The Australian-German lithium startup Vulcan Energy Resources has acquired a geothermal power plant in Germany for €31.5Mn ($35.7Mn). Vulcan wants to upgrade the 4.8 MW Insheim plant previously owned by local utility Pfalzwerke to set up a new test facility for low-carbon lithium production. Vulcan Energy, or its German subsidiary Vulkan Energie Ressourcen GmbH, reportedly […] More…

Tesla, in an email to customers, announced it was not taking Model S and Model X orders outside North America. The company now expects deliveries in other markets to restart during the second half of 2022. Configurators in, for example, Germany, continue to show both models but do not indicate prices or delivery dates any […] More…

The supervisory board of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has given the go-ahead for the purchase of 90 more electric buses. The vehicles are 12-metre-long battery monoplanes that will be charged in the depot. The winner or winners of the process will be announced after the legally required objection period has expired – so it is […] More…

General Motors is cooperating with the German company Vacuumschmelze (VAC), which specialises in magnetic materials, to build a factory in the USA. Permanent magnets for the electric motors of the Ultium platform are to be built there. GM has entered into a second partnership in this field with the US company MP Materials. First of […] More…

Swedish truck manufacturer Scania has unveiled its new generation of hybrid trucks, which are offered as full hybrids (HEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV). The latter now come to market with two e-machines contributing 230 kW continuous and 290 kW peak power respectively. The new generation of semi-electric trucks with a gross vehicle weight of up […] More…

With Nio, Xpeng and the Geely brand Lynk & Co, three more Chinese manufacturers have joined the Volkswagen Group’s open CO2 pool in the EU for 2021 and 2022 – despite Volkswagen’s assurances that it is compliant with the required fleet target values for 2021. This is reported by Schmidt Automotive Research, citing EU documents […] More…

Nissan has now opened pre-orders for its all-electric Ariya crossover model in the UK. This means that the prices for the UK market, where the Ariya is to be delivered from summer 2022, are now also known. They start at 41,845 pounds (currently around 49,000 euros) for the basic Advance version with front-wheel drive and […] More…

The truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck, which was spun off from Daimler’s passenger car division on 1 December, has now started trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. With the IPO, the commercial vehicle manufacturer wants to raise capital for its electrification offensive in the field of battery and fuel cell trucks, among other things. […] More…

As part of its new round of planning, Volkswagen has also confirmed an all-electric leisure vehicle that will be produced by the commercial vehicle division in Hanover in the future: The ID. California will be an electric camper based on the VW ID. Buzz. The ID. Buzz is to be produced in Hanover from next […] More…

Porsche presents a formidable electric sports car. In future, however, the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo will only make its rounds on the Playstation course and is the first Porsche specifically developed for use in a computer game. It will be available exclusively in Gran Turismo 7, which will be released on 4 March 2022 on […] More…

The South Korean battery materials manufacturer EcoPro BM will apparently build its first factory outside Korea in Debrecen, Hungary. This is to produce 108,000 tonnes of cathode materials for electric car batteries per year. This was announced by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. The first construction phase of the factory in Debrecen is to be […] More…

Volvo Penta and Danfoss’ Editron division announced they have signed a partnership agreement “to take the marine sector’s electromobility development to the next level.” The deal will see the companies work together in R&D and right through to installation, commissioning, and aftermarket support. “We’re excited to join forces with Volvo Penta officially,” said Kimmo Rauma, […] More…

Volkswagen has decided to further electrify its European locations as part of its new planning round. 89 billion euros will be invested in future technologies such as electromobility and digitalisation alone over the next five years. This means that for the first time, more than half of the total investment would be in future technologies, […] More…

Solaris has signed a deal with the Czech city of Ústí nad Labem to deliver up to 20 fuel cell buses of type Urbino 12. It is the first order for hydrogen buses in the Czech Republic Solaris has received. According to Solaris, the framework agreement is valid for eight years, during which time the […] More…

Gridserve is building its ultra-rapid charging hubs in the UK, following plans announced last summer. There are already eleven charging parks under construction, each with six to twelve high power charging points, according to Gridserve. The company expects to finish 20 so-called Electric Hubs by Q2 2022. Gridserve locates these Electric Hubs along major trunk […] More…

US vehicle supplier Meritor announced its 14Xe ePowertrain is now available and will be in production this month. A number of first customers for the new electric drive system have already been found. Additionally, a collaboration has been signed with BAE Systems. First, to the actual 14Xe ePowertrain, which has just begun serial production. Meritor […] More…

The Biden administration is driving plans to increase electric transport across the US. Advances such as replacing all Government vehicles with electric ones have resulted in a new executive order. The President demands all light-duty vehicles acquired by the government to be emission-free by 2027. And there is more – by 2035, this will affect […] More…

Hubject and Digital Charging Solutions (DCS) have partnered to offer Plug&Charge to the ISO 15118 standard to their customers in the European market. By offering Plug&Charge, Hubject and Digital Charging Solutions say they will “together further enhance the EV driver experience and make the charging process as convenient as possible towards seamless, autonomous and secure […] More…

Opel has started production of the fuel cell variant of its Vivaro van model based on the battery-electric Vivaro-e in Rüsselsheim. The first unit of the fuel cell van has already been delivered. Stellantis had announced the fuel cell version of the three van models in April 2021. Subsequently, first Opel, then Citroën and Peugeot […] More…

The battery cell manufacturer SVOLT, which emerged from the Chinese carmaker Great Wall, wants to significantly increase its production capacities planned for 2025 – from the previously announced 320 GWh to 600 GWh per year by this deadline. Chinese media report this with reference to official statements made by SVOLT in the course of a […] More…