that autonomous vehicles potentially affect the total greenhouse... Read more →