Author: Todd Gilbert

Rivian released its earnings report for Q4 and full-year 2022 on February 28th, after the market close. Although the company missed its revenue target, it significantly reduced its operating expenses as it aims to cut costs and increase production volume. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, 2022 was a “challenging year” for Rivian as it faced supply chain issues and product recalls while ramping up production. Despite these challenges, the company’s production is growing at an impressive rate. Rivian produced 24,337 EVs and delivered 20,332 in 2022, just shy of its goal of 25,000. However, this is a significant improvement from…

Lucid Motors has announced that it has chosen AT&T as its exclusive connectivity partner for its electric vehicles. The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The partnership will provide internet connectivity for the Air sedan’s features, such as telematics, diagnostics, audio streaming, and navigation. The navigation system will assist drivers in maximizing their driving range and reducing the need for charging stops. The Lucid Air is among the most enduring electric vehicles on the road, with a driving range of more than 500 miles. See also: Lucid Motors Unveils More Affordable RWD Version of Lucid Air…

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, Tesla, has signed a supply deal worth $2.9 billion with South Korean battery cathode material company L&F Co Ltd, according to recent reports from Bloomberg. The deal is for the supply of high-nickel cathode materials and will reportedly commence on January 1, 2024, and end on December 31, 2025. In a public filing made by L&F on February 28, 2023, the South Korean company revealed that the high-nickel cathode materials will be used in the automotive, energy generation, and storage sectors across the US and other regions. The unit sales price of the materials may fluctuate…

Electric vehicles are rapidly taking over the automobile industry, and Fisker is gearing up to join the fray with its upcoming electric pickup truck, Alaska. During an earnings presentation, Henrik Fisker, the company’s founder, provided new details about the upcoming vehicle, stating that the company eventually aims to sell one million vehicles per year, including models in new segments with at least four unique features in each vehicle. Fisker also teased some of the features of the upcoming Alaska electric pickup truck, calling it a lifestyle truck that could be the “lightest, most efficient EV pickup in the world.” He…

Sydney, Australia’s largest city, is leading the way in a new electrification strategy aimed at reducing emissions caused by traffic. The strategy includes doubling the number of charging stations in city parking lots and retrofitting existing apartment buildings with chargers. The city also plans to promote public fast chargers in parking lots and service stations, test on-street chargers on utility poles in residential neighborhoods with Ausgrid, update charging infrastructure regulations for new buildings, and accelerate the conversion of its own fleets to electric vehicles. Currently, traffic is responsible for about 20% of emissions in the city, which is home to…

2023 Ford E-Transit Cargo Van is set to be equipped with digital rearview mirrors, a feature that is becoming more common among various car models. The lack of windows on a cargo van makes it a prime candidate for the digital rearview mirror system. This feature will be particularly helpful for cargo van drivers who usually face obstructed views of the area behind their vehicle. According to Christian Kreipke, Ford assistant brand manager for vans, the Digital Rearview Mirror is an invaluable tool for delivery drivers, especially those making multiple deliveries daily. “Cargo van drivers often contend with an obstructed…

BMW UK opens orders for the latest addition to its fully-electric family, the BMW i4 eDrive35. With a starting price of £49,995 (OTR), the four-door Gran Coupé offers a fully-electric range of up to 299 miles (WLTP), and is available in both Sport and M Sport trim. The BMW i4 eDrive35 is built at BMW Group Munich Plant, alongside the eDrive40 and M50 models, with an expected production volume share of fully-electric cars to increase to 50 percent of the total manufactured volume in 2023. BMW’s portfolio of fully-electric vehicles is growing, with the BMW i5 set to join the…

Incheon, a city in South Korea near the capital of Seoul, is making significant strides towards sustainability by planning to introduce 700 fuel-cell buses by the end of 2024. This project is a collaborative effort between the South Korean Ministries of Environment and Transport, the Incheon Municipal Government, Hyundai Motor, and SK E&S. Hyundai will supply the vehicles for this large-scale initiative, and SK E&S, an energy specialist under the SK Group, will set up hydrogen filling stations and provide liquid hydrogen. The buses are expected to be models of the Hyundai Elec City Fuel Cell type, which has already…

BASF has teamed up with Tenova Advanced Technologies (TAT) of Yokneam, Israel, to optimize the hydrometallurgical recycling process for its battery recycling prototype plant in Schwarzheide, Germany. The two companies will work together to leverage TAT’s novel process for the recovery and production of lithium, including lithium solvent extraction and lithium electrolysis. The collaboration will involve pilot campaigns at TAT’s R&D center and the design and fabrication of a prototype plant that will be operated at BASF’s facilities in Schwarzheide. The aim is to create a recycling process that demonstrates efficient metal recovery and production of lithium salts based on…

Valmet Automotive has commenced the mass production of battery systems in Kirchardt, Baden-Württemberg. The facility, which was announced almost two years ago, is now producing high-voltage battery systems for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. This marks the company’s first German battery plant, and it has already received its first order: small-series production of modules, packs, and battery management systems for an unnamed sports car brand’s PHEV variant. See also: Contract manufacturer Valmet completes the pre-production of the Lightyear 0 solar EV Pre-series production for Valmet’s first major order from another customer is set to commence in the summer, with the…

Nissan is making moves to reduce the carbon footprint of its vehicles by partnering with electric truck manufacturers Nikola and Kenworth, with the help of Avant-Garde Auto Logistics LLC. The new initiative aims to deliver new Nissan cars by electric truck, rather than traditional diesel haulers, to reduce emissions during the transportation process. This step is part of Nissan’s broader plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 across all its operations, targeting 40% electric sales in the US by 2030. To commence the project, Nissan will utilize two heavy-duty Class 8 electric trucks for deliveries between the Port of Los…

Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) has set its sights on capturing up to 30% of the local electric motorbike market, according to the firm’s CEO Toto Nugroho. This comes as the Indonesian government seeks to drive the adoption of electric vehicles, aiming to reach 2 million electric motorbike sales by 2025. Despite Indonesia’s rich nickel reserves, the country sold fewer than 40,000 electric motorbikes between 2019 and 2022. Total motorbike sales in 2022 alone reached 5.22 million units, highlighting the country’s challenge to transition to electric vehicles. To boost sales, the government plans to contribute 7 million rupiah ($459.92) towards the…