Building upon the success of the Volta Zero—a purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed for inner-city last mile deliveries (earlier post)—Volta Trucks plans to expand its product portfolio with three additional variants within the medium- to lower end of the heavy-duty class. With Volta Zero models available in the 7.5-tonne,... Read more →

Volkswagen officially inaugurated the press shop expansion in its electric car plant in Zwickau. As of now, the complete outer skin for the six electric models produced in Zwickau will be pressed on site. The €74-million investment will enable further gains to be made in reducing the carbon footprint of... Read more →

DTE Energy has commissioned a new solar array at the Ford Research & Engineering Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The 2,159-panel array is located on the rooftop level of the Deck 400 parking structure. The array includes an integrated battery storage system and will be used to power newly installed electric... Read more →

The BMW Group will pilot a small series of the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT fuel cell vehicle from 2022, based on the current BMW X5 and equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell e-drive. The BMW Group is building on its experience with fifth-generation e-drives to develop this vehicle. The Lightweight... Read more →

Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) and Italdesign are parterning to provide the upper premium automotive sector with a complete high-performance EV production solution. Combining a composite electric vehicle rolling chassis from WAE with turn-key vehicle development services from Italy’s world-famous Italdesign, the joint venture will enable both newcomers and established OEMs... Read more →

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has licensed its award-winning artificial intelligence software system, the Multinode Evolutionary Neural Networks for Deep Learning (MENNDL), to General Motors for use in vehicle technology and design. MENNDL uses evolution to design optimal convolutional neural networks—algorithms used by computers to recognize patterns in datasets of... Read more →

General Motors introduced Ultium Charge 360, a holistic charging approach that integrates charging networks, GM vehicle mobile apps, and other products and services to simplify the overall charging experience for GM electric vehicle owners. Ultium Charge 360 builds on GM’s existing charging efforts to provide GM EV owners more confidence... Read more →

Ford announced a new global battery center of excellence—called Ford Ion Park—to accelerate research and development of battery and battery cell technology, including future battery manufacturing. We’re already scaling production of all-electric vehicles around the world as more customers experience and crave the fun-to-drive benefits of electric vehicles with zero... Read more →

Honda last week announced key targets for sales of electrified vehicles in North America, with a plan to make battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles (BEVs and FCEVs) to represent 100% of its vehicle sales by 2040, progressing from sales of 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2035. Honda and... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation is developing a hydrogen combustion engine in an effort to move toward a carbon-neutral mobility society. It has installed the engine—a 1.6L in-line three-cylinder turbo with intercooler—on a racing vehicle based on Toyota’s Corolla Hatchback, which it will enter in competition under the ORC ROOKIE Racing banner.... Read more →

NIO and Sinopec unveiled the NIO Power Swap Station 2.0 at Sinopec’s Chaoying Station in Beijing. This is NIO’s inaugural second-generation battery swap station and also the first under the NIO-Sinopec partnership, representing the rollout of NIO Power Swap Station 2.0. (Earlier post.) As a smart battery swap system enabled... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has started KINTO Europe GmbH, a limited liability company with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. Toyota Financial Services Corporation (TFSC), Japan, holds 51% of the company’s shares, with the remaining 49% owned by TME. Both TME and TFSC are wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corporation, based in... Read more →

Polestar, the premium electric performance car brand founded by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding, has set a goal of creating the first climate-neutral car by 2030. The Polestar 0 project will drive a ‘design towards zero’ focus by eliminating emissions rather than offsetting by planting trees. The company made the... Read more →

Nissan announced that cumulative sales of vehicles with its e-POWER electrified powertrain (earlier post) surpassed 500,000 units at the end of March. The e-POWER system uses a highly efficient gasoline engine to generate electricity for the electric motor that propels the vehicle. For customers, this delivers EV-like excitement, quietness and... Read more →

China-based Great Wall Motors (GWM) released its hydrogen energy strategy. GWM says it will build an international supply chain ecology integrating hydrogen “production-storage-transportation-refueling-application”; break barriers on core technologies ;and connect the downstream industry chain, accelerating the commercial popularization of hydrogen energy. The hydrogen energy strategy of GWM covers both the... Read more →

During Volkswagen’s recent Power Day (earlier post), the company referred to a long-term strategy of using high-manganese cathodes for its volume segment. This is a prominent role for a chemistry not currently in widespread use, according to market research firm IDTechEx. Improvements to energy density are unlikely using high-manganese cathodes,... Read more →

