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 →

Rio Tinto has started producing spodumene concentrate, a mineral used in the production of lithium for batteries, at a demonstration plant in its Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium (RTIT) Québec Operations in its metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy, Canada. The plant will demonstrate at industrial scale a new spodumene concentration process... Read more →

South Korea-based SK On (SKO), a global EV battery manufacturer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Australia’s Global Lithium Resources to explore future business opportunities together in regard to stable supply of lithium. SK On ranked ninth in terms of global EV battery market share in 2019, but has... Read more →

FPT Industrial, the global powertrain brand of Iveco Group, has entered into an agreement to make a minority investment in Blue Energy Commercial Vehicles Private Ltd, a zero-emission truck technology company headquartered in Pune, India, engaged in the manufacturing of clean energy trucks under the brand Blue Energy Motors. The... Read more →

Nano One, a company with patented processes for the low-cost, low-environmental footprint production of high-performance cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries, and Euro Manganese, a battery raw materials company, are jointly developing economically viable and environmentally sustainable applications of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM) as one of several inputs for... Read more →

PowerCo, the new battery company of the Volkswagen Group, and Umicore have established a joint venture for precursor and cathode material production in Europe. From 2025 onwards, the joint venture will supply PowerCo’s European battery cell factories with key materials. By the end of the decade, the partners aim to... Read more →

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Stony Brook University have fabricated a thicker electrode for lithium-ion batteries by controlling nanosheet assembly via the combination of an external magnetic field and drying-based densification. This dense and thick electrode is capable of delivering a high volumetric capacity >1,600 mAh... Read more →

Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. has received electric axle (e-Axle) orders for mid-size and large-size battery-electric vehicles from Honda Motor Co., Ltd., slated for a global rollout in 2026. Hitachi Astemo will deliver a high-performance, integrated drive unit for Honda, with the e-Axle system combining a highly efficient, silicon carbide (SiC) inverter;... Read more →

ABB recently unveiled its new Plant Optimization Methodology for battery manufacturing, presenting how greenfield battery sites can jumpstart global operations. With major automakers committing more than $500 billion towards electric vehicle production, and many planning to exclusively offer e-vehicles by 2035, there has been a huge growth in demand for... Read more →

Canada-based Euro Manganese (EMN) signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norwegian state-owned company Statkraft for the long-term supply of carbon-free renewable energy for Euro Manganese’s flagship Chvaletice Manganese Project (CMP) in the Czech Republic. Statkraft is Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. EMN is a battery materials company... Read more →

Umicore last week inaugurated its carbon-neutral production facility for cathode active materials (CAM) for electric vehicles in Nysa, Poland. This makes Umicore the first company in Europe with a complete circular and sustainable battery materials value chain. The gigafactory will supply battery materials to Umicore’s car and battery cell customers... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Shougang Group, one of the world’s top 10 steel producers, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote research, design and implementation of low-carbon solutions for the steel value chain. The MoU’s focus areas include low-carbon sintering technology, blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF)... Read more →

Sakuu, developer of the first 3D printed solid-state battery (earlier post), entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s NGK Spark Plugs CO., LTD. (NGK), a global leader in electrochemical materials and a tier-one industrial automotive supplier. Under the MOU, NGK will co-develop and provide ceramic materials for Sakuu’s... Read more →

LG Energy Solution (LGES) signed separate partnership agreements with three major critical mineral suppliers in Canada. The latest arrangements to secure lithium and cobalt from Snow Lake Resources Ltd., Electra Battery Materials Corporation and Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. are in line with LG Energy Solution’s strategic vision to reinforce its... Read more →

The 2031 Li-ion battery gigafactory pipeline capacity has soared past the 7TWh threshold in Benchmark Minerals’s latest Gigafactory assessment. This milestone comes just four months after the ten-year pipeline exceeded 6 TWh in April. BYD last month announced a 30 GWh gigafactory in Yichun, China, tipping the pipeline capacity for... Read more →

GM Ventures, the automaker’s investment arm, has made a strategic investment in Lithion Recycling’s Series A financing round, supporting a new GM-Lithion strategic partnership agreement to pursue a circular battery ecosystem using Lithion’s advanced battery recycling technology. This collaboration between GM and Lithion will focus on: Validation of Lithion’s recovered... Read more →

General Motors will invest $760 million at its Toledo, Ohio propulsion manufacturing operations to prepare the facility for production of drive units that will be used in future Ultium-based battery electric trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and GMC HUMMER EVs. Toledo Propulsion Systems will be GM’s... 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 →

