Author: Benedict Mcdaniel

Dutch solar car company Lightyear, based in Helmond, is making a fresh start after facing bankruptcy earlier this year. The company has been restructured and approved by the bankruptcy administrator Reinoud van Oeijen. The restructuring involved creating a new company, Lightyear Technologies, which will take over all patents belonging to Lightyear and its solar cell subsidiary Lightyear Layer. The new company will build a mass-model Lightyear 2, and there is room for almost 100 of the company’s former employees. Lightyear Technologies is planning to raise funds for paying off the company’s creditors through a special online auction in April. This…

Polestar, the Swedish electric vehicle (EV) maker, has released its third annual sustainability report, demonstrating its continued commitment to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Despite a year of record growth, with a 80% increase in vehicle deliveries to 51,491 in 2022, Polestar was able to reduce relative CO2 emissions by 8% per vehicle sold, compared to the previous year. This impressive feat has been achieved through a variety of measures, including reducing average transport emissions, increasing sales in markets with more renewable energy on the grid, and updating vehicles using over-the-air (OTA) technology. While Polestar’s absolute emissions increased as the…

The ZF Group, a global technology company, has announced its plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The company aims to serve the growing electric vehicle (EV) market in North America by investing more than $194 million in the facility. The investment will be made in two phases, with the first phase seeing ZF Group invest $150 million in a new facility at its site in northern Mexico. The facility will manufacture the company’s next-generation inverter technology, which will be used by multiple EV original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The facility will cover more than 22,000 square meters…

Stellantis, the parent company of major car brands like Citroën, Peugeot, Opel, and Fiat, has announced plans to produce electric commercial vans at its Mangualde Production Center in Portugal. The move is part of the automaker’s goal to achieve a 40% zero emissions mix by the end of the decade. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares expressed his pride in the company’s plans, saying, “We are proud to announce that Mangualde will enter a new era with the production of large series of battery electric vans in Portugal to provide indispensable solutions for our business customers.” He emphasized the importance of using…

The South Carolina Department of Education has placed an order for 160 all-electric school buses from Thomas Built Buses (TBB), a North American subsidiary of Daimler. The order, which is for the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley model, comes with drive technology from Proterra, and is said to be the largest single order of electric school buses to date. The purchase is being fully funded by the federal EPA’s new Clean School Bus Program, and the vehicles are scheduled for delivery next year. With 226 kWh capacity batteries, the electric buses are capable of travelling up to 135 miles on a single…

Lotus, the British sports car manufacturer, has begun deliveries of its first-ever electric car model, the Eletre, in China. The electric SUV, priced at £89,500 in the UK, boasts a 450 kW drive and 112 kWh battery, providing a range of 600 kilometres. It is also equipped with a fully embedded L4-ready hardware with the world’s first deployable LiDAR system. Lotus has already received more than 5,000 orders globally for the Eletre, and the vehicle will soon be delivered to customers in the EU and UK. Lotus CEO Qingfeng Feng said, “Eletre is a crucial part of our plan to…

Mercedes-Benz, one of the leading automobile manufacturers, has taken a significant step towards sustainable energy by signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Spain’s Iberdrola. Under this agreement, the German automaker will purchase 140 megawatts (MW) of clean energy from an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The deal is considered one of the largest PPAs for clean energy in Europe, making a substantial contribution to Mercedes’ target of increasing the use of renewable energy to account for 70% of its overall energy needs at production sites. The offshore wind farm, Windanker, is a 300 MW project consisting of…

Volkswagen (VW) is gearing up to launch the production version of its newest electric sedan, the ID.7, within the next few months. The ID.7 is the sixth fully electric vehicle in VW’s ID series, which includes the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, and ID.6 (only in China) alongside the new ID. Buzz EV bus. The ID.7 is set to expand the ID family into the upper middle class of the high volume segment, making it the highest model in the series. Last June, the automaker launched the ID. AERO in China, an electric sedan based on the MEB platform with up to…

In a bid to revolutionize the way we generate electricity, Volkswagen Group Charging and EnerKite have proposed an innovative idea to power mobile charge points with airborne wind turbines. This unusual proposal has been submitted for the federally funded ‘Technohyb’ project and could pave the way for sustainable, renewable energy sources. Volkswagen and EnerKite are partnering in the ‘Autarkic Mobile Charging Infrastructure’ sub-project, with EnerKite responsible for providing flying wind turbines that are optimized for efficiency. According to EnerKite, their system could yield twice the annual energy when compared to traditional ground-lodged turbines. See also: Volkswagen Invests $45 million in…

The German government has allocated €270 million in funding for the procurement of approximately 1,000 electric buses to over 50 transport companies in the country. The certificates were handed over at the international VDV conference in Berlin earlier this week. This marks the third round of funding under the ‘Directive for the Promotion of Alternative Drives for Buses in Passenger Transport’ and brings the total number of electric buses funded so far to 4,200. While the BMDV mentions “about 1,000 vehicles” at 52 bus companies, the VDV speaks of 1,033 e-buses and 59 transport companies. It is unclear which type…

Norwegian battery company Freyr has announced its intention to collaborate with commodities group Glencore, heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, technology company Siemens, and electric motor manufacturer Nidec, to advance the development of sustainable battery solutions in Europe and North America. The partnership would explore areas of mutual interest along the battery value chain, including battery cell manufacturing, digital and software services, mining and refining, stationary storage applications for the energy market, electric transport, and recycling and end-of-life solutions. The companies would work together to establish guiding principles to support their respective sustainability goals and the decarbonization of their customers’ operations, as…

India is accelerating its transition to electric vehicles (EVs) with the injection of around €90 million ($106 million) in funding from the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) program. The money will be directed towards expanding the country’s fast-charging infrastructure, with India’s three main mineral oil companies — Indian Oil (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) — receiving €8 billion ($9.4 billion) to build nearly 7,500 new public DC charge points. The move aims to address the issue of land availability that many Charge Point Operators (CPOs) face. By partnering with state-owned petroleum companies,…