Ideal Power, developer of the B-TRAN bidirectional semiconductor power switch, has launched its second commercial product, the SymCool IQ Intelligent Power Module. SymCool IQ builds on the bidirectional B-TRAN multi-die packaging design of the SymCool power module and adds an integrated intelligent driver optimized for bidirectional operation. The SymCool IQ,... Read more →

A team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Texas A&M has used in situ bias transmission electron microscopy to measure directly the electrical properties of SEIs formed on copper and lithium substrates. The study shows that the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is not an electronic insulator, as previously thought,... Read more →

Volkswagen is altering its planned vehicle manufacturingallocation plans for its German factories. Apart from the ID.3—that is being ramped up in 2023—the plant in Wolfsburg will produce a second electric model. Starting in 2026, large numbers of an all-electric SUV for the high-volume A segment are scheduled to roll off... Read more →

Australia-based is forming a JV to bring to market a new hydrogen injection technology that can be used to reduce diesel and gasoline fuel usage in passenger, commercial and stationary engines. UHL plans to target heavy diesel vehicles, such as trucks, buses, vans, utes, cement trucks and waste collection vehicles... Read more →

The Castings business unit of Rheinmetall’s Materials and Trade division has booked two new orders. The first order comes from one of the top ten global automakers, a company, headquartered in Shanghai, the product portfolio of which includes vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, hybrid models and fully fledged e-vehicles.... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Woven by Toyota, Inc. (Woven by Toyota) announced that to accelerate the implementation of software in social systems and vehicles, they intend to strengthen their relationship by making Woven by Toyota a wholly-owned Toyota subsidiary. Toyota intends to transition into the phase of accelerating vehicle intelligence... Read more →

Swiss marine power company WinGD has secured the first approval in principle (AiP) for two-stroke engines fueled with ammonia. Lloyd’s Register awarded the AiP to WinGD’s X‑DF‑A dual-fuel range (earlier post), giving shipowners the assurances they need to realize vessel designs using ammonia-fueled main engines for the first time. Development... Read more →

China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) has ordered six MAN small-bore, seven-cylinder 21/31DF-M, methanol-burning GenSets in connection with the construction of 2 × 9,300 ceu (car equivalent units) PCTCs (pure car and truck carriers) for China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES). The business represents the first order for the new methanol-powered, MAN... Read more →

Mining giant Vale signed a protocol of intent with Petrobras to develop low carbon solutions, taking advantage of the technical expertise of both companies and their synergies. The partnership is for a two-year period and will assess joint decarbonization opportunities, including the development of sustainable fuels—such as hydrogen, green methanol,... Read more →

Albemarle Corporation signed agreements with Caterpillar to collaborate on solutions to support the full circular battery value chain and sustainable mining operations. The collaboration aims to support Albemarle’s efforts to establish Kings Mountain, NC as the first zero-emissions lithium mine site in North America. These efforts include utilization of next-generation,... Read more →

Almost 50 countries from continents across the world—including large and emerging critical mineral producers and consumers—convened with leaders from industry, investment and civil society at the first IEA Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit to share experiences and discuss effective courses of action on critical minerals to ensure rapid and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $19 million in funding over four years for DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory to lead the multi-institutional Center for Steel Electrification by Electrosynthesis (C-STEEL). The center’s charge is to develop an innovative and low-cost process that would replace blast furnaces in steelmaking and... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $16.7 million in funding to five projects to advance the production of affordable biofuels and biochemicals that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Located in four states, these selected projects support the development of high-impact technologies that convert domestic biomass and... Read more →

Lucid Group has officially opened the first car manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia. As Lucid’s second Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-2) and first international plant, the facility will produce Lucid’s electric vehicles for Saudi Arabia and export to other markets. The AMP-2 facility received significant support from the Ministry of Investment... Read more →

Signalling its strong commitment to the Wackersdorf location in Upper Palatinate and as part of its continuing e-mobility ramp-up, the BMW Group is investing around €100 million between now and 2026 in a new battery testing center that will be integrated into the site’s existing building structures. The first deliverables... Read more →

US-based Ascend Elements is partnering with South Korea-based SK ecoplant and its e-waste recycling subsidiary, TES, to build a $65-million lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Hopkinsville, Ky. The 100,000-square-foot EV battery recycling facility will disassemble and shred approximately 24,000 metric tons of used EV batteries and gigafactory scrap per year—or... Read more →

Northvolt will establish a fully integrated lithium-ion battery gigafactory, just outside of Montreal, in the Canadian province of Québec. The factory, named Northvolt Six, will host 60 GWh of annual cell manufacturing capacity, with adjacent facilities for cathode active material production and battery recycling, enabling fully circular production at site.... Read more →

