After two years of construction, Continental’s powertrain division Vitesco Technologies has put its new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, into operation. Electronics and transmission sensors for drives for use in fully electric and electrified vehicles are manufactured there on an area of around 7,000 square metres.

Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus has selected Voith as its exclusive partner to supply the electric drive system for the second generation of its battery-electric and fuel cell buses for Europe.

BMW wants to more than double the electrified vehicle output at its plant in German Dingolfing this year to over 40,000 vehicles, up from just about 20,000. The all-electric BMW iX will become the main driver behind the push.

BorgWarner has announced an electric motor for commercial vehicles that supports an 800-volt architecture and will be available in four versions. The catch: the motors won’t go into production until 2024.

US American vehicle supplier Meritor plans to begin production of its new electric drive for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles in mid-2021 and has already announced three customers: Volta Trucks of Sweden, Lion Electric of Canada, and Autocar Trucks of the United States.

The Israeli eMobility start-up Ree Automotive moves to the US stock exchange Nasdaq through a merger with the investment company, 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corporation. The SPAC deal is expected to bring Ree about half a billion dollars.

In the BALIS project, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is developing a fuel cell powertrain for aircraft with an output of around 1.5 MW. This would make it possible to build a regional aircraft with 40 to 60 seats and a range of 1,000 kilometres.

The Berlin-based engineering specialist IAV has developed a mobile high-voltage test stand that it now offers either as a product or a service. The company says that several German vehicle manufacturers are already using the unit called IAV Auros.

BYD has unveiled a new plug-in hybrid powertrain called DM-i, which is expected to reduce fuel consumption to 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres. Three BYD models will initially be equipped with the DM-i hybrid system, which is now entering series production: The Qin, the Song and the Tang.

For the next generation of its electric and hybrid vehicles, Lexus has introduced an electric drive control system called Direct4. A purely battery-electric concept vehicle based on this technology is to be presented in the first quarter of 2021.

The automotive supplier Mahle has opened a new test bench for electric drives in Fellbach near Stuttgart, Germany. In the future, individual drive units and complete electric axle drives for electric cars and plug-in hybrids will be tested there. The first test for a customer has already been completed.

Daimler and its Chinese shareholder Geely are tightening the knots they share as they agree to cooperate in the development and production of hybrid drives. The two automotive groups intend to use synergies in their global research and development networks.

With everybody stuck at home, it pays to look to the wide-open waters. Or to the smaller blues of Lake Starnberg that is home base to Torqeedo. 15 years in the game, the small enterprise has become the market leader in e-mobility on water, and we wanted to discover what’s next.

ABB has secured a contract worth around 150 million US dollars to supply the complete power and drive package for cruise ships built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The electric drives will still be powered by diesel engines, but are said to reduce fuel consumption by 20%.

After VW announced that the electric model Aero will also be built in Emden from 2023 in the course of its latest investment planning round, CEO Ralf Brandstätter has now revealed further details: The model will be launched as the Aero B and the Aero B Shooting Brake two years later than originally planned.

Ford has announced a number of investments to build out several US plants to produce electric models and components. The Van Dyke transmission plant will also build electric motors in future and in Kansas City, Ford will invest 100 million dollars in manufacturing capabilities for the e-transit.

The US company Nuvera Fuel Cells is launching its new E-45 fuel cell system for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. It can supply primary power or serve as a range extender. They will initially build the hydrogen system in the USA and China later on.

Government and industry have together filled a funding pot in Great Britain with 92 million pounds (around 102 million euros) to subsidise 49 concrete electrification projects in the country. The funding program is coordinated by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).

BMW is changing its electric strategy and is now developing a dedicated electric car platform to utilise in the new plant in Hungary after 2025. The company also intends to start building a fully electric model in the city of Regensburg from 2022.

The Japanese supplier Nidec has announced that it will invest up to ten billion US dollars in the automotive electric motor business over the next five years. According to the CEO, the company intends to “dominate the market for electric vehicle engines”.

The company has opened a new laboratory for electric motors in Shanghai, thus expanding its global network of facilities where components for electric vehicles are developed and tested.

Opel boss Michael Lohscheller has revealed that the German carmaker is planning the first road tests with fuel cell cars in 2021. According to the report in a German newspaper, Opel intends to equip an unspecified number of small Zafira family vans with hydrogen fuel cells.

The Volkswagen subsidiary MAN Truck & Bus intends to give greater priority to hydrogen in its electrification strategy in future, in addition to the development and manufacture of battery-powered commercial vehicles. The Munich-based company will be testing hydrogen-powered vehicle prototypes as early as next year.

BorgWarner has completed the acquisition of Delphi Technologies. The US-American automotive supplier wants to use the acquired know-how in electronics and power electronics to become one of the leading companies for electric drive systems.

Flying from London to Paris really fast and with zero-emissions, that would be a catchy description of project ACCEL, that now took the next step towards launching “the world’s fastest electric aircraft”. Rolls-Royce has completed ground-testing of the technology.

Danfoss Editron is supplying Energy Absolute with the electric propulsion systems for Thailand’s first fleet of all-electric passenger ferries that will operate on the Chao Phraya River. Each of the 24 meter long ferries can carry 200 passengers.

After two years of construction and a total investment of more than 20 million euros, TÜV SÜD opened the new Centre for Mobility and Powertrains near Stuttgart today. Besides combustion engines, they also offer emission testing for hybrid and electric vehicles there.

The strategic e-mobility and manufacturing partnership between General Motors and Nikola still awaits finalisation. The deal for electric trucks was supposed to be signed and sealed tomorrow, but according to GM, this is not yet the case.

To secure the supply of raw materials such as lithium or rare earth in Europe, the EU Commission launched the European Raw Materials Alliance today. ERMA already includes 150 companies as well as non-governmental organizations, associations and governments.

Danfoss Editron has received an order from the Norwegian shipyard Grovfjord Mekaniske Verksted (GMV) to supply hybrid propulsion systems for a fleet of unmanned exploration vessels. Four of the vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2021, with seven more to follow in the following months.