Audi announced an increase in its electromobility budget up to 2025. With a total amount of approximately €35 billion, investments remain at a high level, especially for future vehicle projects, in spite of a difficult business environment. Some €17 billion, amounting to half of the investment sum, is allocated to future technologies alone. Audi has earmarked approximately €15 billion for electromobility and the...

3 December 2020

Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled its new dedicated BEV platform called Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). It will be used for the new generation EVs that will launch from 2021. These include the IONIQ 5, Kia's first dedicated BEV to be revealed in 2021, and a series of other models. The new platform offers increased development flexibility, reduced complexity, powerful driving performance, increased driving...

3 December 2020

Lucid Motors has announced the completion of the first phase of construction at the new Lucid AMP-1 (Advanced Manufacturing Plant) factory in Casa Grande, AZ, with the commissioning of production equipment and processes underway ahead of the start of production for Lucid Air in Spring 2021. The site allows for additional phases of expansion, with the next phase expected to begin in early 2021, enabling future...

3 December 2020

Back in September, LG announced that its EV battery business will be split off from LG Chem. As of today, the new company named LG Energy Solutions is a fact launching as a wholly-owned subsidiary of LG Chem. In addition to EV batteries, it also offers energy storage system solutions and small-sized IT & new application batteries. The new business entity is headed by Kim Jong-hyun as the company's CEO. He has the...

1 December 2020

Following Tesla, LG Chem has developed its own module pack integrated platform (MPI) that will reduce the modules in batteries allowing for a double increase in cells used inside. Moreover, the battery will be 30% cheaper and will have a higher energy density by 10%. This is a unibody design with a module-less structure similar to CATL's cell-to-pack battery fitted on the Tesla Model 3. LG Chem is already working on...

30 November 2020

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China has issued its latest list for approved new vehicles for the local market and another list for new NEV vehicles that are approved for the government's tax exemption purchase. The China-made Tesla Model Y with model code TSL6480BEVBA0 is included in those lists, meaning it can now be sold and the new owners of Model Y unit produced at Tesla Giga...

30 November 2020

Thanks to its factories in Hungary and China that already began operation, SK Innovation has increased its battery production capacity sixfold from 2019 to 2020. The latest facility that joined SK Innovation's portfolio is the Blue Sky United Energy plant in Yancheng, China, which started manufacturing cells this month. This is a second China facility for the company after the one in Changzhou. Together with the...

23 November 2020

The State Grid Co., Ltd. held an event in Beijing on November 20 to launch its latest ambitious project - a China-wide EV charging grid that includes more than 1.03 million public and private charging stations that cover the 29 provinces and 273 cities serving 5.5 million EV drivers. Among them, there are 140,000 self-operated charging stations by the State Grid, 380,000 private charging stations, and more than...

23 November 2020

General Motors has announced an ambitious plan for its development as an EV manufacturer for the next decade. For starters, GM plans on launching 30 new electric vehicles around the globe by 2025. More than 20 of those will be available in North America. Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, and Buick will all be represented, with EVs at all price points for work, adventure, performance, and family use. At the end of the...

19 November 2020

BMW has presented "an all-new interpretation of a vision of space" - the MINI Vision Urbanaut. Its pinpoints are the huge interior space, enhanced versatility, high-end digital services, minimal footprint. The concept vehicle introduces the MINI moments - a set of modes that enable a wide range of usage scenarios. These include Chill - for relaxing or working during a journey; Wanferlust - when driving without...

18 November 2020

Svolt is one of the top 10 Chinese EV battery cell manufacturers. The spin-off from Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall has announced its plans to build a battery cell factory in Germany at the IAA 2019 and it seems that these plans have a more solid shape now. Svolt says in a press release that in two Saarland (Germany) locations it will build a module and pack factory as well as a state-of-the-art cell factory...

18 November 2020

Huawei is the largest smartphone producer in China with 45% market share and the second-largest in the world with 14% global market share, following Samsung which has 22% share in the global smartphone market. A few days ago, the company held its 2020 Huawei all-in-one electric drive system DriveONE conference in Beijing. During the conference, the industry's first hyper-converged power domain solution. On one hand...

16 November 2020

Responsibly mined and processed raw materials provide the foundation for a sustainable Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle fleet. Therefore the brand has committed to using battery cells made with cobalt and lithium that come exclusively from certified mining sites. This will happen simultaneously with efforts to reduce cobalt. In the coming generations of battery cells, the cobalt content is already being reduced to...

13 November 2020

XPeng has unveiled its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2020. The company has delivered 8,578 vehicles, which is a 265.8% increase compared to Q3 2019. Of those, 6,210 are Xpeng P7 units, which is a staggering increase compared to 325 units delivered in Q2 of 2020. As of September 30, 2020, XPeng's physical sales and service network consisted of a total of 116 stores and 50 service centers...

13 November 2020

Hyundai Motor has made a series of updates to the 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric. The new Kona Electric has undergone bold design upgrades for a dynamic new look, as well as featuring safety enhancements and an advanced technology package. The front with the new-look closed grille features a pure and clean design. It is further enhanced by the new LED Daytime Running Lights. The front is complemented by an asymmetric...

12 November 2020