Mercedes-AMG laid out its new electrified drive strategy, which is based on two pillars: Performance hybrids with a completely independent drive concept under the technology label E PERFORMANCE. Battery-electric AMG derivatives based on the new Mercedes Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) for luxury and premium-class vehicles. Extensive modifications to the drive,... Read more →

To support its accelerated expansion of e-mobility in the coming years, the BMW Group will source lithium from a second leading supplier, US-based Livent. The value of the multi-year contract will total around €285 million. Livent will supply the lithium directly to the BMW Group’s battery cell manufacturers from 2022... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz and Siemens will cooperate on advancing digitalization and automation in the automotive industry, supported by the State of Berlin. Mercedes-Benz AG aims to digitize its production processes. Siemens, a leading supplier in the field of automation, industrial software and smart infrastructure, will bring its expertise and technologies to the... Read more →

Jeep is partnering with Electrify America to create the Jeep 4xe Charging Network. Jeep-branded EV charging stations will be installed at or near the trailheads of Jeep Badge of Honor off-road trails over the next year, allowing owners to take full-advantage of their electrified Jeep SUV. Trailhead chargers coincide with... Read more →

Geely Auto Group (Geely Auto) officially announced the widely reported formation of Zeekr—a new electric mobility technology and solutions company based in China that will serve growing global demand for premium electric vehicles. Geely expects to deliver the first Zeekr vehicles in Q3, with production being undertaken by parent company... Read more →

Toyota, Toyota’s truck division Hino, and Isuzu are establishing a partnership in commercial vehicles to collaborate in CASE technologies: connected, autonomous, shared and electric driving technologies. The three companies intend to combine Toyota’s CASE technologies with the commercial vehicle foundations cultivated by Isuzu and Hino. Specifically, the three companies plan... Read more →

General Motors plans to reduce water intensity of its operations by 35% by 2035, compared to a 2010 baseline, which could result in enough savings to fill about 4,254 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The automaker has also signed the CEO Water Mandate—a UN Global Compact initiative—joining other global business leaders to... Read more →

Comercial vehicle manufacturer the TRATON Group will invest a total of €1.6 billion in research and development for e-mobility by 2025. An e-mobility investment of €1 billion had been planned originally over this period. At the same time, TRATON is scaling back investments in conventional drives for these to make... Read more →

Audi has included the economical and efficient use of water as a key aspect of its Mission:Zero environmental program. The company plans to keep its own water consumption to a minimum and stop using drinking water in vehicle production in the future. To this end, Audi is implementing efficient processes... Read more →

China-based Momenta announced strategic cooperation with Toyota to provide automated HD mapping and updates through vision-based technologies. With this joint development, both companies aim to promote the commercialization of Toyota’s Automated Mapping Platform (AMP) in the China market to better serve Chinese customers. Momenta's vision-based (camera-based) HD mapping uses low-cost... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company signed a new five-year Global Business Cooperation Agreement with Royal Dutch Shell plc, but this time with a clean mobility twist. The agreement, which runs through 2026, marks the fourth extension of the partnership, but this time with a new focus on clean energy and carbon reduction... Read more →

Hyundai Motor America will provide 250 kilowatt-hours of complimentary charging on Electrify America’s ultra-fast charging network for owners of 2021 Kona Electric and Ioniq Electric models. Customers can access their complimentary charging by the Electrify America mobile app that will also help drivers find and navigate to Electrify America stations... Read more →

The BMW Group is preparing for a major realignment of its product range from 2025 onwards, based on the Neue Klasse (New Class). The Neue Klasse will be characterized by three key aspects: a completely redefined IT and software architecture; a new generation of high-performance electric drivetrains and batteries; and... Read more →

The BMW Group is going for breadth with its fully electric vehicles; the company will offer at least one fully electric model on the road in around 90% of its current market segments by 2023, according to Group management We are consciously adopting a broad approach with our all-electric offering... Read more →

The University of Michigan and Ford Motor Company are opening a new advanced robotics facility. U-M’s Ford Motor Company Robotics Building is a four-story, $75-million, 134,000-square-foot complex situated on the north campus. As the new hub of the U-M Robotics Institute, its first three floors hold custom U-M research labs... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group presented its technology roadmap for batteries and charging up to 2030 today on its first “Power Day”. The goal of the roadmap is to reduce the complexity and cost of the battery significantly in order to make the electric car attractive and viable for as many people... Read more →

Hino Trucks intends to produce medium- and heavy-duty Hino trucks with Cummins engines for sale in North America. Hino intends to offer Cummins B6.7 and L9 engines in Hino’s L and XL Series models by the end of 2021. Hino plans to redirect engineering and other resources to accelerate the... Read more →

