Desktop Metal, a leader in mass production additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, received a $9-million order from a major German automaker for binder jet additive manufacturing systems used for mass production of powertrain components. This is the second order from the same automaker in less than 12 months, bringing the total... 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 →

Mazda Motor Corporation is planning to complete the electrification of all vehicle models by 2030 and is currently working together with various partner companies on a range of electrification-related research projects that are also designed to stimulate the local economy and contribute to the development of local industry and innovation.... 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 →

Hyundai Home has officially launched in 16 states. (Earlier post.) Hyundai Home gives homeowners in select states an easy way to produce, store, and use their own energy to power their lives at home and on the road. Hyundai has partnered with Electrum to develop a one-stop online marketplace to... Read more →

Following initial contracts with European suppliers, the BMW Group has now concluded further agreements for the supply of CO2-reduced steel in the US and China. In the medium-term, the BMW Group will increase CO2 savings through agreements with additional steel suppliers and thus consistently drive forward the decarbonization of its... Read more →

Volvo Cars has a strategic direction to become fully electric by 2030 and shape the future of mobility. In line with those strategic ambitions, Volvo Cars will divest its 33% holding in Aurobay to Geely Holding. Aurobay will become part of the new global company specializing in hybrid and low-... Read more →

HERE Technologies announced the BMW Group is utilizing the HERE HD Live Map, HERE’s high-definition map, to enable hands-free driving in the United States and Canada. HERE is one of the world’s first companies to provide high-definition maps for Level 2+ automated driving capabilities in series production vehicles. This is... Read more →

Cirba Solutions (previously Retriev Solutions, LLC) has extended a prior agreement with General Motors (GM) to recycle electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery and cell scrap generated by manufacturing and research at select GM facilities through 2024. With more than a million pounds of batteries already recycled by GM, this program... Read more →

Earlier this year, Australian lithium miner Core Lithium entered into a binding term sheet with Tesla for the supply of up to 110,000 tonnes of Li2O spodumene concentrate from the Finniss Lithium Project over a term of 4 years, with pricing referenced to the market price for spodumene concentrate, subject... Read more →

Genesis held the North American debut of the Electrified GV70 during a special media event in Los Angeles. The Electrified GV70 is the third electric vehicle added to the Genesis lineup; its global premier was at Auto Guangzhou 2021. (Earlier post.) Production of the Electrified GV70 is expected to start... 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 →

Following on the announcement of the shuttering of Argo AI, the autonomous driving venture backed by VW and Ford (earlier post), Volkswagen announced it is focusing its development activities for autonomous and highly automated driving. In the area of autonomous driving as a service (MaaS/TaaS), the Group is consolidating its... Read more →

General Motors has finalized energy sourcing agreements required to secure 100% of the energy needed to power all its US facilities by 2025. This is in line with the accelerated target announced in September 2021, which was 5 years ahead of the 2030 target announced in early 2021 and 25... Read more →

Ford has given the 2023 Escape SUV a makeover that includes a stylish new ST-Line series, available 13.2-inch display with cloud-connected SYNC 4 Technology and new advanced driver-assistance system technologies. Escape, which debuted the world’s first hybrid SUV in 2005, brings back two hybrid choices for 2023, a full hybrid... 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 →

AUDI AG and the Austria-based green tech company Krajete GmbH are jointly developing new technologies for filtering emissions from ambient air. In addition to robust adsorber materials, these direct air capturing technologies (DAC) are based, above all, on innovative processes. They make far-reaching energy and cost reductions possible. The latest... Read more →

The BMW Group will increase e-component production capacity at its manufacturing base in Leipzig with another eight production lines by 2024. The plant’s two existing battery module lines will be complemented by a further line plus five cell-coating lines. These will be followed by two new high-voltage battery assembly lines... Read more →

GMC introduced the first Sierra electric pickup truck. Led by the 2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1, the new EV will offer a GM-estimated 400 miles of range on a full charge and unique features made possible only by its dedicated EV truck platform. GMC will be the only brand... Read more →

The Toyota Corolla Hybrid enters the 2023 model year as a thoroughly upgraded model. The 2023 Corolla Hybrid now offers a choice of five model grades versus just one before. Debuting a more powerful hybrid system and available Electronic On-Demand All-Wheel Drive, the 2023 Corolla Hybrid also gains new safety... Read more →

Volkswagen Group and Canadian quantum technology company Xanadu have established a multiyear research program to improve the performance of quantum algorithms for simulating battery materials. The goal is to reduce computational costs and accelerate Volkswagen’s adoption of quantum computers to develop battery materials that are safer, lighter, and more cost-effective.... Read more →

Volkswagen Group deliveries of all-electric vehicles were up 25% in the first nine months year-on-year. Despite ongoing supply constraints, 366,400 BEVs were handed over to customers until the end of September, up from 293,000 in the prior-year period. The BEV share of total deliveries climbed to 6.0% in that timeframe,... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) reported sales of 813,547 Toyota and Lexus vehicles, a decrease of -6% year-on-year but still outperforming the European automotive market which fell by -16% over the same period. TME’s market share increased to a record 7.5%, marking an increase of +0.8% points year-on-year and maintaining a... 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 →

