Leading battery manufacturer CATL and EV maker NIO have signed a five-year comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement. The comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement further deepens CATL's strategic partnership with NIO. The two parties will advance technological cooperation in new brands, new projects and new markets, improve supply-demand coordination, propel overseas expansion, and... Read more →

The number of hydrogen stations deployed globally has surpassed the 1,000-mark, according to a study by Information Trends. China represents roughly one-third of global deployments, but the US lags far behind with less than 100 hydrogen stations. The second highest hydrogen station deployments after China are in Japan, followed by... Read more →

Bosch will invest around €950 million in the development and production of components for electromobility and automated driving in Suzhou, China. Tthe first phase of the project in the eastern city of Suzhou will be completed by mid-2024. Bosch already has four factories in Suzhou employing nearly 10,000 people. Earlier... Read more →

BYD reported that it sold 1,857,379 light-duty New Energy Vehicles in 2022, consisting of 911,140 battery-electric vehicles (49%) and 946,239 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (51%). Total NEV sales were up 213% year-on-year, with BEV sales up 184% and PHEV sales up 247%. Including commercial vehicles, BYD sold 1,863,494 New Energy... Read more →

China-based EV maker NIO delivered 15,815 vehicles in December 2022, a new record-high monthly delivery, representing an increase of 50.8% year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 6,842 electric SUVs including 4,154 ES7s, and 8,973 electric sedans including 1,379 ET7s and 7,594 ET5s. NIO delivered 40,052 vehicles in the fourth quarter of... Read more →

Pony.ai, a global autonomous driving technology company, has been issued a fully driverless autonomous vehicle road test permit by the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone. With this new permit, Pony.ai will deploy ten driverless robotaxis for testing in challenging urban traffic scenarios across a 20 square kilometer (7.7... Read more →

TTTech Auto, the Vienna-based provider of automotive safety software, is expanding its operations with a dedicated subsidiary in China. The new TTTech Auto branch in Shanghai will bring its expertise and the series proven safe vehicle software platform, MotionWise, to car manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers and partners to the rapidly... Read more →

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and Shandong Energy Group, are exploring collaboration on integrated refining and petrochemical opportunities in China. The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which includes a potential crude oil supply agreement and chemicals... Read more →

Leading China-based battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. announced that from 2024 through 2030, Honda will purchase 123 GWh of batteries for pure electric vehicles in China from CATL. In 2020, CATL and Honda signed an agreement to form a comprehensive... Read more →

Buick will introduce its first electric vehicle in China developed on GM’s Ultium platform later this year. Deliveries of the five-seat SUV will begin in the first half of 2023. It will be followed by a second Ultium-empowered EV, also next year. The announcement came shortly after GM announced plans... Read more →

Audi is strengthening its development capabilities in China with a significant broadening of its R&D scope in the region and an expansion of its local Audi China R&D team. The move to the new Audi China Building, opening nearly 10 years after its predecessor, is also a significant milestone in... Read more →

NIO has launched its 1,200th NIO Power Swap Station in China at Suzhou New District Jinke Wangfu Hotel. Within a year, the company has deployed 600 new power swap stations have been deployed. NIO plans to build 1,300+ Power Swap stations by the end of 2022 and 4,000+ by 2025.... Read more →

Geely Holding Group, Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (collectively “Geely”) and Renault Group have signed a non-binding framework agreement to create a new global leader to develop, manufacture and supply best-in-class hybrid powertrains and highly efficient ICE powertrains. Under the framework agreement, Geely and Renault Group will hold respective 50-50 equity... Read more →

Honda unveiled the e:N2 Concept, the concept model for the second set of its e:N Series models, the Honda-brand EV model series in China, at the Fifth China International Import Expo in Shanghai, China. Built on the e:N Architecture F, a dedicated architecture developed exclusively for the e:N Series, the... Read more →

The Government of Canada has ordered three Chinese companies to divest from three Canadian critical mineral companies: Power Metals, Lithium Chile, and Ultra Lithium. (Earlier post.) Ultra Lithium has now issued a statement noting that the company has been advised that Zangge Mining Investment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd. (Zangge) received the... Read more →

The Government of Canada has ordered the divestiture of the following investments by three Chinese companies in Canadian critical mineral companies: Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare Metals Resources Co., Limited is required to divest itself of its investment in Power Metals Corp. Power Metals Corp is a Canadaian mining company exploring... Read more →

Farizon Auto, the new energy commercial vehicle brand from Zhejiang Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group (a subsidiary of Geely Holding) raised more than US$300 million in its first external financing round. This Pre-A round of investment was led by Hidden Hill Capital, which is backed by Singapore’s GLP. Farizon... Read more →