The BMW Group company is investing in an innovative method for CO2-free steel production developed by American startup Boston Metal (earlier post), through its venture capital fund, BMW i Ventures. Boston Metal is commercializing molten oxide electrolysis (MOE), a patented tonnage metals production platform. Over the coming years, Boston Metal... Read more →

In a project co-funded by Ford Motor Company and the ExOne Company, a team of engineers, material scientists, and manufacturing experts has developed a patent-pending process for rapid and reliable binder jet 3D printing and sintering of aluminum 6061 that delivers properties comparable to die casting. Aluminum 6061 is one... Read more →

The Supervisory Board of Porsche AG agreed to increase its stake in Rimac Automobili from 15% to 24% with the investment of an additional €70 million. The Croatian company develops and produces high-tech components for electromobility, including high-performance drives and battery systems. It also produces electrically powered super sports cars.... Read more →

Volkswagen is accelerating its transformation into a software-driven mobility provider. With the new ACCELERATE strategy that it has just unveiled, the company will systematically prepare for the profound changes in the automotive industry in good time. In addition to electrification, integration of software into the vehicle and the digital customer... Read more →

Volvo Cars launched the battery-electric Volvo C40 Recharge; based on the CMA vehicle platform it is the first Volvo model designed as pure electric only. Following the introduction of the XC40 Recharge and now the C40 Recharge, Volvo Cars will roll out several additional electric models in coming years. By... Read more →

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, a brand within the Volkswagen Group, is consistently and rapidly advancing the development and implementation of autonomous driving. The planned introduction of autonomous systems for traffic use in 2025 is currently being prepared at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. This year, for the first time, we are conducting field... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed a product that packages a fuel cell (FC) system into a compact module; the company plans to begin selling it in the spring of 2021 or later. The new module will be easily utilized by companies that are developing and manufacturing FC products for wide... Read more →

Volvo Cars and Geely Auto have agreed on a wide-ranging collaboration that will maximize the strengths of the Swedish and Chinese automotive groups, delivering synergies in powertrains, sharing of electric vehicle architecture, joint procurement, autonomous drive technologies and aftersales. Elements of the expanded collaboration include: Powertrain operations to be combined... Read more →

Daimler Truck AG and Cummins Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a global strategic partnership for medium-duty engine systems. The companies added that other opportunities for collaboration are also being evaluated. As part of the planned strategic partnership, Cummins will invest in the further development of medium-duty engine systems... Read more →

Groupe Renault and Faurecia will collaborate on hydrogen storage systems for hydrogen-powered light commercial vehicles. Starting at the end of 2021, Faurecia will supply hydrogen storage systems for a first fleet of light commercial vehicles. These systems will be developed and produced at its global center of expertise in Bavans,... Read more →

Arity, a mobility data and analytics company, is teaming up with Ford Motor Company to enable any participating insurer to deliver simple and secure usage-based insurance (UBI) programs to eligible connected Ford and Lincoln vehicle owners. Usage-based insurance programs give drivers access to personalized driving data directly from the vehicle... Read more →

Ford committed today that by mid-2026, 100% of Ford’s passenger vehicle range in Europe will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, and will be completely all-electric by 2030. Similarly, Ford’s entire commercial vehicle range will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, by 2024, with two-thirds of Ford’s commercial... Read more →

Ford has become the first US automaker to join the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), marking an expansion of the company’s commitment to safeguard human rights, communities where such work is done, and the broader environment.The BMW Group is also an IRMA member. Ford has also committed to lead... Read more →

Central to Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine plan is the electrification of both Land Rover and Jaguar brands on separate architectures with two clear, unique personalities. Jaguar and Land Rover will offer pure electric power, nameplate by nameplate, by 2030. By this time, in addition to 100% of Jaguar sales, it... Read more →

Chevrolet introduced the new, all-electric 2022 Bolt EUV and redesigned 2022 Bolt EV. In addition to broadening Chevrolet’s EV lineup, the Bolt EUV is the first Chevrolet to offer Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance system for the highway. (Earlier post.) 2022 Bolt EUV Since its market introduction in 2017, global... Read more →

Hyundai Motorsport will soon participate in the inaugural all-electric touring car championship PURE ETCR, which will commence later this year, with its new all-electric high-performance touring car, the Veloster N ETCR. Like the i30 N TCR and i20 N Rally2, the Veloster N ETCR is based on a highly-modified version... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group’s software company Car.Software Organization will collaborate with Microsoft to build a cloud-based Automated Driving Platform on Microsoft Azure and tp leverage its compute and data capabilities with the goal of delivering reliable and safe automated driving (AD) experiences even faster and on a global scale. With the... Read more →