Around 806,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids were sold in China in June, as the monthly figures of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) now published show. This means that sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China recorded the second-highest figure after December 2022. Since the slow start of the year, the market […] More…

The Canadian company Neo Performance Materials has started construction in Estonia of the first processing plant in Europe for rare earth permanent magnets. The company aims for an integrated supply chain and envisions a recycling process which would be another first for Europe. Rare earth magnets are suitable for traction motors for electric vehicles, among […] More…

Toyota readjusts its hydrogen strategy, now aiming for market share in Europe and China while turning away from North America. The Japanese company targets selling 200,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2030, primarily trucks but also passenger cars. The decision marks a turning point for Toyota. Until now, its focus has been on passenger cars and […] More…

Demand for electric cars has plummeted in Germany following the reform of the environmental bonus with reduced purchase premiums that came into force at the beginning of 2023, a media report suggests. The situation is said to be particularly explosive for one manufacturer: Volkswagen. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recently reported 52,988 new […] More…

Hyzon Motors, the US developer of fuel cell commercial vehicles, plans to start producing and commercialising its new fuel cell system in 2024. This is expected to generate 200 kW of power from a single stack. According to Hyzon, the system, which was announced last year, enables 20 per cent more range per kilogram of […] More…

Mercedes-Benz has recently issued two voluntary recalls that affect EQE, EQS, and EQS SUV electric vehicles in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) counts 8,281 electric Mercedes cars among the affected in its latest report. The issue is with software that, under certain conditions, could lead to a loss of propulsion. […] More…

Renault gives a glimpse into the series producing its next-generation EV model. The Renault 5 is on a prototype production run in a “secret and high-tech miniature plant”. Not too secret, though; the plant is part of the brand’s Technocentre engineering complex near Paris. Created 25 years ago, the Global Production Engineering Center serves Renault […] More…

Automotive supplier ZF has presented the next generation of its electric axle drives for commercial vehicles. The new AxTrax 2 drives are suitable for distribution vehicles up to 44-tonne trucks and trailers and are scheduled for production in 2024. The AxTrax 2 will be offered in two variants: AxTrax 2 enables 210 kW of continuous […] More…

The European Parliament has adopted the EU’s rules for expanding EV charging and hydrogen infrastructure. This is another step towards the incoming legislation, which largely follows earlier proposals, and there is news on maritime fuels. Staying with electric vehicles, negotiators from the Parliament and the EU states had negotiated binding targets for EV infrastructure expansion […] More…

The way is clear for comprehensive battery market regulation in the EU. Following the EU Parliament in mid-June, the EU member states have now also approved the regulation. This concludes the legislative process. The regulation will thus enter into force in a few weeks. Strictly speaking, the document still must be formally signed by the […] More…

Dubai and Saudi Arabia plan to expand the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. While Dubai already set concrete targets, Saudi Arabia wants to build out a high-power charging network at the pace the market ramps up. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) issued plans to increase the number of charging stations from 370 to […] More…

Canada’s BC Hydro has announced it will add connectors for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) at its EV charging stations across British Columbia. In a tweet, BC Hydro said it is working with its suppliers to see when NACS connectors will be available for their future charging stations. There is also talk of BC […] More…

Future demands of high-power charging will need grid-sensitive infrastructure for heavy-duty EVs across Europe. With 20 proposals to select from, the Dutch government is funding a consortium to establish ‘Charging Energy Hubs’ in the country. Working with Heliox and internal documents, we unearth the details and find concrete real-world applications in the making. *** Twenty-nine […] More…

SAIC-GM, the Chinese joint venture between General Motors and SAIC Motor, has begun construction of its third factory for electric cars based on GM’s Ultium platform. The new plant is being built in Yantai in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong. According to the Chinese news portal Yicai Global, series production of electric cars at […] More…

Tesla is urging the US government to speed up the switch to electric cars. The electric car manufacturer wants the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set much stricter targets for emissions reductions in new cars than proposed in April. Most other OEMs, however, want the opposite. The EPA proposed new standards in April for […] More…

Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars more than doubled its sales of battery-electric cars in the second quarter to 56,300 units – specifically by 123 per cent. This growth was particularly due to demand in three model series. The van division also posted gains in Q2, but not as strong as the passenger car business. As reported, 23,500 […] More…

Following slow development in its business in China, Volkswagen is also reportedly struggling with demand problems for its electric models in Europe. In the private customer segment, incoming orders in Germany are well below the planned target for the year. The news was initially reported by the German publication Handelsblatt, with reference to an insider […] More…

To mark the 150th anniversary at the Audi site in Neckarsulm, twelve apprentices from the brand have put electrified the iconic, classic EP4. The ‘E’ in the name of the futuristic one-off stands for the electric motor and ‘P4’ for the NSU Prinz 4, a model that NSU Motorenwerke built in Neckarsulm from 1961 to […] More…

The Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics and the US silicon carbide specialist Wolfspeed have signed a supply contract for silicon carbide wafers. A down payment of two billion dollars has already changed hands. Renesas has secured the supply of silicon carbide wafers from Wolfspeed, starting in 2025, for ten years. The partners did not disclose […] More…

The Vietnamese carmaker VinFast shows its three new electric cars – one small car and two SUVs. The manufacturer also adds new electric bike models to its portfolio. Starting with the electric cars: VinFast presented the VF 3, VF 6 and VF 7 at its exhibition series “VinFast – For a Greener Future”. The VF […] More…