Hitachi and Hitachi Astemo are developing a compact and lightweight in-wheel drive system for electric vehicles that combines motor, inverter and brake in one unit. Hitachi Astemo plans to use the drive system in its electric vehicle product range. Hitachi Astemo (short for “Advanced Sustainable Technologies for Mobility”) is a joint venture between Hitachi Automotive […] More…

NASA has selected two US companies to support its Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD). It is about the development of electric aircraft engines in the megawatt class. The contracts will go to GE Aviation and MagniX. With the EPFD programme, NASA wants to develop electric propulsion technologies that could be used in US passenger aircraft […] More…

Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen have announced the beginning of Hy24, “the world’s largest investment platform focused exclusively on clean hydrogen infrastructure”. Hy24’s first fund is expected to have a volume of 1.5 billion euros. The investment platform is being set up by Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen as a joint venture. According to a statement by […] More…

The commodities group BHP and the Toyota-Panasonic joint venture Prime Planet Energy & Solutions have agreed on a memorandum of understanding on the supply of nickel. The material is to come from BHP’s new production facility in Western Australia. The third signatory to the memorandum of understanding between BHP and the battery joint venture established […] More…

The German aggregate plants of Mercedes-Benz are starting production of central components for the battery-electric eActros. These include the e-axle and the battery packs, which will be manufactured and assembled at the Gaggenau, Kassel and Mannheim locations. The components that are entering serial production in the German plants will then be used in the series […] More…

The Belgian national postal operator Bpost is procuring 1,200 electric vans to be delivered by the end of 2022. According to a Flemish media report, the first 400 of the electric transporters have already been ordered, with the tender for the remaining 800 to follow at the end of this month. According to the Flemish […] More…

The first production vehicles of the new Multivan presented in June have rolled off the production line at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. This is the first time a Multivan with a plug-in hybrid has been produced at the Hanover plant. As reported, the new Multivan is based for the first time on the VW Group’s MQB […] More…

The Stellantis brand Jeep has announced a new generation of the Grand Cherokee SUV, which will also be offered as a plug-in hybrid for the first time. A new platform makes this possible. The model is to be offered in North America in early 2022 and in other markets later in the year. Like Jeep’s […] More…

Spanish authorities and Nissan have started talks with Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motors about a possible takeover of Nissan’s Barcelona plant. Great Wall could move into the largest of the three plants in Barcelona. However, the negotiations are said to be explicitly non-exclusive as yet. Overall, the future of the Zona Franca, Montcada i Reixac […] More…

In Norway, 13,946 new electric cars were registered in September. The share of electric cars in new passenger car registrations was 77.5 per cent last month. Norway’s most successful model across all drive types in September was the Tesla Model Y with 3,564 new registrations, ahead of the Tesla Model 3 with 2,218 registrations. Compared […] More…