Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) today announced plans to launch three new projects as part of its next phase of research, dedicated to advancing safety in mobility technologies. The research projects include an investigation on driver support features for vehicle lane centering; the creation of an in-vehicle intervention prototype... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation introduced the AI-enabled, blockchain-based Supplier CO2 Emission Monitoring System (SCEMS) to manage the carbon emissions of its cooperative business partners. SCEMS is designed to compute carbon emissions at every stage of a cooperative partner’s supply chain while assuring data transparency and integrity. Hyundai Motor... Read more →

Dymag, a designer and manufacturer of lightweight wheels for the automotive industry, and its strategic partner, composites material specialists Hankuk Carbon, are working with Hyundai on the development of advanced new carbon hybrid wheel technology for the carmaker’s N Performance products. A prototype of a new jointly-developed N Performance carbon... Read more →

The BMW Group launched its new test site for fully automated development and test drives in Sokolov (Czechia), the Future Mobility Development Center (FMDC). As the first development location of its kind in central Europe, the FMDC, in which BMW Group invested €300 million, will play a key role in... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is strengthening its position on the Chinese automotive market with cooperations between the VW brand and XPENG and between Audi and SAIC. The VW brand has concluded a technological framework agreement with XPENG. The initial stage of the cooperation will provide for the joint development of two... Read more →

Global sales of Nissan Motor electric vehicles have surpassed the 1-million unit milestone. Since its launch in December 2010, the Nissan LEAF has sold more than 650,000 units worldwide. The model is currently sold in approximately 50 markets centering on Japan, the US and Europe. In 2022, Nissan started sales... Read more →

Seven major global automakers—BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, and Stellantis NV—will create a joint venture to build a new charging network that will significantly expand access to high-powered charging in North America. Targeting to install at least 30,000 high-powered charge points in urban and highway locations,... Read more →

Porsche is planning to set up its own fast-charging stations offering a premium charging experience along Europe’s most important routes. As a pilot site, the first Porsche Charging Lounge has opened outside Bingen am Rhein. Two minutes from motorway junction A60/A61, it offers six 300-kW DC fast-charging stations and four... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group announced the inauguration of its Joint Battery Research Center with Seoul National University (SNU). This collaborative effort between the Group and SNU aims to advance battery technologies and foster industry-academia cooperation to establish global leadership in the battery field. The Joint Battery Research Center began to take... Read more →

Toyota is developing a regenerative fuel cell for the manned pressurized rover (nicknamed the “Lunar Cruiser”) for the lunar polar exploration mission (LUPEX), part of projects led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). (Earlier post.) During an update on the development status, Ken Yamashita, Project Head for the Lunar... Read more →

The BMW Group further expanded its R&D footprint in China with the opening of a new R&D Center in Shanghai. China is already home to BMW Group’s largest R&D system outside of Germany, with locations in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Nanjing. Based on the concept of open innovation, all BMW’s... Read more →

After four years of design, modeling and simulation, a team of 25 people comprising CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), Stellantis and Saft engineers and researchers unveiled an innovative prototype of an energy storage battery that integrates the inverter and charger functions. Integrating the inverter and charger functions creates... Read more →

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWGoA) is boosting its automotive research in the United States to further accelerate electric mobility and sustainable transportation innovation. The company continues to center strategic areas of research in dedicated technology units across the country, as well as foster co-innovation with universities and federal research... Read more →

Semiconductors are the linchpin to the performance, safety, and customer features of Stellantis vehicles today and in the new state-of-the-art, BEV-centric STLA vehicle and technology platforms arriving soon. As the auto industry’s demand for semiconductors accelerates, Stellantis is implementing a multifaceted strategy designed to manage and secure the long-term supply... Read more →

Audi has been testing the local server solution Edge Cloud 4 Production (EC4P)—a new method of IT-based factory automation—at Böllinger Höfe since July 2022 (earlier post). Starting this month, this paradigm shift in Audi’s shop floor IT will be used for the first time in series production. At Böllinger Höfe,... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz will be the first German OEM to implement NACS ports into its new electric vehicles starting in 2025. As part of a phased transition, Mercedes-Benz will initially offer an adapter that enables the company’s existing CCS BEVs to charge seamlessly on the NACS network from 2024 onwards. Mercedes-Benz drivers... Read more →

Stellantis N.V. and NioCorp Developments Ltd. have signed a rare earth offtake term sheet. The objective is to enter into a definitive rare earth supply agreement to support Stellantis’ commitment to build resilient supply chains and reach carbon net zero by 2038 and to help accelerate NioCorp’s path to commercial... Read more →