Battery-maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. (DPCA) and Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. (CAES) signed a cooperation framework agreement on an EVOGO battery swap project. According to the agreement, the three parties will jointly apply the EVOGO modular battery swap solution to... Read more →

As much as skeptics insist that the internal combustion engine (ICE) is dead and hydrogen is a non-starter, it appears that significant research and development is being conducted into the technology across geographies. China, despite being one of the world’s largest producers and market for electric vehicles (EVs), is actively... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation announced the Toyota bZ3, the second model in its bZ series. The bZ3 is a battery electric sedan jointly developed for the Chinese market by BYD TOYOTA EV TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (BTET)—a joint venture established by Toyota and BYD Company Ltd. (BYD)—and FAW Toyota Motor Co. Ltd.... Read more →

ZF signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China-based NIO for the development of steer-by-wire (SbW) products and other fields. Both companies have also agreed to establish an instant information sharing mechanism to deepen communication and conduct regular technical exchanges to jointly engage in industry-leading processes and quality standards. Meanwhile, ZF... Read more →

A new partnership between the Volkswgen Group’s software company CARIAD and Horizon Robotics, one of the leading providers of computing solutions for smart vehicles in China, will accelerate the regional development of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving (AD) systems for the Chinese market. As part of the... Read more →

The top 10 global producers of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles are all Asian companies, according to an analysis posted on the Visual Capitalist. Chinese companies make up 56% of the EV battery market, followed by Korean companies (26%) and Japanese manufacturers (10%). China-based CATL, the world’s top supplier, expanded... Read more →

China dominates the global Li-ion battery supply chain to the extent that removing the country in favor of European or North American alternatives will be difficult, according to analysis by Benchmark Minerals Intelligence. With the exception of mining, China controls at least half of the supply from every step needed... Read more →

Johnson Matthey (JM) has begun fuel cell recycling in China. Located in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, the plant is refining and recycling the platinum group metal content from membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), a key component of an automotive fuel cell, from Unilia, a leading provider of fuel cell stack technology. While... Read more →

Data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Cathode Forecast shows that China is set to extend its dominance of cathode production by 2030, increasing its share of production from 78% in 2022 to 87% in 2030. China’s output of cathode active materials increased more than four times between 2018 and 2022. The... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced its strategy ‘local for local’ whereby it plans to deepen its global manufacturing footprint in Europe, the United States and China to support global market demand growth through 2030. As part of this strategy, Ballard has entered into an investment agreement with the Government of Anting... Read more →

SAIC recently put 80 MAXUS MIFA hydrogen fuel cell vans into operation in Shanghai through Xiangdao Chuxing, SAIC’s mobility service platform. The vans feature a next-generation air filtering system that can purify 99.9% of PM2.5 and other particulate matter in the air. The 70Mpa hydrogen storage tank can withstand a... Read more →

Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive (BFDA), the joint venture of Daimler Truck Holding AG and Foton Motor, celebrated the first locally produced Mercedes-Benz trucks with an inauguration ceremony at its new state-of-the-art production site in Huairou, Beijing. The new facility covers an area of more than 400,000 square meters and provides... Read more →

Castrol and BYD (China), one of China’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicles (BEVs), have signed a new three-year strategic collaboration agreement. BYD sold almost 600,000 BEVs last year, plans to increase this to a million units in 2022, and is actively promoting exports to more than 60 countries. BYD (China)... Read more →

CATL announced 5-year cooperation agreements with ZEEKR and SERES, with both EV makers announcing that mass-produced Qilin batteries—based on the third generation of CATL’s cell-to-pack technology (earlier post)—will power upcoming EV models. ZEEKR 009 will be the world’s first car with Qilin inside, and ZEEKR 001 will be the world’s... Read more →

Foton Mobility and Transit Systems Australia announced the arrival of two hydrogen fuel cell buses. The hydrogen buses are equipped with the fuel cell system jointly developed by SinoHytec and Toyota. (Earlier post.) The hydrogen fuel cell buses have been added to Transit Systems growing green fleet of sustainable transport... Read more →

As reported in the journal Science, China has slightly edged out the United States in the number of most cited scientific papers, a key measure of research impact, according to Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP). The milestone provides fresh evidence that China’s scholarship, known for its... Read more →

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) recently signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Chengdu Municipal Government. The two parties will carry out all-round cooperation in the fields of battery swap operation, research and development, comprehensive utilization of resources, manufacturing of key battery materials, new energy and energy storage.... Read more →

