Author: James Bryant

Volkswagen, the renowned German automaker, has set its sights even higher in Europe with a confident outlook on its electric vehicle (EV) offerings. The company has raised its sales target for its Volkswagen brand, aiming for 80% of all new car sales to be electric by 2030. This target was previously set at 70% for 2021 but has now been upgraded, as reported by Automobilewoche. Volkswagen’s passenger car segment is reportedly performing well within the group, and the company expects the majority of its growth to come from Europe. Meanwhile, the sales targets for China and the US remain at…

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently granted Tesla a design patent for the Cybertruck’s wheel covers. This exciting news was announced on March 7, 2023, and the patent is valid for the next 15 years. When the Cybertruck was initially unveiled, the prototype featured unique wheel covers on its massive 35″ tires. Unfortunately, subsequent prototypes displayed only the “naked” wheels, which left many to believe that the covers had been abandoned. This speculation increased when the latest beta version of the Cybertruck was spotted in Palo Alto last month, which CEO Elon Musk claimed was very…

EverCharge and PassKey, subsidiaries of the South Korean conglomerate SK Group, have joined forces to develop a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) that will supplement EverCharge’s electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The new BESS will help to consolidate power during off-peak hours and deploy energy via EV charging stations during high demand periods. This integration of EV charging with battery storage will provide sites with lower operating costs and additional energy resiliency. EverCharge’s American-made EV charging stations and patented load balancing software, SmartPower, enable large-scale EV charging by managing and controlling electric loads, analyzing charging patterns of EVs, and intelligently…

Ford Motor Company is expanding its efforts in the development of automated driving technology by establishing a new subsidiary, Latitude AI. The wholly-owned subsidiary will focus on creating a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road driving system for millions of vehicles. Latitude will bring together a team of experts in machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering, and operations to develop the new technology. The subsidiary will be led by Sammy Omari, the Executive Director of ADAS Technologies at Ford, who will serve as its CEO. Latitude is headquartered in Pittsburgh, with additional engineering hubs in Dearborn, Michigan, and Palo Alto, California. In 2022,…

First Bus, a British transport company, has ordered an additional 117 electric buses from Northern Irish bus manufacturer, Wrightbus. The purchase was made possible with the help of additional funding from the British government, which is providing just over £25 million in funding for the rollout of the 117 buses through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) program. The order includes battery-electric double-decker buses as well as some solo buses, which will be used in Norwich, Hoeford, Bramley, and York. The solo buses for Hoeford are expected to be the GB Kite Electroliner BEV, while the StreetDeck Electroliner BEV…

Chile’s SQM, the world’s second-largest lithium producer, has announced a more than tripled fourth-quarter net profit compared to the same period a year earlier, as demand for the mineral skyrocketed amid the race to produce more electric vehicles (EVs). SQM extracts lithium from brine from South America’s salt flats, and has benefitted from surging prices in recent years as EV production booms to comply with tighter climate regulations. For the quarter ending December 31, 2022, SQM posted a net profit of $1.15 billion, edging ahead of analysts’ average estimate of $1.14 billion. Revenue for the quarter almost tripled to $3.13…

German electric vehicle manufacturer Next.e.GO Mobile has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with raw materials trader Trafigura, to secure 100% of e.Go’s future aluminium needs, as well as battery raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and copper. The five-year supply contract is expected to begin in January 2024 and run until January 2029, with provisions for a supply credit facility also included in the agreement. Trafigura, an international commodity company based in Singapore, has previously signed a deal with lithium processing company Green Lithium in the UK in May 2022. Meanwhile, Next e.GO Mobile has recently launched the…

The world’s biggest automakers have been experimenting with hydrogen power for electric vehicles, but challenges remain in making it a substitute for gasoline and battery-powered EVs. However, a Chinese bicycle manufacturer, Yuoun, believes that hydrogen power has more potential in the lightweight electric vehicle market. Recently, the company presented a prototype of its hydrogen-powered electric bike, which could be a game-changer for urban mobility. From a styling perspective, the electric bike looks like any other e-bike, with a folding frame, a rear luggage rack, white rims, and a retro-inspired motif. However, instead of a lithium battery pack, it has a…

When it comes to towing, electric vehicles are often underestimated due to their perceived lack of power. However, one recent incident in Utah proved that the electric Rivian R1T is not to be underestimated. The R1T, with its 11,000-pound towing capacity, may appear small next to a 38,000-pound semi-truck, but it was the hero of the day when the larger vehicle slid off the road. Mylo Fowler, a professional photographer and proud owner of the R1T, was on hand to witness the incident and offer his assistance. Fowler had already racked up an impressive 30,000 miles on his R1T in…

Cruise, the self-driving car company, has announced that its fully driverless vehicles have traveled over one million miles in just 15 months since the company’s first fully driverless ride. The majority of these miles were driven in San Francisco, where Cruise launched its robotaxis in November 2021. Cruise’s strategy since its inception in 2013 has been to automate vehicles in the most difficult driving environments first so that its autonomous driving system could be rolled out to cities that are easier to drive in. San Francisco’s notoriously challenging driving conditions made it an ideal location for Cruise to begin its…

