Purifying rare earth critical metals from ores with complex mixtures typically involves strong acids and hazardous solvents, and is primarily conducted in China. However, over the past three years, a team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories has been developing an environmentally friendly method to separate these rare-earth elements from... Read more →

Chinese car manufacturers have been forced to accelerate plans and build local facilities to localize their supply chain in light of various EV tariffs announced this year, according to EV research-house, Rho Motion. This comes as Canada announces a 100% import tariff on Chinese EVs, in line with its trade... Read more →

California is launching a new statewide funding program that will put 1,000 new, zero-emission school buses on the road. The program will distribute $500 million to school districts and other educational entities to replace aging school buses with zero-emission vehicles and purchase needed infrastructure. The Zero-Emissions School Bus and Infrastructure... Read more →

Lithium iron phosphate batteries undercut their theoretical capacity in practice, sometimes significantly. Researchers at TU Graz have now been able to observe exactly where the capacity loss occurs in a lithium iron phosphate cathode. An open-access paper on their work is published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. Lithium iron... Read more →

In 2024, a small electric SUV with a range of 300 miles produces 52% fewer life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than a comparable gasoline vehicle, according to Argonne National Laboratory’s R&D GREET Model. R&D GREET is a life cycle analysis (LCA) model that assesses the energy use and environmental... Read more →

Volvo Trucks and global logistics company DSV have signed a cooperation agreement for 300 electric heavy trucks. The deal is one of the largest commercial orders to date for Volvo electric trucks. With the order, DSV will have one of the largest company fleets of heavy electric trucks in Europe.... Read more →

Ford is adjusting its electrification product roadmap in the hopes of offering a range of electrification options that might speed customer adoption—including lower prices and longer ranges. Among the changes are the cancellation of the previously announced three-row all-electric SUV in favor of leveraging hybrid technologies for the next three-row... Read more →

Lilium has successfully completed the first phase of integration testing of the Lilium Jet’s electrical power system at the company’s purpose-built laboratory. The test completion represents a key milestone on the path to flight conditions approval and type-certification of the revolutionary Lilium Jet. It means that, while the first two... Read more →

The Michigan State University Industrial Training Assessment Center and University of Michigan Economic Growth Institute have been awarded $500,000 by the US Department of Energy to launch the Michigan Automotive Supply Chain Technical Assistance Program. This two-year initiative will help small and medium-sized manufacturers in Michigan’s automotive sector transition to... Read more →

Volkswagen of America announced pricing and the EPA-estimated range for the ID. Buzz, the electric reincarnation of the iconic Microbus which debuts in the US later this year. Pricing for ID. Buzz models will start with the Pro S at an MSRP of $59,995, Pro S Plus at $63,495, and... Read more →

KULR Technology Group, a developer of safe and high-performance energy storage solutions, has been selected for a battery pack reference design project by Amprius Technologies, a developer of next-generation lithium-ion batteries with its Silicon Anode Platform. The final reference design will provide Amprius’ customers with a solution to address thermal... Read more →

SES AI Corporation, a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance Li-Metal batteries, announced a major step in its commercialization of this next-generation battery technology. The company’s 100 Ah Li-Metal cells for automotive applications are the first in the industry to pass safety tests required by China’s GB38031-2020... Read more →

Unither Bioelectronics Inc. (UB), a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, and Robinson Helicopter Company have entered into a collaboration agreement to accelerate UB’s development of hydrogen-powered helicopters based on Robinson’s popular R44 and R66 helicopter models. This strategic collaboration is expected to accelerate the development of zero-emission helicopters and increase... Read more →

Wright Electric was awarded $3,342,094 for its new Ultra-High-Energy Battery Project to research & develop a new class of batteries for zero-emission electric passenger aircraft. The funding was awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) grant program, funded via the Inflation Reduction Act. Wright is... Read more →

To plug the gap between today’s battery industry and 2040 battery demand will require at least $1.6 trillion of investment, according to Benchmark. This is almost triple the $571 billion needed to meet 2030 demand. Such large investments are needed as battery demand is forecast to grow from 937 gigawatt-hours... Read more →

Cadillac introduced the Opulent Velocity concept vehicle, combining advanced technology with bespoke luxury. The concept represents the future vision of electric performance for Cadillac V-Series. The Opulent experience is designed to imagine the personal freedom that full autonomous mobility could enable. Level 4 autonomous capability creates a hands-free immersive experience... Read more →

Archimedes Defense, a leader in high power solutions for government and defense applications, has partnered with Tesla upgrader, Unplugged Performance and its fleet division, UP.FIT. Together, they introduce STING: apocalypse-ready, go-anywhere packages of up-armored and genset-equipped Tesla Cybertruck vehicles for government and civilian use. Building upon Unplugged’s existing INVINCIBLE off-road... Read more →

