The city of Oslo, which was ranked number one in terms of quality of life and peace and quiet among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report, is driving out some of its remaining sources of loud noise. One of any city’s greatest sources of loud noise is construction, which… Read more…

Researchers at George Washington University (GWU), in collaboration with other institutions, have developed a method to directly extract and purify lithium from geothermal brines for use in EV batteries. Their study, “Electro-driven direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines to generate battery-grade lithium hydroxide,’’ was published in Nature Communications. The process avoids harsh chemicals and uses… Read more…

Mullen Automotive has completed a major purchase of battery line equipment from troubled Nikola for its Fullerton, California, battery operations. The Fullerton facility is dedicated to producing next-generation, American-made battery packs, modules and solid-state polymers. In September 2023, Mullen purchased battery production assets from Nikola subsidiary Romeo Power, including equipment, inventory and intellectual property for… Read more…

Testing and measurement company Hottinger Brüel & Kjær (HBK) has released a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) version of its failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) software, Reliasoft Cloud to support centralized management. ReliaSoft Cloud uses artificial intelligence (AI)-powered insights, intuitive risk visualization and team collaboration for improved decision-making and scalability. The single, web-based platform helps streamline… Read more…

Qmerit, a North America installer of EV charging equipment, has partnered with Wisetack, an embedded finance platform for home services, to offer financing options to EV owners. The Qmerit-Wisetack partnership will give EV buyers more flexibility in paying for Level 2 home charger installations. Instead of billing installation as a single payment, customers can choose… Read more…

Schneider Electric, an energy management company, has announced the debut of the Schneider Charge Pro charging station in Europe. France will be the first European market in which the charging solution will be sold. The Charge Pro is an “energy-efficient electric vehicle charging solution designed to accelerate EV adoption among owners of commercial fleets and… Read more…

US-based lithium battery technology company Pure Lithium has signed a joint development agreement with Saint-Gobain Ceramics to accelerate the production of Pure Lithium’s selective, water-blocking membranes for lithium metal anode production from brine. Pure Lithium has also invented a flexible lithium conducting membrane for next-generation lithium metal battery applications, which can serve as both a… Read more…

Nidec Motor, a US-based manufacturer of commercial, industrial and appliance motors and controls, and Noveon Magnetics have signed a five-year, binding offtake agreement to potentially supply more than 1,000 tons of finished sintered neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) rare earth magnets. Deliveries are set to begin in 2025, supporting Nidec’s operations across industries including automation, industrial,… Read more…

Toyoda Gosei, a manufacturer of plastic and rubber vehicle parts that is part of the Toyota Group, has acquired a stake in EV Motors Japan (EVM-J), a startup specializing in the development and sale of commercial electric trucks and buses. The company said it acquired the stake in EVM-J “to learn on-site the entire series… Read more…

German start-up Circunomics, which is developing a battery lifecycle management system, closed an €8-million Series A financing round in December 2024. The company promotes the circular economy for lithium-ion batteries by “advancing internationalization and developing new digital services.” Circunomics provides a lifecycle management system featuring a digital business-to-business (B2B) marketplace and analytics that cover the… Read more…

Schenker France, the French branch of global logistics firm DB Schenker, will soon take delivery of up to 66 electric trucks from French manufacturer Renault Trucks—the company’s most significant order of electric trucks to date. The order includes 60 16-ton E-Tech D electric rigids and 6 E-Tech T electric tractors—Schenker France’s first battery-powered tractors. This… Read more…

ABB is supplying Škoda Group with its compact and lightweight Traction Battery Pro Series for Škoda’s new fleet of electric railcars ordered by the Czech national railway operator, České dráhy. The initial agreement covers the delivery of 195 Pro 8C-850 battery packs for 15 battery-electric multiple units (BEMUs) in addition to a 15-year service agreement…. Read more…

US-based Lithium Battery Company is investing $4 million to establish a 60,000 sq ft automated battery manufacturing facility in Tampa, Florida. The expansion includes a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) designation and features five specialized assembly lines designed to support defense contracts, artificial intelligence (AI) data center energy storage, and OEM partnerships. The expansion is the… Read more…

Electricity distributor UK Power Networks and Falco Construction, an English multi-utility contractor, are trialing electric diggers for underground work in London. Falco is currently deploying two of the diggers, and hopes to eventually replace all of its 120 diesel-powered excavators with the zero-emission Takeuchi TB20e mini-excavators, which would “directly remove over 200 tonnes of carbon… Read more…

German carmaker BMW and South Korean technology firm SK tes plan to expand their closed-loop battery recycling system from Europe to the US-Mexico-Canada region in 2026. The recycling process recovers cobalt, nickel and lithium from used batteries to return them to the value chain to produce new batteries. BMW is directly involved in the process,… Read more…

Stardust Power, a US-based developer of battery-grade lithium products, has broken ground on the construction of a lithium refinery at the Southside Industrial Park in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The project will be developed in two phases. The first phase will focus on building a production line capable of producing up to 25,000 metric tons per year…. Read more…

US battery recycling technology firms Redivivus and Re-New-Able Technologies have partnered to establish a scalable lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Illinois. Re-New-Able is leading the project, using Redivivus’s Redi-Shred recycling technology. The facility will process batteries of any state of charge or health from local businesses and OEM factories. It will also support the state’s… Read more…

Finnish EV charger manufacturer Kempower has partnered with Sprocket Power, a New York-based energy management and EV integration company.  Using cloud-based facility management software, Sprocket Power microgrids integrate solar energy generation and battery storage to power EV chargers, reducing upgrade and utility costs. One of the first joint projects of the two companies will be… Read more…

The New Afton block cave mine in Canada has introduce autonomous electric loaders made by Sandvik, a Swedish company that offers products and services for mining and rock excavation. Sandvik’s 18-ton autonomous loader—the Toro LH518iB—has been in service since mid-November at the mine, working in a designated test area. The Toro LH518iB loaders are equipped… Read more…

Silicon carbide device maker Wolfspeed has introduced its new Gen 4 technology platform, to simplify switching in high-power designs such as EV powertrains, renewable energy systems and battery energy storage systems. Wolfspeed’s Gen 4 platform was designed to improve system efficiency and prolong application life, even in harsh environments, while helping to reduce system cost… Read more…