IBG, Montana Tech, Tesla, Mobileye.

Robot built EV: German IBG introduced its new assembly unit at the Hannover Messe. Three robots within the iProcell are supposed to take care of everything from unloading to assembly. This way, IBG plans to build its own electric cars. While Lübeck is the company’s place of choice for the automated EV production, IBG feels the city could be more supportive than it currently is.
computerwoche.de (in German), ln-online.de (Lübeck – in German)

German battery factory? The Austrian Montana Tech Components Groups to which parts of German Varta belongs, plans to build a European EV battery factory. The company has already worked with Volkswagen and says it is currently speaking with all German manufacturers. If the talks are succesful, planning could start in 2015 and production already two years later. To finance the facility, Montana might start trading Varta’s EV segment on the stock market.
handelsblatt.com (in German)

Inside Tesla: One tech-savvy Model S owner has managed to plug into an Ethernet port to hack his own car and made Firefox run on the mid-console. However, he immediately got a message by Tesla Motors asking him nicely but firmly to stop his digital endeavours.
transportevolved.com, dragtimes.com

Meanwhile, Mobileye was granted permission to import one Model S into Israel with the goal to develop and test semi-autonomous driving technology. According to the Israeli paper Harretz, Mobileye is working directly for Tesla.
haaretz.com, transportevolved.com