Stellantis N.V. unveiled STLA Medium, a global BEV-by-design platform with state-of-the-art features including range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), energy efficiency, embedded power and charging power. STLA Medium is the first of four global BEV platforms to be launched less than two years after EV Day presentation in July 2021.... Read more →

Every year tens of thousands of containers of production material destined for Volvo Cars factories are carried across the world’s oceans on container ships. From now on, most of these seafaring journeys are made with renewable fuel instead of traditional fossil fuel. The first global car maker to announce such... Read more →

Following a successful pilot project, Audi has begun rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system for quality-control of spot welds in car body construction. The AI was developed and tested beforehand at the Neckarsulm site. By the end of the year, the technical infrastructure for the use of AI will... Read more →

Iveco Group N.V. announced that, following the finalization of the definitive agreements with Nikola Corporation as per the terms sheet described on 9 May 2023, its subsidiary Iveco S.p.A. has acquired the full and sole ownership of the German company resulting from the former joint venture Nikola Iveco Europe, now... Read more →

Honda Aircraft Company announced its first Certified Pre-Owned program (CPO), providing an exclusive and alternative pathway to owning a HondaJet with a guarantee of quality and support. Being the sole CPO choice in its class, each CPO HondaJet undergoes selection, inspection and expert maintenance processes to ensure it meets Honda’s... Read more →

GM Energy announced product details and specifications for its initial suite of upcoming Ultium Home offerings. The Ultium Home product offerings will be the first solutions to be made available to residential customers through GM Energy, and are designed to provide greater energy independence, resiliency and value, enabling the use... Read more →

Stellantis launched Free2move Charge, a 360-degree ecosystem that will deliver charging and energy management to address all electric-vehicle (EV) customer needs. Managed by the new Stellantis Charging & Energy Business Unit, Free2move Charge addresses electric-vehicle customer needs at home, at work and on the go. As the pace of mainstream... Read more →

Volvo Cars is the first European car maker to sign an agreement with Tesla, giving current and future electric Volvo car drivers access to Tesla’s vast Supercharger network across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. GM, Ford and Rivian have made similar deals. Under the agreement future Volvo cars, starting... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced it would provide $3.9 million in funding to 13 projects through its High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) program to advance performance, efficiency, and vitality of the US manufacturing sector and drive economy-wide decarbonization. These short-term, collaborative projects between industry members... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group surpassed 10 million global connected car service subscribers this month. The milestone comes one year and 10 months after reaching 5 million subscribers in August 2021. The Group said that this rapid growth supports the acceleration of the Group’s Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) strategy. Connected car services utilize... Read more →

Dovetail Electric Aviation announced that Hyundai Motor Group’s HTWO will supply a hydrogen fuel cell system for electric aviation powertrain trials. HTWO is the fuel cell system-based hydrogen business brand of Hyundai Motor Group. Rex, Australia’s largest independent regional and domestic airline, took a 20% stake in Dovetail in April,... Read more →

Porsche and the Frauscher Shipyard in Austria are developing an electric yacht—the Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air—that is intended to set standards on the water with its typical Porsche E-Performance. Frauscher also currently offers a range of electric boats in addition to its conventionally powered offerings. The Frauscher x... Read more →

New vehicles are becoming more problematic, evidenced by the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) rising a record 30 PP100 during the past two years. According to the newly released J.D. Power 2023 US Initial Quality Study (IQS), the rise in problems is 12 PP100 greater than in 2022,... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation has started offering an upgrade service in Japan that allows customers to evolve their cars swiftly in line with technological innovation as part of the company’s efforts to enhance car value. The service is available for the Prius U Grade. Toyota has been offering retrofitting of new... Read more →

At an Investor Day event in Seoul, Hyundai Motor said that it will accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider by securing a large-scale investment of KRW 109.4 trillion (US$85 billion) over the next 10 years, including KRW 35.8 trillion (US$27.8 billion) for electrification. The company aims... Read more →

Archer Aviation and Stellantis announced progress in their strategic manufacturing partnership at the 2023 Paris Air Show. (Earlier post.) With construction now well underway on the first high-volume eVTOL aircraft manufacturing facility located on an approximately 100-acre campus in Covington, Georgia, Stellantis recently increased its strategic shareholding through a series... Read more →