Archer Aviation has delivered its first Midnight aircraft to the USAF to evaluate as part of its AFWERX Agility Prime contract valued at up to $142 million. The delivery comes after the US Department of Defense accepted Midnight’s military airworthiness assessment, a critical approval that confirms Midnight’s readiness for flight... Read more →

Enphase Energy, a global energy technology company and a supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery systems, launched its new North American Charging Standard (NACS) connectors for its entire line of IQ EV Chargers. NACS connectors and charger ports have recently become the industry standard embraced by several major automakers for... Read more →

The public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure continues to be identified as a culprit in the unexpectedly slow adoption of EVs in the United States, but this year it is showing signs of improvement with overall satisfaction increasing for a second consecutive quarter. While the issue is a long way... Read more →

EVgo announced several significant enhancements to its US fast charging network through EVgo ReNew, the Company’s comprehensive program created to elevate the customer experience. In addition to network advances, EVgo has debuted the Canary Model, a performance monitoring tool designed to identify and analyze patterns and support diagnostics automatically, augmenting... Read more →

Polestar has begun production of its luxury SUV, Polestar 3, in South Carolina. This makes the Polestar 3 the first Polestar to be produced on two continents. The factory in South Carolina produces cars for customers in the US and Europe, complementing existing production in Chengdu, China. Manufacturing Polestar 3... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program and Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with ENERGYWERX, announced the Innovative Queue Management Solutions (iQMS) for Clean Energy Interconnection and Energization program. This program will award $11.2 million to no more than... Read more →

Archer and Future Flight Global signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the planned purchase of up to 116 Midnight Aircraft worth up to $580 million Along with this MOU, Future Flight Global made an initial deposit, and the MOU sets out nearly $5 million in pre-delivery payments to be... Read more →

IDTechEx forecasts that US$110 billion of critical materials will be recovered annually from secondary sources by 2045, with a combined weight of more than 3.3 million tonnes. IDTechEx predicts that the critical material recovery market will grow at a CAGR of 12.7% from 2025-2045. Annual value of critical material recovery... Read more →

At the IAA Transportation 2024 in Hanover, MAHLE is presenting a bio-inspired high-performance fan which makes commercial vehicles significantly quieter. The fan was developed for particularly demanding fuel cell and battery electric vehicles. When optimizing its ventilation blades with the use of AI, the MAHLE engineers took inspiration from the... Read more →

SAE International has published SAE Standard J2954, Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for Light-Duty Plug-in/Electric Vehicles and Alignment Methodology. The Wireless Power Transfer Task Force completed a lengthy consensus process finalizing the wireless charging specification with the vehicle to WPT pad alignment. Differential Inductive Positioning System (DIPS) is the technology alignment... Read more →

ZF Aftermarket, a full systems aftermarket provider, has released 25 Electric Axle Drive Repair Kits for cars and SUVs in the US and Canada (USC). The kits enable independent workshops to perform repairs without removing electric axle drives, making it faster and easier for shops to service electric vehicles. The... Read more →

Rho Motion reported that 1.4 million EVs were sold globally in July, bringing the year-to-date sales figure up to 8.4 million. Regional disparities continue to grow as EU & EFTA & UK sales fall year on year by 8% compared to July 2023 and China’s market grew by 31%. Globally,... Read more →

An additional $200 million is now available in New York to school districts and bus operators for zero-emission school buses through the second installment of funding from the $4.2-billion Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act (Bond Act). The funding, distributed through the New York School Bus... Read more →

Ford Motor Company and TXU Energy, Texas’ leading retail electric provider and subsidiary of Vistra, have teamed up to create a first-of-its-kind retail energy offering for Ford electric SUV and truck customers in Texas. The TXU Free EV Miles program offers Ford EV customers the opportunity to charge their vehicle... Read more →

A team of researchers from Nagoya University in Japan has developed a loop heat pipe (LHP) that can transport up to 10 kW of heat without the need for electricity. This heat transport capability is the largest in the world. The group’s LHP aims to contribute to energy savings and... Read more →

Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor reached an agreement for Honda to supply Yamaha with electric motorcycle models for the Japanese market, based on the Honda “EM1 e:” and “BENLY e: I” Class-1 category models, as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer). The two companies will proceed with further discussion toward the... Read more →

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) will start an EV truck battery-swapping demonstration on public roads in Kyoto, Japan from August 2024. MFTBC’s electric light-duty “eCanter” truck equipped with Ample’s swappable battery modules are being used for the demonstration. eCanter’s batteries will be swapped at Ample’s battery swapping stations... Read more →