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (Toyota Texas, TMMTX) has started production for the all-new, all-hybrid 2023 Toyota Sequoia. (Earlier post.) The all-new third-generation 2023 Sequoia full-size SUV features as standard the powerful twin-turbo V6 hybrid i-FORCE MAX powertrain. First unveiled on Tundra, this hybrid powertrain produces 437 horsepower and 583 lb.-ft.... Read more →

Vianode, a company owned by Elkem, Hydro and Altor, has decided to invest in its first industrial scale plant for sustainable battery materials at Herøya in Norway. The investment of around NOK 2 billion (US$194 million) will create new industrial jobs and provide critical battery materials. The decision is an... Read more →

Advanced materials technology company Sylvatex (SVX) announced a new proprietary waterless production method that delivers premium EV-grade cathode active materials (CAM) at lower costs and that allows for a broader material input supply base to enable demand growth. The company expects that its simpler and more sustainable approach to CAM... Read more →

Bollinger Motors, which recently became a majority owned company of Mullen Automotive (earlier post), is partnering with Wabash, a leading truck body and trailer manufacturer, to develop a stronger, lighter, refrigerated truck body on electric chassis. Wabash has developed a lightweight molded structural composite technology—EcoNex—for use in truck bodies and... Read more →

Steelmaker SSAB has started a partnership in fossil-free steel applications with Oshkosh Corporation, a leading producer of mission-critical vehicles and essential equipment, including heavy-duty truck bodies, fire apparatus, access equipment and other specialty trucks. The first use of this fossil-free steel will be to prototype advanced, environmentally sustainable McNeilus refuse... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz plans to build a wind farm at its test track in Papenburg, northern Germany, with an output of more than 100 MW to cover up to more than 15% of the annual electricity demand of Mercedes-Benz Group AG in Germany. As part of its effort to erect a double-digit... Read more →

The first Volta Zero vehicle has been completed at the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria. The vehicle, the first of a series of second-generation production verification prototypes, will form part of a pilot fleet of trucks. These will be loaned to customers for extended periods in late 2022... Read more →

thyssenkrupp Steel is supplying low-CO2 “bluemint” steel to its customer Accuride for the production of truck wheels. To improve the carbon footprint of the wheel for the customer Accuride, several parameters in flat steel production have been optimized with regard to sustainability. Compared with conventional steel, bluemint Steel used for... Read more →

Volvo Trucks is beginning series production of the electric versions of the company’s most important product range, its heavy-duty trucks: Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX. These trucks can operate at a total weight of 44 tonnes GCW. The three models represent around two-thirds of the company’s sales. With... Read more →

General Motors will invest $491 million at its Marion, Indiana metal stamping operations to prepare the facility to produce a variety of steel and aluminum stamped parts for future products, including electric vehicles, built at multiple GM assembly plants. The investment will be used to purchase and install two new... Read more →

Polestar is welcoming twelve new partners to the Polestar 0 project to develop a climate-neutral car. (Earlier post.) Each partner will focus on certain materials, components and processes involved in the production of cars. New partners, listed below, cover areas such as plastics, composites, chemicals and metals. The transport sector... Read more →

24M Technologies, Inc. (24M) has licensed its SemiSolid manufacturing platform (earlier post) to Fujifilm Corporation. As part of the partnership, Fujifilm will invest $20 million in 24M. The chemistry-agnostic 24M SemiSolid manufacturing platform enables higher energy densities, lower costs, unmatched recyclability and increased safety for next-generation batteries. This new agreement... Read more →

ABB E-mobility, a leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, today announced new manufacturing operations in Columbia, South Carolina. The multi-million dollar investment will increase production of electric vehicle chargers, including Buy America Act compliant ones, and create more than 100 jobs. The new facility will be capable of producing... Read more →

Alcoa Corporation introduced a new high-strength, 6000 series alloy, A210 ExtruStrong, that delivers benefits across a wide range of extruded applications, including transport, construction, industrial, and consumer goods. Alcoa also announced today that its C611 EZCast alloy, a high-performance alloy that does not require a dedicated heat treatment, is being... Read more →

Constellium SE is supplying aluminum auto body sheet solutions for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class produced in Europe, China, and South Africa and sold around the world. Constellium provides aluminum for the hood, roof, tailgate, and fenders of the Mercedes-Benz model. Aluminum is a natural choice to make vehicles lighter and more... Read more →

Wolfspeed, a global leader in Silicon Carbide technology, will build a new multi-billion-dollar Materials manufacturing facility in Chatham County, North Carolina. The investment is targeted to generate a more than 10-fold increase from Wolfspeed’s current Silicon Carbide production capacity on its Durham campus, supporting the company’s long-term growth strategy, accelerating... Read more →

