MG Motor India has launched the MZ ZS EV in the local market. The model is equipped with a 44.5 kWh battery from CATL with a liquid cooling system that ensures up to 340 km of range. The battery accepts a maximum DC charging rate of 50 kW and via the onboard charger, the maximum AC charging rate is 7.4 kW. The front-mounted electric motor provides 105 kW of power and 353 Nm of torque. There are three driving modes...

6 December 2019

It's official: General Motors has officially confirmed its plans to make a joint venture with LG Chem for building an EV battery plant in Ohio. The two companies will invest a total of US$2.3 billion in the 50:50 joint venture. The site will be in the Lordstown area of Northeast Ohio and when fully operational, the plant will create more than 1,100 new jobs. LG Chem will not only benefit from access to experienced...

5 December 2019

Volkswagen has announced that its Brunswick plant is where the batteries for all vehicles based on the MEB platform are and will be produced. It plans to output up to 500,000 units per year. A battery pack consists of modules and each module consists of battery cells. On the ID.3, the largest battery pack has a net capacity of 77 kWh and estimated gross capacity of 82 kWh. It comprises of 12 modules and each one of...

5 December 2019

SK Innovation has confirmed that its first EV battery plant in China is completed. A completion ceremony was held in Changzhou in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu and was attended by SK Innovation's and Beijing Automotive Group and Beijing Electronics executives and more than 500 guests. SK Inno holds 49% stake in the plant, dubbed BEST, and the rest is owned by the Beijing Automotive Group and Beijing...

5 December 2019

According to Reuters, LG Chem and General Motors have agreed to build an EV battery manufacturing joint venture in the United States. The two sides will participate equally in the new company which will be set up in Ohio and will get more than US$2 billion from LG Chem and GM. LG Chem declined to comment on the matter, saying it can't confirm a deal with its customers. So far, it has supplied batteries for GM's...

5 December 2019

Last night, three months after Nikola and Iveco plus FPT announced their partnership, the companies have jointly unveiled the Nikola TRE maquette. This means it is way before being a prototype. The prototype itself will be launched at the IAA 2020 commercial vehicle exhibition in Hannover, Germany, and production of the real vehicle is scheduled for 2021. The Nikola TRE is based on Iveco's S-WAY heavy-duty truck...

4 December 2019

SK Innovation signed a contract with Glencore of Switzerland, the world's No. 1 cobalt producer, to purchase about 30,000 tons of cobalt for the period from 2020 to 2025. This is enough to produce batteries for about 3 million pure electric vehicles. As SK Innovation secured core raw materials, it has laid the foundation to meet growing battery demand. The industry predicts that the global EV battery market will...

4 December 2019

Yesterday, Lucid Motors officially marked the start of the construction of its Casa Grande, Arizona facility together with the Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, the Arizona Commerce Authority, and local officials. This first phase of factory construction will be completed after a year and upon completion, it will be ready to begin the production of Lucid's first car, the Lucid Air luxury sedan. The investment in this...

3 December 2019

Kia Motors UK launches its all-electric vehicles for the model year 2020 with the promises that battery shortage issues have been solved and that the company is ready to ensure stable supply for its customers. Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Limited commented: "Since launching e-Niro at the beginning of the year, we have received unprecedented demand which has been a challenge to fulfil. As we...

3 December 2019

South Korean media report that SK Innovation is aiming to diversify the supply of battery notching equipment. Ultimately, this will help the company to ensure stable long-term production of EV batteries from its facilities in China, Hungary, South Korea and the US. According to Elec's sources, SK Innovation is in talks with Mplus which is already supplying battery tab welding and packaging equipment to its Seosan...

3 December 2019

BMW has announced a 400 million euro investment in its Dingolfing plant in Lower Bavaria. The site will be re-structured for the production of electric vehicles, including the upcoming BMW iNEXT as well as for the production of autonomous vehicles. This is the company's largest European production location and the update should be done by 2021 and the BMS iNEXT will be the first pure electric vehicles produced in...

2 December 2019

At the Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC Group has showcased the all-electric GAC ENO.146. The .146 in the name stands for the drag coefficient of the vehicle which is one of the lowest in the world. It was presented by Zhang Fan, Vice President of GAC Research Institute. The Aion S and Aion LX are also at display along with optimized sensor equipment, GAC Group's third-generation powertrain, ADiGO intelligent IoT system...

29 November 2019

Audi has announced an increased upfront investment in electromobility for the next five years. The company plans to invest €37 billion euro in research and development, property, plant and equipment. An upfront expenditure of €12 billion euro is planned for electromobility alone. By 2025, the Audi Group intends to have more than 30 electrified models in its product range - 20 of which will be fully electric. "With...

29 November 2019

Today, BMW announced that it will build the future electric Mini models in China together with Great Wall. The two companies have launched the Spotlight Automotive Limited - a joint venture which was conceived in the summer of 2018. The first phase is to build the plant, which will happen between 2020 and 2022. The plant will have a standard capacity of up to 160,000 vehicles per year, which will require around...

29 November 2019

This morning Audio has announced that after a number of hardware and software updates, the 2020 Audi e-tron is now able to offer 25 km more range than its predecessors. For starters, a new type of wheel brake helped to improve the residual brake torque and decrease losses. Second, the drive system has become more efficient. In the 2020 models, the front electric motor is almost entirely disengaged and disconnected...

28 November 2019