ADM and Syngenta Group, one of the world’s biggest agricultural technology companies, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in scaling research and commercialization of low carbon-intensity next-generation oilseeds and improved varieties to help meet skyrocketing demand for biofuels and other sustainably-sourced products. The MoU envisions a collaboration in... Read more →

BASF Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS) and ZeroAvia signed an agreement for the supply of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and to collaborate on research on next generation MEAs for ZeroAvia’s high temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell stacks for aviation. The companies will work together to accelerate the... Read more →

A letter sent by Ford, General Motors, Rivian, Pepsi, Ball, SunPower and eight more leading companies urges the US Department of Energy (DOE) to invest in American-made clean aluminum to retain and create manufacturing jobs, reduce industrial emissions, and grow a vitally important industry. The letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer... Read more →

Researchers from China and the US have developed a cobalt-free, Li- and Mn-rich (LMR) Li-ion battery cathode with negligible voltage decay. The new development overcomes the persistent challenge of voltage decay with LMR layered oxides and could lead to significantly higher energy storage capacity. A paper on their work is... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award a combined total of $2 million to eight projects to drive innovation in lithium-ion battery (LIB) rejuvenation, recycling, and reuse administered through the ReCell Center. The ReCell Centerwas established by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office and is located at Argonne National Laboratory. These... Read more →

EVgo, one of the US’ largest public fast charging networks for electric vehicles (EVs), announced a new collaboration with American Honda Motor Co., Inc. that is designed to provide a range of new benefits for Honda and Acura EV drivers, including charging credit, technology integration into the HondaLink and Acura... Read more →

In federal court in Brooklyn, the US. Department of Justice, on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a complaint against eBay Inc. for unlawfully selling, offering for sale, causing the sale of, and distributing hundreds of thousands of products in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA);... Read more →

A new Rolls-Royce small gas turbine that has been specifically developed to power hybrid-electric flight has successfully completed its first fuel burn. (Earlier post.) The engine has been designed using novel combustion technology to produce ultra-low emissions; this significant achievement confirms the effectiveness of the compact, power-dense turbine that will... Read more →

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) has successfully completed the first tender for the German fast-charging network Deutschlandnetz. A total of ten different companies will build and operate around 900 locations with almost 8,000 new ultra-fast charging points for electric cars. BMDV selected: Allego GmbH BayWa Mobility Solutions... Read more →

Researchers at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) have developed a technology for real-time detection of micro defects on the fuel cell surface during the production process. The technology is based on deep learning and enables real-time 3D measurement. It can detect defects on the surface shape... Read more →

At its annual Technology Summit in Europe, GlobalFoundries (GF) announced advancements to its 22FDX (22nm FD-SOI) (Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator) platform, introducing a suite of innovative features and enhancements. These enhancements represent a strategic response to the growing demand for better power efficiency and top-tier performance in both IoT... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz will launch its production-ready version of DRIVE PILOT in the United States. The class-leading system for conditionally automated driving rolls out in late 2023 with a limited fleet of SAE Level 31 equipped EQS Sedans in California and Nevada called DRIVE PILOT: First Class. In early 2024, Mercedes-Benz plans... Read more →

Neste has expanded its capability to supply renewable fuels to customers on the West Coast of the United States in cooperation with Vopak, a leading energy industry infrastructure provider. Neste commissioned terminal capacity at Vopak’s Los Angeles terminal in California for storing Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Neste... Read more →

Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) will use eFuels in both road and race cars at Rennsport Reunion 7 when it kicks off 28 September at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This marks the first time synthetic fuel is used in Porsche vehicles at a large-scale event in the United States, as... Read more →

Leclanché SA has won another ferry electrification project, having been selected by Norwegian system integrator Brunvoll Mar-El AS to support the retrofit of a conventionally powered Norwegian ferry into a zero-emission vessel. The all-electric MF Rygerbuen passenger and vehicle ferry is owned and operated by Rødne Trafikk AS, Norway’s largest... Read more →

Li-ion battery recycling company Blue Whale Materials (BWM) will site its inaugural li-ion battery processing facility in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Blue Whale’s commercial facility will be situated within a 35-acre campus including 150,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Bartlesville Industrial Park and encompasses multiple lots designed to facilitate battery... Read more →

A public road approved prototype of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck completed Daimler Truck’s #HydrogenRecordRun covering 1,047 km of distance driven with one fill of liquid hydrogen. Powered by a cellcentric fuel-cell system and equipped with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank system, the run started 25 September in the afternoon at... Read more →

