AESC has started production at its new 10 GWh battery plant in Douai, France. The facility supplies Renault and is expected to employ up to 1,000 people as part of France’s industrial strategy for electric mobility. Read more…

A European Commission-backed project will deploy €10 million in funding to develop megawatt charging systems. The research aims to establish an electric truck charging network in Europe by 2030. Read more…

Amid subsidy criteria and ongoing global tariff conflicts, localised production in Europe and the US has become an increasingly relevant topic for Chinese carmakers. However, Geely Holding does not intend to join the race for the best production sites in Europe and the US. Read more…

Spanish brand Silence is broadening its product line with new variants of its light electric vehicle, the Silence S04. The existing models have also received an update. Sales of the electric Silence vehicles will continue to be handled exclusively via Nissan’s European dealer network. Read more…

Citroën is now also offering its large electric van ë-Jumper with a box body. This further increases the range of possible applications for the model, which is already available as a panel van, platform truck, tipper and chassis. Read more…

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), Mitsubishi Motors, Ample and Yamato Transport announce a multi-year pilot program to start in September 2025 that will see the deployment of more than 150 electric commercial vehicles with swappable batteries and 14 modular battery swap stations in Tokyo. Read more…

The Fraunhofer IVI and Dresden’s municipal cleaning service are beginning practical testing of an underfloor charging system developed by the Fraunhofer Institute. The conductive charging technology has been integrated into a 15-tonne truck, which is now available for testing by Dresden’s municipal cleaning service. Read more…

Kia has just revealed the pricing for its latest model year of the EV9 three-row SUV. The all-electric SUV will see a number of design and performance tweaks over the previous year. Read more…

The French retail network operator Engie Vianeo has announced a partnership with shopping centre company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW). The partnership will see twelve URW shopping centres in France equipped with EV charging parks this year. Read more…

Toshiba is developing a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a niobium-titanium oxide anode and has now started to deliver cell samples to manufacturers. The ‘SCiB Nb’ is said to be similar to LFP cells in terms of volumetric energy density, but has clear advantages in terms of fast charging and service life. Read more…

Fast charging stations with a battery as a stationary storage unit connected to the grid are becoming increasingly popular as they can buffer grid power during peak usage periods. The Korean company LS Materials has developed a new hybrid energy storage system (H-ESS) for electric vehicle charging stations, which it claims is cheaper, more compact and significantly longer-lasting than conventional stationary storage systems for charging stations. Read more…

The car manufacturer Ford is recalling almost 30,000 F-150 Lightning electric pickups sold in the USA. However, the background to the action has nothing to do with the model’s electric drive. Read more…

The UK has announced £15.6 billion of funding for local transport projects in England’s city regions. While this will support public transport “from Sunderland to Solihull,” Manchester is using its funding to completely electrify public transport by 2030, including public-use e-bikes and the procurement of 1000 new electric buses. Read more…

The British CPO says it will use the investment to install at least 30,000 public charging points across the UK. It has been backed by Believ’s joint owners as well as four retail and infrastructure financing banks. Read more…

The Chinese electric car manufacturer Leapmotor is continuing its expansion in Europe with the support of Stellantis. In the past two weeks, the company has opened up seven new European markets through sales partnerships from Ireland to Bulgaria. Read more…

The Indonesian charge point operator Voltron is set to provide charging facilities at all Geely dealerships in the country, following an agreement between both parties. In practice, that means six dealerships are set to gain charging infrastructure. Read more…

The battery cell manufacturer AESC has surprisingly paused construction work on its factory in the US state of South Carolina. The plant in Florence County, in which a total of 1.6 billion dollars is to be invested, is intended to supply BMW with cylindrical cells and create around 1,600 jobs. The reason cited for the temporary halt to construction is uncertainty regarding US economic policy and market conditions. Read more…

The future of ZF’s driveline division has been under scrutiny internally for months. An exit from the driveline business is now also being discussed – as one of several conceivable scenarios. Read more…

The chargepoint operator PowerGo has announced an expansion of its fast charging network at sites across Europe. Each location provides charging speeds of up to 240 to 480kW. Read more…

When it comes to cars that are particularly inexpensive, manufacturers often trim down the basic versions of their models in order to achieve the lowest possible list price. In the case of small electric cars in particular, this is sometimes at the expense of utility value if too much is saved. We spent two weeks travelling in an almost ‘naked’ Hyundai Inster. Is the basic version enough or do you need more?

Read more…