Author: Harding Greenwood

Panasonic Holdings will delay plans to bring its upcoming electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Kansas to full capacity by March 2027, due to a slowdown in sales at its primary customer, Tesla (TSLA.O), Japan’s Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. The $4 billion facility, located in the U.S. state of Kansas, was initially slated to reach a production target of 30 gigawatt-hours by early 2027. According to the report, a new timeline for achieving full capacity has not yet been determined. The Kansas site will be Panasonic’s second large-scale battery plant in the United States, following its Nevada Gigafactory…

Energy Exploration Technologies Inc (EnergyX), a lithium technology startup backed by General Motors, has acquired 35,000 acres of brine-rich land in southern Arkansas, strengthening its position in the Smackover formation, one of the most lithium-rich regions in the United States. The deal, valued at A$40 million ($26.1 million), was struck with Australia-based Pantera Lithium and consists of A$6 million in cash and approximately 2.3 million shares of EnergyX stock priced at A$14.50 each. The acquisition brings EnergyX’s total holdings in the formation to roughly 47,500 acres. The move marks another significant investment in domestic lithium supply despite persistently low market…

ZF Friedrichshafen, Germany’s second-largest automotive supplier, may implement additional cost-cutting measures if global vehicle production continues to decline, the company’s finance chief said in an interview published Thursday. “We are below our projections,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Frick told WirtschaftsWoche magazine, noting that signs point to even lower global car production in the second half of the year. “Of course, ZF will then have to take additional cost-cutting measures,” he added. The company, which supplies gearboxes and hybrid drivetrains to major automakers, has been facing pressure from falling sales and profitability due to a combination of weak demand and mounting…

Donut Lab, a Finnish electric mobility startup, has raised €25 million in new funding, signed over ten commercial contracts with global vehicle manufacturers, and expanded its research and development footprint with a new facility in the United Kingdom, the company said on Monday. The Helsinki-based firm, which develops modular electric motor and powertrain technologies for use across land, sea, and air, will also return to CES in January 2026 with an expanded showcase of its electric mobility applications. The company said demand for its platform has surged following its previous appearance at CES, with “thirty-fold” growth in commercial interest leading…

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has issued new regulations requiring high-power charging (HPC) networks—often referred to as “supercharger” stations—built by electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers to be accessible to all brands, marking a significant policy shift in the country’s rapidly expanding EV infrastructure landscape. The directive, issued by the General Office of the NDRC, targets proprietary charging networks operated by leading automakers such as Tesla, Li Auto, BYD, and members of the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA). These networks, which have until now largely served brand-exclusive users, must now be opened to all battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) without preferential treatment…

Nissan Motor plans to begin exporting electric vehicles from its Chinese plants to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other global markets starting in 2026, as part of an ambitious turnaround strategy aimed at restoring profitability. The company’s first export model will be the N7 electric sedan, developed in partnership with Dongfeng and unveiled at Auto Shanghai in April. The shift toward using Chinese production capacity for international markets follows Nissan’s announcement of a ¥500 billion (€3 billion) cost-reduction initiative under a sweeping reorganisation strategy named ‘Re:Nissan.’ The plan includes cutting 20,000 jobs and closing seven of its 17 global…

Mercedes-Benz Group reported a year-on-year decline of 18% in global battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales for the second quarter of 2025, delivering 41,900 units across its passenger car and van divisions. This compares with 51,000 BEVs sold during the same period last year and 45,500 units in the first quarter of 2025. Passenger BEV sales dropped by 24% to 35,000 units, while electric van deliveries rose 32% year-on-year to 6,900 vehicles. Overall, the group sold 547,100 cars and vans in Q2, representing a 9% decline from the previous year. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) deliveries, however, recorded notable growth, with Mercedes-Benz…

Daimler Truck has delivered the first Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 electric trucks to customers in Belgium, marking a milestone for the commercial use of its long-haul battery-electric vehicle in the country. Logistics firms VM-Milktrans and its sister company Sovedo Logistics have received two of the six trucks ordered, with plans to integrate them into their milk collection logistics fleet across Belgium. The deployment of the electric trucks is part of a broader agreement that also includes financing, leasing, battery solutions, and charging infrastructure. The initial two eActros 600s are now operating alongside newly installed in-house charging stations at the companies’ premises.…

Nio will begin production at its third manufacturing facility in Hefei, Anhui province—known as the F3 factory—this September, CEO William Li confirmed during a live-streamed event on July 6. The announcement reinforces earlier comments made by Li during Nio’s June earnings call, where he indicated the facility would be operational in the third quarter. Speaking to a group of nearly 100 entrepreneurs, including Chinese writer and Nio ET9 owner Wu Xiaobo, Li led a tour of the company’s second Hefei factory and highlighted ongoing progress at the new production site. He also noted that certain production lines at the F3…

Nio has introduced Champion Edition variants of its ET5 sedan, ET5 Touring wagon, and EC6 coupe SUV to commemorate its 2015 Formula E drivers’ championship title. The new trims include visual enhancements and select hardware upgrades, with deliveries scheduled to begin on July 9. The starting price for both the ET5 and ET5 Touring Champion Editions with a 75-kWh standard-range battery pack is RMB 316,000, reflecting a 6.04 percent increase from the RMB 298,000 base price of the standard versions. Under Nio’s Battery as a Service (BaaS) plan, which allows customers to purchase the vehicle without a battery and subscribe…

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has committed $6 million AUD to support the deployment of 60 battery-electric trucks by UK-based electric fleet provider Zenobe, which will lease the vehicles to Australian supermarket giant Woolworths. The move is part of a broader push to decarbonise retail logistics and overcome financial and infrastructure barriers to heavy fleet electrification. Zenobe, which operates under an Electric Vehicle as a Service (EVaaS) model, will supply Woolworths with electric trucks, charging infrastructure, maintenance, and battery management—all bundled into a fixed monthly lease. This approach is designed to simplify the transition from diesel to electric by…

French aircraft manufacturer VoltAero has signed an order agreement with Malaysia’s HM Aerospace Sdn Bhd for 15 units of its Cassio 330 hybrid-electric aircraft, in a move the companies say will support the development of an electric-hybrid aviation sector in the region. The agreement also includes provisions for an additional 15 aircraft in the future. The Cassio 330 will be used for professional pilot training at HM Aerospace, a flight academy under the Halim Mazmin Group—one of Malaysia’s diversified conglomerates with business interests spanning shipping, education, tourism, and aviation. VoltAero unveiled the production version of the Cassio 330 in June.…