After alliance partner Nissan, Renault has also presented its restructuring program. The savings plan provides for the elimination of two billion euros in fixed costs. Among other things, savings will be made in personnel.

Volkswagen has officially confirmed its plan to increase its stake in JAC Volkswagen, its joint venture for electric mobility, and to invest around one billion euros in this. The Wolfsburg-based company will invest another billion in a Chinese battery specialist.

Danish wind turbine builder Vestas has announced it will be replacing all new service vehicles with EVs by 2025. Pilots will be introduced in several markets throughout 2020. This policy has already launched in China, where the first EV has now been in operation in the Fuijan Province since January.

Tesla has just lowered the prices of its models, in some cases considerably, depending on country and model range. All Tesla models are affected by the price cuts with the exception of the new Model Y. In the USA, the Model 3 will also be around 2,000 dollars cheaper.

The extremely ambitious electric car plans of the Chinese Evergrande Group are becoming more concrete: In Huzhou in Zhejiang Province, local media reported that the ground-breaking ceremony for a production facility of Evergrande for electric drive systems has now taken place.

There are now new details about the cobalt-free lithium-ion battery cells announced by SVOLT Energy Technology. Two versions of these cells are expected to be available next year: one with a nominal capacity of 115 Ah and one with 226 Ah.

Reuters claims to have more details about Tesla’s battery cell plans. The announced “million-mile” battery is expected to come in early 2021 at the latest and may break the 100$/kWh barrier. Plus, Tesla now thinks in “terrafactories”.

Tesla has started production of the long-range version of the Model 3 in Shanghai, China. Deliveries are scheduled to begin shortly. However, the price is slightly higher than previously announced.

The Chinese government has issued three national standards on safety requirements for electric vehicles and their batteries, which will come into force on 1 January 2021. One of the standards relates to electric vehicles in general, another specifically to electric buses and the third to traction batteries.

The latest CAM data for the electric car sector from Jan to April 2020 paints an uneven development. The study notices a strong increase in electric vehicles sales in Europe in general, the UK in particular, with an increase in PHEV cars in Germany.

Despite the crisis, General Motors is sticking to the timetable for most of its electric offensive. By the middle of this decade, GM has also reaffirmed its goal of achieving annual sales of one million electric cars in the two largest markets, North America and China.

Tesla has secured a further credit line of up to 4 billion yuan (around 521 million euros) from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for the expansion of its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai.

China has set a national standard for wireless charging of electric vehicles based on WiTricity technology. The inductive charging specialist has worked closely with the GB standards committee on several technical issues, including efforts for harmonisation.

The new Tesla Roadster won’t hit the markets before 2022. That’s two years later than Elon Musk initially envisioned in 2017. The delay, however, is not due to the virus, officially but Tesla has too many other things on their plate.

According to a media report, Tesla has commissioned the South Korean company Hanwha to supply equipment for battery formation. This is probably equipment that Tesla is already ordering for its intended cell production.

The first series-production electric car from Arcfox, a dedicated EV brand by BAIC BJEV, is now going on sale in China. The Arcfox Alpha-T is a large electric SUV with premium standards and a range of over 650 kilometres.

Nissan reportedly wants to withdraw from Europe and instead focus more on its main markets: the USA, China and Japan. The news comes through sources of Reuters and also includes repercussions on the alliance’s e-mobility offering.

Volkswagen has relieved its Seat brand of responsibility for the development of the planned MEB small electric car for under 20,000 euros, insiders say. The decision is related to the fact that Seat has indefinitely postponed its market entry in China.

BYD’s net profit in the first quarter fell by around 85 per cent year-on-year from 749.7 million yuan to 112.6 million yuan (almost 14.6 million euros). Revenues in the first quarter fell by 35 per cent to 19.68 billion yuan.

After first giving us his polarising observations on how not to make it in the business of charging infrastructure in last week’s guest contribution, the mobility consultant and former Hubject CEO Thomas Daiber now delivers the five biggest Do’s for growth and lasting success.

The CHAdeMO Association has presented the new CHAdeMO 3.0 protocol, which was jointly developed with the China Electricity Council (CEC). According to the organisation, the charging standard will enable DC charging with a capacity of “over 500 kW”.

Xpeng Motors launched its second production model in China. After the G3 e-SUV was released in late 2018, the P7 E-Limousine is now on the market, with prices starting at 229,900 yuan (around 29,950 euros) after subsidies. In addition, there are unconfirmed reports of an imminent launch in Europe.

In China, according to a number of media sources, VW has begun the production of prototypes presented last year as an electric SUV concept called ID. Roomzz. The seven-seater is apparently first set for launch on the Chinese market in 2021, presumably as VW ID.6.

Deficient business models and a hardware-intensive struggle for locations: Looking back, the former Hubject boss Thomas Daiber sees the ramp-up of the e-mobility charging infrastructure as a permanent turning into dangerous dead ends.

The Chinese government has now also extended purchase premiums until the end of 2022. However, the conditions have changed, which should cause particular concern for German premium manufacturers. Tesla is also affected.

BYD and Toyota’s commercial vehicle subsidiary Hino Motors have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in the field of electric vehicles. The agreement initially provides for the joint development of BEV commercial vehicles and will later extend to other areas such as sales.

The Chinese government has now officially confirmed that it will exempt New Energy Vehicles (BEV, FCEV and PHEV) from the 10 per cent purchase tax in 2021 and 2022. Rumours to this effect had already been in circulation since the beginning of this month.

Toyota is launching three electric models on the Chinese market on April 26. One of these vehicles is also soon to be sold in select European markets.

A new electric car brand launched in China named Maple. Maple is a joint venture between Geely and Kandi’s Fengsheng Automotive Technology Group. The brand’s first model, the Maple 30x, is to be launched at prices of less than 9,000 euros.

The Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio has started deliveries of the new edition of its ES8 model. The electric SUV has been revised in many areas and is now offered with a new 100 kWh battery pack, among other things.