At the end of May, GM's Chinese brand Wuling teased twice its first all-electric vehicle, inspired by the Kei-Car in Japan. It first showed off renders of the exterior and afterward - renders of the interior. Today, GM unveiled real photos of the interior of the vehicle as well as its name - Hong Guang Mini EV. Wuling's Hong Guang Mini EV interior has simple lines matched with two-color textured fabrics. The...

22 May 2020

SVOLT is a Chinese company, which has recently announced two cobalt-free batteries for electric vehicles. According to Yang Hongxin, President of SVOLT, the newly launched cobalt-free batteries have several core advantages including longer cycle life, better safety and higher energy density. As he said, SVOLT's L6 cobalt-free long cell is being adapted to a high-end model of Great Wall Motors. With its matrix PACK...

22 May 2020

Polestar will enter the US in H2 of 2020 and has announced its first retail partners on local grounds. The company plans to open Polestar Spaces in New York City, Los Angeles, and two locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the brand's renowned partners will be Manhattan Motorcars, Galpin Motors and Price-Simms Automotive Group for initial locations planned to open in the second half of 2020. In H1 of 2021...

20 May 2020

Xpeng Motors announced that it has received the official production license from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for its new own-built, wholly-owned factory, the Zhaoqing Xpeng Motors Intelligent Industrial Park in Guangdong Province. The approval will accelerate the production of the Xpeng P7, the company's second production model, ensuring customer deliveries scheduled for Q2 of 2020. The...

20 May 2020

Mazda announced its first all-electric vehicle in October 2019. The 2020 Mazda MX-30 has entered production as of May 19, 2020 in Ujina plant No. 1 in Hiroshima, Japan. The manufacturer has chosen a four-door design for its all-electric SUV without a pillar for the freestyle doors. The front ones open at 82 degrees and the rear ones - at 80 degrees so there's ample space for entry and exit. The 6.6 kW onboard...

20 May 2020

In December last year, GM and LG Chem confirmed that they will build an EV battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Today, GM announced that the joint venture created by the two companies for this project is named Ultium Cells LLC. Moreover, construction has started with group prep activities. Even in pandemic times, product development work on GM's future EV and AV portfolios continues to progress at a rapid pace. The...

20 May 2020

On May 13, during an annual investors conference, CATL announced that it will supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory. This is the first tie CATL discloses in public any partnership with Tesla. CATL Chairman Cheung Yu-chin also said that cooperation with Tesla is not limited to its China operations. CATL uses the CTP technology which increases the battery cell to battery pack...

18 May 2020

Jae-yong Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Jung-sun Jung, vice president of Hyundai Motor Group have met, according to South Korean news outlets. This is the first meeting between the two and the industry expects the main point of the meeting is some kind of partnership in the EV battery business. So far, Hyundai Motor has never used an electric car battery made by Samsung. If Hyundai agrees to source...

18 May 2020

The BYD Han EV is a premium luxury saloon which is soon to be revealed in Europe. A high-performance silicon carbide motor-control propels the Han EV from zero to 100 km/h (62mph) in a breathtaking 3.9 seconds. At the heart of the Han EV's drive system is BYD's new, ultra-safe and space-saving Blade Battery, offering a remarkable single-charge range of 605 kilometres (376 miles) based on the NEDC test cycle and...

14 May 2020

Following record sales its EVs in Europe in the first quarter of 2020, Kia shared its plans for future growth. Earlier this year, Kia announced its Plan S - a mix of long-term and mid-term strategy steps that will establish the brand's leading position in electrification and mobility systems, automotive connectivity and autonomy. During this first quarter, 6% of Kia's total European sales were BEVs. What does the...

13 May 2020

SK Innovation is accelerating its EV Battery business post-Covid-19 crisis. It is continuing to expand its global production base by winning contracts for supplying batteries to global automakers. At the end of April this year, SK Innovation decided to invest in the US to build a second battery factory. In 2017, SK Innovation had an annual production capacity of 1.7 GWh. It expanded to 4.7 GWh at the end of 2018 due...

13 May 2020

Tesla's new European Gigafactory in Grünheide in Brandenburg is scheduled to start production next year despite the coronavirus crisis. Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) confirmed this on Wednesday during the Economic Committee of the Brandenburg State Parliament. "There is a clear statement by the Tesla European boss that the first cars should roll off the assembly line in 2021," said Steinbach. "The project...

13 May 2020

Yonhap reports that Hyundai and Kia have opened most of their plants outside South Korea. Kia has 7 overseas plants - three in China, one in the US, Slovakia, Mexico and India. Hyundai has 10 overseas plants - four in China, one in the US, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil. The resumption of activities is at a reduced level. The US plants of the brands resumed production last week. The ones in...

12 May 2020

SAIC Motor of China which owns MG teased on Weibo the MG Cyberster Concept - an all-electric roadster. According to the post, the vehicle will be equipped with the most cutting-edge technology in terms of connectivity, including 5G support and Level 3 autonomous driving technology, smart cockpit, etc. This vehicle will also pave the way for a whole new generation of MG smart vehicles. The teasers are three renders...

12 May 2020

Earlier today, Hyundai announced that it plans on launching a new large-size electric vehicle next year. A company spokesperson talked to the Yonhap news agency explaining that the next-generation BEV model will be produced at Hyundai's plant, 414 km southeast of Seoul. These plans have also been presented to the unionized workers as any changes in assembly lines require agreement from them. The new BEV from Hyundai...

11 May 2020