Opel announced that the successor to the Opel Crossland B-SUV will also be offered with all-electric drive in 2024. This means that every model in the product portfolio of the brand will be available as a battery-electric variant as early as next year. The wide range of battery-electric Opel models... Read more →

Volkswagen, Stellantis and Glencore are supporting the purchase of the Atlantic Nickel nickel sulfide and the Mineraçao Vale Verde copper mine in Brazil by ACG, a London-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), for US$ 1 billion. Critical minerals mined at the Brazilian sites will be refined in Europe and North... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation are reorganizing their joint research and development (R&D) organization to be able to respond flexibly to the rapidly changing global automotive industry, advance the transition to electrification and accelerate the development of Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs). The new R&D organization will transform from a... Read more →

General Motors plans to invest $632 million in Fort Wayne Assembly to prepare the plant for production of the next-generation internal combustion engine (ICE) full-size light-duty trucks. This investment will enable the company to strengthen its industry-leading full-size truck business. This investment will support new conveyors, tooling and equipment in... Read more →

Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (Toyota) will invest nearly $50 million to construct a new laboratory facility at its North American R&D headquarters in York Township, Mich. to evaluate batteries for electric and electrified vehicles in North America. As part of its evaluation process, the new Michigan battery lab will... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz has signed a supply agreement with Swedish start-up H2 Green Steel (H2GS) (earlier post) over approximately 50,000 tonnes almost CO₂-free steel per year for its European press shops and deepened its partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim to establish a sustainable steel supply chain in... Read more →

General Motors and POSCO Future M announced the second phase of their Ultium CAM joint venture, an investment projected to exceed US$1 billion to increase production capacity of cathode active materials (CAM) in North America and integrate precursor materials production. pCAM is a specifically engineered combination of processed raw materials... Read more →

Ford has signed long-term lithium supply agreements with Albemarle, SQM and Nemaska Lithium. SQM. The agreement between Ford and SQM will ensure the supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, essential components to manufacture high-performance electric vehicle batteries. The origin of SQM's lithium should help Ford vehicles to qualify... Read more →

Eaton’s eMobility business has received a contract to supply its battery disconnect unit (BDU) in both 400- and 800-volt configurations to a global vehicle manufacturer for use in electrified passenger vehicles. Eaton’s BDU integrates its Breaktor circuit protection technology (earlier post) in electrified vehicles (EVs), which reduces complexity and cost.... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz announced that starting in 2026, all newly developed vans from Mercedes-Benz will be based on just one single innovative, modular and scalable architecture called VAN.EA, short for Van Electric Architecture. According to the “electric-only” strategy, VAN.EA has been developed from scratch as a purpose battery-electric vehicle (BEV). All future... Read more →

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) announced the latest results of its collaborative research program with US academic institutions. This initiative has funded $100M of research and generated more than 1,250 paper submissions since its inception in 2016, making it one of the largest collaborative research programs by an automotive company in... Read more →

Tesla broke ground on its in-house $375-million, 50 GWh/year lithium refinery outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. According to Elon Musk, Tesla hopes to complete construction next year and reach full production a year later. The Tesla Lithium refinery will suport about 1 million EVs worth of battery-grade lithium per year.... Read more →

The Audi Group has started off 2023 with strong delivery figures in nearly all core regions. In the first quarter, the brand group delivered some 422,000 Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini vehicles—around 8% more than in the same period last year. In the first quarter, Audi delivered 34,584 (Q1 2022: 24,236)... Read more →

Stellantis N.V. and exploration and development company Alliance Nickel (formerly GME Resources) signed a binding offtake agreement for the supply of 170,000 tons of nickel sulfate and 12,000 tons of cobalt sulfate in total over an initial five-year period. This represents approximately 40% of forecast annual production of the NiWest... Read more →

Volkswagen Group deliveries of all-electric vehicles (BEVs) rose by 42% in Q1 2023 compared to the prior-year period, which was hit harder by supply chain issues. A total of 141,000 BEVs were handed over to customers, up from 99,200 in the first quarter of 2022. BEVs made up 6.9% of... Read more →

The BMW Group is heading up a new project that explores the circular economy in automotive manufacturing. The company is working with representatives from the recycling industry, commodity processors and academia to work on ways of improving the quality of secondary raw materials obtained from recycling end-of-life vehicles. With €6.4... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) has started building an initial development model of a lunar exploration mobility rover in tandem with aerospace partners. In July 2022, the Group signed a joint multilateral research agreement with six Korean research institutes in the aerospace sector to run and support a consultative body... Read more →