Volta Trucks, a Swedish electric truck start-up, has announced its expansion into two new locations in Spain and Germany for its Truck-as-a-Service (TaaS) network. The company plans to use these hubs to offer comprehensive customer support, training, maintenance, and services for electric trucks in these markets. The locations are expected to open soon, but Volta did not provide exact dates. The new facility in Duisburg, Germany, covers a 3,000m² area and includes eight maintenance and service bays, 12 external truck parking spaces, a showroom, office space, conference rooms, and the “Volta Trucks Academy” training facility. Meanwhile, the Spanish location covers…

German automotive giant BMW has launched a pilot fleet of hydrogen vehicles, featuring the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, which uses fuel cells sourced from Toyota. The car is being assembled at a facility in Munich and can reach a top speed of over 112 miles per hour. The vehicle stores hydrogen in two tanks and can be refueled in just three to four minutes, with a range of 313 miles in the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) cycle. BMW plans to enter the car into service in 2023 for demonstration and trial purposes for various target groups. See also:…

Lordstown Motors, an Ohio-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has faced another setback in its journey to bring its Endurance electric pickup truck to market. The company has announced that it will pause production due to a voluntary recall, causing a delay in the delivery of its vehicles to customers. The news is a significant blow to Lordstown, which has been working tirelessly to launch its electric truck after going public on the NASDAQ exchange in 2020. Initially seen as a promising young EV start-up with potential in the electric pickup segment, the company has faced several costly mishaps, including an…

Mercedes-Benz has recently made a massive investment in Luminar, a leading manufacturer of lidar technology and software. The “multibillion-dollar” deal between the two companies is set to revolutionize the future of automated driving in the German automaker’s next-generation vehicles, which are expected to roll out by the middle of the decade. The announcement was made at the Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America facility in Sunnyvale, California. This deal marks an expansion of the existing partnership between Mercedes-Benz and Luminar. Luminar plans to build a factory in Asia to support the deal, which will supply almost entirely dedicated lidar sensors…

Tesla is expanding its presence in California by setting up a new engineering headquarters in Palo Alto. CEO Elon Musk and California Governor Gavin Newsom made the announcement on Tuesday, more than a year after Tesla moved its corporate headquarters to Austin, Texas. The new headquarters will be located at 1501 Page Mill Road, and it is expected to house a significant number of employees who will focus on engineering projects. However, the exact number of employees who will be based there and when the move will happen are yet to be confirmed. See also: The Dutch Data Protection Authority’s…

German logistics provider Richter Group has partnered with Nikola and E.ON to decarbonize its vehicle fleet by purchasing 20 hydrogen-electric trucks and the hydrogen needed to power them. The joint venture will also provide refueling infrastructure, with the first station set to be located at Richter Group’s base in Wesel. The Nikola Tre hydrogen electric trucks will be built by the joint venture between Nikola and Iveco in Ulm, Germany. The European 6×2 variant is expected to have a range of up to 800km, making it ideal for various applications including drayage, intermodal, metro-regional truckload, less than truckload, and certain…

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng has started production of its flagship SUV, the G9, among other models. XPeng plant is located in the Guangzhou Development Zone and has an annual capacity of 120,000 vehicles. XPeng’s contractor for the plant, Guangzhou Kaide Holdings Limited Company, revealed the news on WeChat. The plant features stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly workshops, as well as new model trial and vehicle production capabilities. See also: XPeng officially launches G9 electric SUV with range of up to 436 miles The Guangzhou plant took nine and a half months to complete the first prototype vehicle…

Porsche is reportedly working on an all-electric successor to the Cayenne SUV, according to an unconfirmed report by Autocar. The new EV is expected to arrive in 2026 and will be built on the same Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture as the forthcoming Macan EV. This means the new Cayenne will be eligible for advanced torque vectoring technology and four-wheel steering, and could potentially deliver a driving experience unlike any other vehicle in its class. See also: Everything You should know about Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid Specifications The PPE platform also allows for 800-volt charging technology, which should enable charging speeds…

Hongqi E202 is an electric SUV from Hongqi New Energy and it’s the first car from the promised lineup of 15 EVs from this new brand. It is one of the first electric cars on the market to feature the Qilin battery from CATL and it comes with swappable battery technology. Today we are treated to the first official photos of the upcoming SUV, the car is scheduled for an official public unveiling in the second half of this year and deliveries are planned for 2024. Good news here is that the car is coming to European markets, including Germany,…

Lithium carbonate prices have been on a steady decline since the end of last year, and the trend is expected to continue, according to Ouyang Minggao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Speaking at an electric vehicle industry conference, Ouyang predicted that lithium carbonate prices in China will fall to between 350,000 yuan ($50,890) and 400,000 yuan per ton in the second half of 2023. This forecast suggests that prices could drop by as much as 20 percent further in China this year. The current average prices for battery-grade and industrial-grade lithium carbonate in China are RMB 440,000…