Hyundai Motor Group announced a new global strategy to transform all vehicles to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) by 2025. The initiative, presented during the Group’s Unlock the Software Age global online forum, will give customers the freedom to upgrade the performance and functionality of their vehicles remotely. The Group also shared... Read more →

Honda will invest $700 million to re-tool several of its existing auto and powertrain plants in Ohio for production of electric vehicles. Combined withe the $3.5-billion investment with LG Energy Solution (LGES) to establish a previously announced joint venture facility to produce the battery modules to power them (earlier post),... Read more →

Honda and LG Energy Solution announced that their new joint venture (JV) battery plant will be located in Fayette County, Ohio, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus, where the two companies will commit to investing $3.5 billion and creating 2,200 jobs, pending final government approvals. The companies’ overall investment related... Read more →

General Motors has secured a new source of cost-competitive nickel and cobalt for Ultium battery cells after making a strategic investment in Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM) of Australia (earlier post). The nickel laterite ore is expected to be processed using a new and proprietary process that helps reduce waste with... Read more →

General Motors introduced Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial, which in combination with the existing Ultium Charge 360, create an ecosystem of energy management products and services that will be housed under a new business unit called GM Energy. GM Energy’s connected product and service offerings are designed to offer cohesive... Read more →

The BMW Group sold a total of 128,196 fully-electric BMW and MINI vehicles in the first nine months of 2022—more than double its BEV sales in the same period of last year (+114.8%). In the third quarter, 52,306 all-electric BMW and MINI vehicles were delivered to customers (+121.6%). After the... Read more →

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWGoA) announced Port Freeport as the new major Gulf Coast hub for its future vehicle logistics port operations, in collaboration with Port Freeport and developer PRP and KDC. With a 20-year lease agreement, Volkswagen Group of America aims to improve vehicle logistics efficiency further and... Read more →

At its Dingolfing plant, the BMW Group is implementing a modular production system for chassis components to ensure even more flexibility in the production of different vehicle variants—whether all-electric, hybrid or classic combustion engine, whether all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. This also has advantages for the environment. In the component... Read more →

Rinnai Corporation, a Japan-based multinational that manufactures gas appliances, and Toyota Motor Corporation, together with Woven Planet Holdings, have initiated collaborative efforts on a potentially ubiquitous new application of hydrogen for food preparation. Their shared goal is to contribute to carbon neutrality and popularize more sustainable approaches to cooking. They... Read more →

General Motors and OneD Battery Sciences signed a joint research development agreement focused on the potential use of OneD’s silicon nanotechnology in GM’s Ultium battery cells to drive significant increases in energy density for longer range and reduced cost. GM Ventures and Volta Energy Technologies also participated in OneD’s Series... 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 →

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 →

Nissan Motor has jointly developed a technology with Tohoku University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences that inactivates viruses using catalyst active species for aerobic oxidation. The technology has potential applications for inactivating viruses by oxidizing, denaturing and degrading proteins and other substances on the virus surface. With oxygen in the air... Read more →

The new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE hybrid (combined fuel consumption, weighted: 6.9 l/100 km / 34 mpg US; combined CO2 emissions, weighted: 156 g/km; combined electric energy consumption, weighted: 11.7 kWh/100 km) brings advanced technologies from motorsport to the road. A two-speed electric motor positioned on the rear... 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 →

At the IAA Transportation show, QUANTRON is presenting a family of hydrogen and battery-electric trucks. As part of a strategic partnership, QUANTRON has developed an FCEV Heavy Duty Truck together with Ballard Power Systems. The QUANTRON QHM FCEV incorporates the FCmove-XD 120 kW fuel cell newly developed by Ballard and... Read more →

Volvo Trucks is testing fuel cell electric trucks that have an operational range comparable to diesel trucks, up to 1,000 km. A second pilot phase is to follow in a few years’ time and will see customer tests on public roads. When running the pilots, the filling of green hydrogen... 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 →

Honda will introduce more than 10 new electric motorcycle models by 2025, with an aim to reach annual electric motorcycle sales of 1 million units within the next five years, and 3.5 million units (approximately 15% of total sales) as of 2030. Commuter EVs. Honda plans to introduce two commuter... Read more →

Iveco Group has created a new entity: GATE (Green & Advanced Transport Ecosystem), a long-term, all-inclusive rental model for electric trucks and vans, which will support the industry’s energy transition. The expected operational launch date is mid-2023, when GATE, as a fully digitalized business, will begin offering its services to... Read more →

The BMW Group will launch a new era of e-mobility from 2025 with the models of its NEUE KLASSE (earlier post)—using newly-developed cylindrical battery cells optimized for the new architecture for the first time. The newly-developed sixth generation of our lithium-ion cells will bring a huge leap in technology that... 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 →

Ford Motor Company launched BlueCruise 1.2 and Lincoln ActiveGlide 1.2 Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) with new features—including hands-free lane changing—and system updates to create more of a human-like driving feel. The available new systems starts arriving on vehicles from the factory this fall beginning with the Ford Mustang Mach-E.... Read more →

Nissan, working with Fermata Energy, a vehicle-to-grid services provider, has approved the first bi-directional charger for use with the Nissan LEAF in the US. With Nissan’s approval, along with its UL 9741 certification for bi-directional charging systems, the Fermata Energy FE-15 charger has passed key requirements from Nissan, and has... Read more →