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…

Honeywell has released a new generation of battery safety sensors. The Battery Safety Electrolyte Sensor (BES) series is designed specifically for enhanced safety in lithium-ion battery on-road applications, and exceeds industry standards for performance and reliability, according to the company. The new BES uses Honeywell’s proprietary Li-ion Tamer [clever!] electrolyte gas detection technology to identify… Read more…

DGeo, the new DG Solutions division at US-based Labelmaster, has released Obexion FR, a mobile-ready system for first responders to extinguish and remediate lithium battery fires safely. The grab-and-go system from DGeo is designed specifically for first responders who need to mitigate lithium battery risks during and after emergencies. Part of DGeo’s line of Obexion… Read more…

The UK Royal Mail, a subsidiary of International Distribution Services, has deployed its 6,000th electric delivery van, adding it to 15 others at its Manchester mail center for deliveries and collections. So far, more than 240 Royal Mail offices use EVs. Royal Mail purchased its first 100 EVs in December 2017. Most of Royal Mail’s… Read more…

Powered semi-trailers, which carry batteries and electric motors to take some of the load of the tractor, are emerging as a cost-effective way to extend the range of an electric semi (or improve the fuel efficiency of a legacy tractor). Now a three-way partnership is testing a related concept—using electricity to power the refrigeration unit… Read more…

Yes, charging large numbers of electric trucks requires lots of power—as the anti-EV community often reminds us, an electrified truck depot might use as much power as a sports stadium. (And? As Charged’s home city of St Petersburg continues its decade-long fight over the building of a new stadium, I have yet to hear any… Read more…

South Korea-based LG Energy Solution has introduced its new system-on-chip (SoC)-based battery management system (BMS) diagnostic software, which is available on the Snapdragon Digital Chassis from Qualcomm Technologies. The two companies have signed a joint promotion agreement to accelerate the commercialization of SoC-based BMS diagnostic solutions. LG’s software aims to enhance safety, degradation diagnostic functions… Read more…

South Korean battery and trading company SK On has recently published its latest research on all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). SK On’s study with Dr. Jin Ho Kim’s group at the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology focuses on the use of ultrafast photonic sintering technology (traditionally used to manufacture printed circuit board) in the manufacturing… Read more…

US mining company Piedmont Lithium and Australian lithium exploration and development company Sayona Mining have announced an all-stock merger. The ownership will be split approximately 50-50. Sayona will be the ultimate parent entity. The merger is intended to create a leading North American hard rock lithium producer, MergeCo, with geographically advantaged spodumene resources of global… Read more…

GreenPower Motor, a manufacturer of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, has appointed Wolfington Body as its exclusive school bus dealer in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware and as a dealer for its Class 4 commercial line of EV trucks and vans in those states. As part of the agreement, Wolfington has purchased a Type A… Read more…

Norwegian battery materials company Vianode has been selected as a strategic supplier of high-performance anode graphite solutions to General Motors (GM). The agreement covers the development of large-scale manufacturing capacity and supply of synthetic anode graphite towards 2033. Under the supply agreement, Ultium Cells—GM’s battery cell manufacturing joint venture with LG Energy Solution—will use the… Read more…