Piedmont Lithium has (earlier post) selected Etowah, Tennessee as the location of the company’s planned 30,000 metric ton per year (tpy) LHP­2 lithium hydroxide operation (“Tennessee Lithium”). Planned completion and start of production is in 2025. The project will convert spodumene concentrate sourced principally from Piedmont’s international project investments to... Read more →

Demand for lithium-ion batteries is set to grow six-fold by 2032, according to Benchmark. Accordingly, the world needs more than 300 new mines to be built by 2035 if raw material supply is to keep up with this demand, according to a new analysis by Benchmark. However, recycling could help... Read more →

Atlis Motor Vehicles (Atlis), a vertically integrated start-up EV company developing an electric work truck and the batteries and motors to drive it, signed a collaborative agreement with ArcelorMittal, the leading producer of automotive steels, to help speed its product development. Under the agreement, Atlis will use ArcelorMittal’s steel materials... Read more →

Mercedes‑Benz Vans, a full-range provider of electric private and commercial vans, and electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to initiate a strategic partnership. The partnership will enable the companies to cooperate on the production of electric vans. Subject to the parties entering into final binding agreements and... Read more →

Mullen Automotive, an emerging EV manufacturer, is acquiring a controlling interest in EV truck maker Bollinger Motors. This is Mullen’s first EV acquisition and propels the company into the medium-duty truck classes 3-6, along with the B1 and B2 sport utility trucks. The purchase price is $148.2 million in cash... Read more →

Jeep will introduce four all-electric SUVs in North America and Europe by the end of 2025. As part of an ongoing comprehensive product plan, 50% of Jeep brand sales in the US will be fully electric by 2030, while 100% of European sales will be all-electric by then. The plan... Read more →

The Executive Board of thyssenkrupp AG has released the corresponding capital resources for the construction of the first direct reduction (DR) plant at its Duisburg site. The Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG supports this decision. The major project remains subject to public funding. The plant, with a capacity of 2.5... Read more →

Cirba Solutions, a recycled battery management and materials company, will form a joint venture with 6K Inc., a producer of sustainable advanced materials for additive manufacturing and energy storage via the UniMelt plasma system, to produce recycled battery cathode material, thereby closing the loop in the management of lithium-ion batteries.... Read more →

Researchers from Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed a new hybrid resistance spot-laser welding process to join aluminum to steel. The process, described in an open-access paper in the journal Materials & Design, first conducts resistance spot welding of... Read more →

JFE Steel Corporation, Itochu Corporation and Emirates Steel Arkan, the largest steel company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will conduct joint detailed feasibility studies on the establishment of a supply chain of ferrous raw material for green ironmaking with low-carbon emission at the project site in Abu Dhabi. Emirates... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation will invest up to approximately US$5.6 billion in Japan and the United States toward supplying automotive batteries for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), for which demand is growing. The company aims to begin battery production between 2024 and 2026. With this investment, Toyota intends to increase its combined... Read more →

SPARKZ, a battery startup with exclusive licenses from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce domestic cobalt-free lithium batteries, will begin manufacturing its zero-cobalt battery in Taylor County, West Virginia, eventually employing 350 workers. (Earlier post.) The plant, located at 1211 AFG Rd in Bridgeport, WV, has approximately 482,000 sqft.... Read more →

Bosch, a longtime leader in powertrain and propulsion technologies, announced that it will also produce fuel cell stacks in its Anderson, South Carolina, facility as part of a more than $200-million investment expected to create at least 350 new jobs by the start of production in 2026. As part of... Read more →

To reduce natural resource usage and its trucks’ environmental impact, Renault Trucks (part of the Volvo Group) is taking steps to transition its industrial operations to a circular-economy approach. Renault Trucks’ new Used Parts Factory is the logical next step after the used trucks repurposing and remanufacturing operations conducted respectively... Read more →

Factorial Energy, a developer of solid-state battery technology for electric vehicle (EV) applications, will establish a new advanced manufacturing facility in the Boston suburb of Methuen, Mass. The new facility will produce Factorial’s new solid-state battery cell technology for EVs. The new production site was recently secured by Factorial with... Read more →

FREYR Battery and Nidec Corporation finalized an expanded 38 GWh battery cell sales agreement from 2025 – 2030. Additionally, the companies have agreed to form a downstream joint venture in which Nidec will hold a super-majority to provide integrated industrial scale ESS solutions to customers globally. Under the terms of... Read more →