Mid-nickel lithium ion battery cells can have a lower carbon footprint than high nickel or lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, according to new data from Benchmark’s Battery Emissions Analyser. While LFP cells maintain a cost advantage over the majority of nickel-based chemistries, the carbon intensity of these variants can in... Read more →

INVISTA, an industry leader in the nylon 6,6 value chain, is licensing its nitrous oxide (N2O) abatement technology at three adipic acid production facilities in China; those licenses will help companies in the automotive industry achieve material supply chain emissions reductions. INVISTA—which produces its own adipic acid, along with a... Read more →

The new BMW 5 Series Sedan now offers the entire range of electrified drive technology. Following the earlier market launch of the all-electric BMW i5 (earlier post) and the combustion engine variants equipped exclusively with 48-volt mild hybrid technology, two plug-in hybrid models will be launched in November 2023. The... Read more →

Norway-based Nel has selected Plymouth Charter Township, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, as the location for its next gigafactory. Fully developed, the factory will be among the world’s largest electrode manufacturing facilities, with a total annual capacity of 4 GW Alkaline and PEM technology. Plymouth Charter Township is an ideal... Read more →

Mitsubishi Electric and BlackBerry Limited announced that Mitsubishi Electric’s new automotive in-cabin system—Mitsubishi Electric FLEXConnect, will be powered by BlackBerry IVY—an edge-to-cloud vehicle data platform. The collaboration will help advance road safety by leveraging an array of sensor data to anticipate safety risks, reduce driver distractions, highlight potential driving hazards,... Read more →

HERE Technologies, a data and technology platform, has entered into a partnership with Eco-Movement, a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging station data, to create faster, fresher, and more accurate charging experiences for EV drivers globally. Finding reliable charge points when you need them most can be a challenge for... Read more →

A new white paper produced by the Electrification Institute, recently established by Qmerit, North America’s leading installer of home and business EV chargers and other clean energy technologies, assesses issues it sees as pivotal to broad electric vehicle (EV) adoption and greater progress toward home and building electrification by 2030.... Read more →

Innolith, a European developer of Li-ion battery cell technologies, introduced the I-State Power Cell, a battery cell specifically designed for the most demanding e-mobility applications. The new cell will be used to drive sports and luxury battery electric vehicles (BEV), industrial vehicles and electric aviation. In an official partnership for... Read more →

Nano One Materials, a clean technology company with patented processes for the sustainable production of lithium-ion battery cathode materials, and Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM), a leading vertically integrated miner, refiner and producer of cathode active materials (CAM), agreed to a strategic equity investment in Nano One by SMM of C$16,879,949.85... Read more →

Enevate and NantG Power, two battery innovation companies enabling high-speed charge and energy density battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) and other markets, announced a strategic alliance to combine their proprietary cathode and anode innovations to commercialize and scale up a breakthrough silicon-dominant battery technology in the transportation, mobility, and... Read more →

Rolls-Royce has achieved a key milestone in its hydrogen combustion engine research project. Both Rolls-Royce and its partner easyJet are committed to being at the forefront of the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology capable of powering a range of aircraft, including those in the narrow-body market segment, from the... Read more →

Porsche is expanding its hybrid range for the new Cayenne further. The new Cayenne S E-Hybrid is the third electrified engine variant within the model series and is positioned between the Cayenne E-Hybrid and the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid. Focusing on a balance between everyday usability and performance, the S E-Hybrid... Read more →

IVECO BUS officially inaugurated its new testing and validation facility, called E-BENCH, located in the R&D center in Vénissieux, the global headquarters of Iveco Group's bus and coach activities. Extremely versatile, E-BENCH allows testing of both individual components and complete vehicles in real driving conditions, simulating all types of missions... Read more →

According to registration data used as a proxy for sales, there were four counties in the United States with electric vehicle (EV) market penetration above 30% as of December 2022, and all were in California. Santa Clara County topped the list at 35%, followed by Marin County at 34%, and... Read more →

BASF is expanding its growing portfolio of 14C bio-based monomers with a proprietary process for production of 2-Octyl Acrylate (2-OA). The new product underlines BASF’s strong commitment to innovation for a sustainable future with 73% 14C-tracable bio-based content according to ISO 16620. Besides the regular 14C bio-based 2-Octyl Acrylate, BASF... Read more →

Crude oil production cuts among OPEC+ members are limiting the global supply of medium, sour and heavy, sour grades of crude oil. These cuts are increasing prices for these grades compared with sweet crude oils, reversing typical price relationships, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude oil is... Read more →