German supplier ZF says it has signed a long-term contract to supply silicon carbide semiconductors. ZF intends to use the semiconductors to serve customer orders in electromobility from 2025. Specifically, ST’s silicon carbide modules will be integrated into ZF’s inverter platform, which the supplier says will go into series production in 2025. ZF emphasises that […] More…

The supplier ZF has started series production of the electric central drive CeTrax lite. The new driveline is suitable for use in light commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tons. ZF says it has already received orders for the CeTrax from Asia and America. Production of the new driveline has started under the direction of ZF’s […] More…

Renault and French battery start-up Verkor have entered into a “commercial partnership” that includes binding supply volumes for battery cells. The carmaker will receive 12 GWh of battery cells from Verkor for its premium electric cars, including the Alpine brand. The beginnings of this deal go back to an initial agreement in 2021 in which […] More…

Ahead of the official premiere, more photos and the first technical data of the new Mini Cooper have appeared on the internet. This is the model that is being produced in cooperation with the Chinese company Great Wall. The four pictures show a blue Mini with a white painted roof, white exterior mirror caps and […] More…

The state housing Tesla’s newest Gigafactory has proposed a new $200 annual “registration” fee for electric vehicle owners to make up for lost gas tax revenues, which pay for the state’s road repairs. The amount is under criticism, as it is equivalent to the amount a driver of a large SUV that gets 15 MPG […] More…

BYD is gearing up to release two more electric models to Europe with the Dolphin and Seal. The Dolphin will be available from June/July and the Seal from August/September. Technical details are now available for both models. Shortly after the European premiere of the BEV trio Atto 3, Tang and Han, BYD itself confirmed last […] More…

Volkswagen has unveiled a new generation of drive units for the Modular Electric Building Kit MEB. The rear-axle drive APP550 comprises a completely newly developed power unit – which is supposed to offer more power with improved efficiency at the same time. Attentive readers will already be familiar with the APP550: This drive unit has […] More…

Family brewer and pub company Wells & Co have announced the installation of their first 23 rapid electric vehicle charging points at seven of their sites in the UK. Charging company Osprey is set to help help with the plans, as well as ramping up its charging network rollout across the UK. Wells & Co […] More…

The Chinese EV charging service providers NaaS Technology has launched a charging robot in China. The robots take care of charging processes when electric cars are parked in carpark buildings, for example. The charging bot has mechanical arms that automatically dock onto the car’s charging port and completes charging and payment processes. This should allow […] More…

Volta Trucks will unveil its Volta Zero electric truck at the US ACT Expo trade show in early May this year. US customers are expected to receive some examples of the Volta Zero in Classes 6 and 7 for fleet testing by the end of 2023, followed soon after by the market launch. The Swedish […] More…

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed far-reaching emission reductions for new passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Specifically, car emissions are to be reduced by 56 per cent by 2032 – which could probably only be achieved with significantly more electric vehicles. According to various US media reports, the agency itself assumes that in […] More…

UK public transport operator Stagecoach has announced the company’s largest electric bus order to date. Stagecoach plans to invest up to £37.2 million (€42.3 million) to procure a new fleet of 170 electric buses for use in Stockport, Manchester. The order includes 150 electric double-decker buses and 20 solo buses, all of which are due […] More…

Mercedes-Benz was able to increase sales of its electric vehicles in the first quarter. Sales of battery-electric passenger cars almost doubled to 51,600 units (+89 per cent), while van sales rose by 22 per cent. In terms of passenger car sales, Mercedes reached a total across all drive types of 503,500 units sold (+3 per […] More…

Under new CEO Koji Sato, Toyota wants to focus more on electric cars in the future and is planning ten new BEV models by 2026. However, Sato is also still committed to hybrids and therefore wants to continue investing in the combustion engine. The 53-year-old Sato took over the CEO post from Akio Toyoda at […] More…

Ford has announced a 1.8 billion Canadian dollar (€1.2 billion) investment to transform the Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario into a Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing centre. This EV centre is to include the assembly of vehicles and battery packs. In the course of this, the site will also be renamed from Oakville Assembly Complex to […] More…

Swiss energy storage specialist Leclanché has developed a new concept for the circular economy of battery life. The concept anticipates compliance with new EU regulations on batteries. The 6 “R’s” of Leclanché’s circular economy concept stand for Reliability, Repowering, Reuse, Recycling and Recycled Content, and Record, which spans the entire life cycle of its lithium-ion […] More…

VW has halted the sale of some ID.4 units because of fear the doors will fling open while in motion. The German manufacturer estimates that around 18,000 vehicles built at the factory in Chattanooga may be affected. In terms of customer deliveries of the affected vehicles, 16,207 customers in the US and 1,455 in Canada […] More…

According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), sales of New Energy Vehicles (NEV) in China stood at 653,000 units last month. This represents a year-on-year increase of 34.8 per cent and a 24.4 per cent increase compared to February. Within these 653,000 New Energy Vehicles, the pendulum swung clearly in […] More…

The South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI has opened a new battery research and development centre in China to boost its technological competitiveness. The SDI China Research and Development Center (SDIRC) was opened on Saturday. According to Samsung SDI, the new research lab will focus on building partnerships with local universities and research institutes to […] More…

MAN Truck & Bus is strengthening its cooperation with surrounding scientific institutions at its Nuremberg site. Together they want to research “fossil-free, future-proof drives” and create synergies between science and industry. The cooperation with the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) and the Nuremberg University of Applied Sciences Georg Simon Ohm (Ohm) will unfold both decentrally and […] More…