On 12 June 2024, the EU announced import tariffs on Chinese EVs ranging from 17.4% up to 38.1%. (Earlier post.) The justification for such trade tariffs is an unfair subsidization by the Chinese government, which the Commission claims undermines the domestic (European) automotive industries. However, Mika Takahashi, Technology Analyst at... Read more →

Porsche has installed a stationary energy storage system at its Plant Leipzig built from used Taycan batteries taken from pre-series and works vehicles. The total capacity is 5 MW with an energy content of 10 MWh. The storage system can be operated at up to 20 per cent overload for... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $43 million in funding (DE-FOA-0003383) for projects that will advance research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) in several areas critical to the future of advanced batteries. The funding will drive innovations in low-cost electric vehicle (EV) battery electrode, cell, or pack manufacturing; improve... Read more →

Ideal Power, the developer of the B-TRAN bidirectional semiconductor power switch, is collaborating with a third global automaker on the use of B-TRAN-enabled contactors potentially to replace electromechanical contactors in its electric vehicles (EVs). Contactors serve as cutoff switches for high voltage applications in EVs. They play a critical role... Read more →

Martin Uher Bus, a private transport company, has selected Solaris to supply the first hydrogen buses for its fleet. Ten Urbino 12 hydrogen vehicles will operate public transport in the Central Bohemian region around Prague. The buses are scheduled for delivery in the end of 2025. The manufacturer will supply... Read more →

In a new report—Electric Vehicles in Construction 2024-2044: Technologies, Players, Forecasts—IDTechEx highlights how the electric construction machines of today are bigger and better than their predecessors from less than 10 years ago. OEMs worldwide are picking up the pace of electric machine development, and IDTechEx finds the industry will grow... Read more →

Hydro-Québec has sold its subsidiary Cléo to Polara, a Québec company specialized in comprehensive infrastructure solutions for vehicle fleet electrification. Founded in 2020 by Hydro-Québec, Cléo specializes in commercial electric vehicle (EV) fleet management, namely by offering its smart charging management platform to fleet operators. This transaction reflects the success... Read more →

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Vehicle Technologies Office estimates the cost of a electric vehicle lithium-ion battery pack for a light-duty vehicle declined 90% between 2008 and 2023 (using 2023 constant dollars). The 2023 estimate is $139/kWh on a usable-energy basis for production at scale of at least 100,000 units... Read more →

Wallbox has received a $45-million investment, which includes $35 million from lead investor, Generac Power Systems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products. The strategic investment reinforces the partnership with Generac and highlights Wallbox’s position in the market. This investment strengthens Wallbox’s balance... Read more →

AutoFlight and leading battery developer CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) announced an exclusive strategic investment and cooperation agreement, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, bringing together pioneers in eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) and battery technology in a unique partnership. CATL’s exclusive strategic investment in AutoFlight... Read more →

Zeekr and Mobileye plan to accelerate technology localization in China, integrate Mobileye technologies into the next-generation Zeekr models, and further their driving safety and automation there and in the global market. Zeekr is the global premium electric mobility technology brand from Geely Holding Group. Mobileye is a leading developer of... Read more →

Daimler Buses is delivering 10 eCitaro electric articulated buses to HEAG mobile in Darmstadt. With the handover of the electric buses, the share of electric buses in the fleet of the mobility service provider will increase to around 65%. The new eCitaro is equipped with the NMC3 battery generation. This... Read more →

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. have agreed to carry out joint research in fundamental technologies in the area of platforms for next-generation software-defined vehicles (SDVs). This agreement is based on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the companies on March 15 regarding the commencement of... Read more →

Uber Technologies announced a multi-year strategic partnership designed to bring 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles onto the Uber platform across key global markets. Beginning first in Europe and Latin America, the partnership is expected to offer drivers access to best-in-class pricing and financing for BYD vehicles on the Uber platform,... Read more →

The Audi A6 e-tron concept debuted at the Auto Shanghai 2021 trade fair as the forerunner of a family of all-electric volume models. Audi is now launching the A6 e-tron in Sportback and Avant variants. As the second model on the PPE platform, the upper mid-size vehicle picks up on... Read more →

Leapmotor International, a 51/49 Stellantis-led company between Stellantis and Leapmotor (earlier post), has shipped the first batch of Leapmotor electric vehicles—C10 SUVs and T03 cars—from Shanghai, China, to European ports this month, marking a significant milestone in the partnership and demonstrating the shared commitment to providing sustainable mobility and innovation... Read more →