GM will spend $1B making the first manganese-rich cells in mass production
GM will spend $1B making the first manganese-rich cells in mass production

GM and LG Energy Solution will spend $1B turning their Spring Hill plant into the first factory to mass-produce prismatic lithium manganese-rich cells. Europe’s carmakers are spending comparable sums on lithium iron phosphate, the chemistry GM’s batter…

Volkswagen’s affordable EV plans have a new Chinese partner
Volkswagen’s affordable EV plans have a new Chinese partner

Volkswagen has agreed three joint ventures with China’s Gotion to build lithium iron phosphate battery capacity, selling 49% of PowerCo’s Valencia plant and taking minority stakes in a Slovak cell plant and a Moroccan cathode plant. Volkswagen says Eur…

BYD says it will have a solid-state car next year, the earliest date anyone has given
BYD says it will have a solid-state car next year, the earliest date anyone has given

BYD executive vice-president Stella Li says the company will have one model with solid-state batteries next year, which is the earliest date any carmaker has given. Toyota says 2027 or 2028, Mercedes and Honda closer to 2030, and LG Energy Solution put…

Volkswagen’s Canadian battery plant slips to 2029, while its German one is already running
Volkswagen’s Canadian battery plant slips to 2029, while its German one is already running

Volkswagen’s battery subsidiary PowerCo has delayed its Ontario plant by two years to 2029, and the ID Buzz will skip another American model year. Its Salzgitter plant in Germany has been making cells since December and supplies a new assembly line at …

Nio sells a 30% stake in its battery swapping arm to Geely
Nio sells a 30% stake in its battery swapping arm to Geely

Nio has agreed to sell a 30% stake in its battery swapping business, Nio Power, to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the company said on Monday. The two Chinese carmakers will also share technology and standards and build a joint service network. Geely Hol…

Chery built the first diesel plug-in hybrid pickup, and measures its electric range on NEDC
Chery built the first diesel plug-in hybrid pickup, and measures its electric range on NEDC

Chery has built the world’s first diesel plug-in hybrid pickup, the Stockman, developed for Australia rather than China, with a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel, a 34 kWh battery and a claimed 100 km of electric range on the NEDC cycle. Volvo invented the diesel…

Hyundai says solid-state cars are five years away, and still too expensive after that
Hyundai says solid-state cars are five years away, and still too expensive after that

Hyundai research chief Manfred Harrer says carmakers cannot give up on solid-state batteries and expects small-volume halo cars within five years, but does not believe the raw material cost problem can be solved in that time. LG Energy Solution puts so…

Tesla’s Semi finally enters production, nine years after it was shown
Tesla’s Semi finally enters production, nine years after it was shown

Tesla has begun volume production of the Semi at Gigafactory Nevada with first deliveries this week, nine years after showing the truck, and rates it at 500 miles of range and 1.2 megawatts of charging. It has already installed more than 100 megawatt-c…

Europe keeps buying more electric cars, which now take 29% of new registrations
Europe keeps buying more electric cars, which now take 29% of new registrations

Battery electric cars took 29% of new car sales in Europe in August, and across the European Union for the first eight months of the year they reached 21.7% of registrations, exactly level with petrol. Hybrids remain the largest single category on 36.6…

Volkswagen is selling more EVs than petrol cars in Germany, and building them in Spain
Volkswagen is selling more EVs than petrol cars in Germany, and building them in Spain

Volkswagen is now taking more orders for electric cars than for petrol and diesel in Germany, its home market and the largest in Europe, and has cancelled planned extra shifts at Wolfsburg while adding them at Emden and Zwickau. The four budget models …