XPENG unveiled the interior and major features of the G9, the company’s next all-electric SUV, prior to its launch in China this September. The G9 features XPENG’s new powertrain system using China’s first 800 V mass-production Silicon Carbide (SiC) platform, allowing it to add up to 200 km of CLTC... Read more →

Baidu, Inc., a leading AI company with strong internet foundation, has secured the first permits in China to offer commercial fully driverless robotaxi services to the public on open roads. Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, is now authorized to collect fares for robotaxi rides—completely without human drivers in the... Read more →

Volkswagen Group China unveiled its first electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) passenger drone prototype, as part of its strategy to explore and break new ground in fully electric and sustainable individual mobility concepts. In 2020, Volkswagen Group China launched a Vertical Mobility project to explore the next generation of... Read more →

Autonomous driving technology company Pony.ai announced a strategic joint venture with SANY Heavy Truck (SANY), a subsidiary of SANY Heavy Industry, China’s number-one heavy equipment manufacturer and the third-largest heavy equipment manufacturer globally. Pony.ai and SANY will collaborate to create a world-leading autonomous truck brand. The two companies will deeply... Read more →

BYD Japan, the Japanese branch of China-based BYD, marked its official entry into the passenger vehicle market in Japan with the Japanese debut of three BYD models: BYD ATTO 3, BYD Dolphin, and BYD Seal. BYD ATTO 3 is slated to become the first BYD passenger vehicle sold in Japan,... Read more →

EVE Energy, a major battery maker in China; Zijin Lithium, a subsidiary of Longyan-based Zijin Mining Group; and Ruifu Lithium, a developer of lithium salts based in eastern China’s Shandong province; will establish a joint venture company in Hunan and invest in the construction of a project with an annual... Read more →

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global refining capacity decreased by 730,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2021—the first decline in global refining capacity in 30 years. In the United States, refining capacity has decreased by about 1.1 million b/d since the start of 2020, contributing 184,000 b/d to... Read more →

China-based Geely Group launched a new electric outdoors lifestyle vehicle brand, Radar Auto, as well as the new brand’s first electric adventure vehicle, the RD6 electric pick-up truck. The Radar brand is launched as an independent brand within the wider Geely Holding Group which will give the brand considerable access... Read more →

A team from the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) has devised a control strategy for 2.0L direct-injection hydrogen engines that delivers near-zero emissions with high power and high brake thermal efficiency. A paper on their work is published in the journal Fuel. Direct-injection (DI) hydrogen engines can generate high power... Read more →

Umicore will build a large-scale fuel-cell catalyst plant in Changshu in China to capture the fast emerging growth in fuel-cell technology. The plant will enable the accelerated transformation to hydrogen-based clean mobility, serving demand through to 2030. The greenfield facility is planned and prepared to be carbon-neutral from the start... Read more →

Among the technologies displayed at 2022 GAC Tech day at the GAC R&D Center was a new-generation LFP battery built on microcrystalline technology (SmLFP). Compared with the current mass-produced lithium iron phosphate batteries on the market, the super-energy lithium iron battery has an increase of 13.5% in mass energy density,... Read more →

As the world contends with a global energy crisis, nuclear power has the potential to play a significant role in helping countries to securely transition to energy systems dominated by renewables, according to a new special report by the IEA. In countries that choose to continue or increase their use... Read more →

The Yuchai YCK16H hydrogen-fueled engine was successfully ignited in Yulin, Guangxi. The engine, with a displacement of 15.93 liters and a maximum horsepower of 560 hp, is the largest hydrogen-fueled engine with the largest displacement and horsepower in China. The YCK16H adopts advanced fuel high-pressure common rail, high-pressure in-cylinder direct... Read more →

Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (LEAD) announced that it has been contracted by Volkswagen to supply battery manufacturing equipment for Salzgitter, accounting for more than 65% of the total equipment quantity for that 20 GWh gigafactory. Volkswagen has announced it will invest €30 billion to build 6 battery factories... Read more →

Volkswagen revealed the ID. AERO concept electric sedan in China as a foretaste of the brand’s first global fully-electric sedan. The future model will be positioned in the premium mid-size sedan segment. The production version for China is expected to go on sale in the second half of 2023. Volkswagen... Read more →

CATL launched Qilin, the third generation of its CTP (cell-to-pack) technology. With a record-breaking volume utilization efficiency of 72% and an energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg, it achieves the highest integration level worldwide so far, capable of delivering a range of more than 1,000 km. With the same... Read more →