Kleanbus launches tests of bus retrofitting kit
British company Kleanbus has announced the completion of the development of its first advanced modular electric platform, installing the pioneering system into its first prototype vehicle.
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Daimler Truck to cooperate with Deutz on electric drives
Daimler Truck is preparing to exit the business with combustion engines through a cooperation with the engine manufacturer Deutz. The background to this is that Daimler Truck no longer wants to invest in the further development of medium-duty Euro 7 motors in view of its e-mobility ambitions.
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Lucid to supply the front electric drives for Gen3 Formula E cars
The US electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors has revealed itself as the supplier of the front electric motors in the current Gen3 racing cars of Formula E. The drive unit now presented by Lucid for motorsport has an output of 350 kW and consists of a motor, inverter, differential and gearbox.
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Honda sets up new e-mobility business unit
Honda has announced the establishment of a new division to strengthen its electrification business within its organisational structure and accelerate development. This will be done not only for the car division, but also for the two-wheeler and powertrain business.
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Nissan invests in electric drive production in the USA
Nissan is planning a US$250 million investment in its Decherd engine plant in the US state of Tennessee to support the electrification of its product range, according to its CEO Makoto Uchida. This is apparently to increase the production of electric drives in the US.
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Mercedes announces changes in management
Mercedes-Benz has announced various new appointments in top management, affecting Level 1 below the Group Board of Management. Among others, Christoph Starzynski, currently Head of Development Electric Drive, will assume responsibility for the overall vehicle development of all Mercedes-Benz passenger car series as of 1 July 2023.
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Bosch to invest over $1 billion in e-mobility capacities in China
Bosch has announced that it will invest around one billion US dollars over several years in the development and production of components for electromobility and automated driving in China – and will build a centre for research, development and production in Suzhou for this purpose.
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Major rare earth deposits found in Sweden
The Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB says it has identified significant deposits of rare earth metals that are needed for electric cars and wind turbines, among other things. Mining on a larger scale will potentially first be possible in several years’ time.
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Toyota invests in hybrid vehicle manufacturing in Europe
Toyota has announced a €77 million investment in the production of fifth-generation hybrid powertrains at its plants in Poland and the UK. The powertrain will be used for the first time in the new Corolla.
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‘Power2Power’ project announces more efficient semiconductors
As part of the now successfully completed European cooperation project ‘Power2Power’, 43 partners from industry and research have jointly developed novel power semiconductors with higher power density and energy efficiency over the past three years. A follow-up project will start in January.
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Polestar to recycle magnets together with Cyclic Materials
Polestar has entered into a cooperation with the North American start-up Cyclic Materials, which specialises in the recycling of magnets. The memorandum of understanding between the two companies provides for the development of recycled magnets for use in electric motors in Polestar vehicles.
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Seat’s factory in El Prat to manufacture EV components in future
Seat announces that in future it will also produce components for electric cars at its transmission plant in El Prat De Llobregat near Barcelona. Together with Martorell and Barcelona, the Seat Components plant is one of the Spanish brand’s three production centres.
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Mercedes has decided on drive production system
On the way to a purely electric vehicle range by the end of the decade, Mercedes-Benz has now made important decisions for drive production. This means that it has been decided in which plants the drive units and battery systems will be assembled.
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Nidec opens development centre in Bulgaria
The Japanese industrial group Nidec has opened a development centre for its electric drive division in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The main purpose of the centre is to develop inverters for vehicles and onboard chargers.
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Mercedes to boost electric drive production capacities in Untertürkheim
Mercedes-Benz wants to double its production capacities for electric drives at the Untertürkheim plant. Previously, up to 500,000 units per year were to be produced there, but now the Stuttgart company is aiming for output in the order of up to one million units per year.
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BMW prepares for drive production in Steyr
BMW has launched preparations to produce the next generation of electric drive systems at its engine plant in Steyr from 2025. In concrete terms, BMW has begun to set the course in terms of personnel and organisation. Meanwhile in the USA, the plug-in hybrid SUV BMW XM is now rolling off the production line.
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Volvo is updating the drive systems of the XC40 and C40
Volvo has extensively revised the drive systems of its electric models XC40 and C40. In the all-wheel drive models, an asynchronous motor replaces the previously used permanent synchronous motor on the front axle. The new motor layout of the all-wheel-drive models also has consequences for the single-motor models.
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BMW invests in Jetti Resources to secure copper for drive systems
BMW is investing in the US company Jetti Resources to promote the responsible and resource-conserving mining of copper. Copper is one of the key raw materials in the production of electric drive systems.
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Toyota to develop FC Hilux with UK government support
Toyota is to develop a fuel cell version of its Hilux pick-up truck with financial support from the British government and set up a pilot production line for it at its plant in Derbyshire, UK.
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Mahle sells €1.4 Bn worth of EV compressors
The German automotive supplier Mahle has secured numerous series orders for its compressors for the electric passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. The company’s electric air-conditioning compressor for thermal management in electric vehicles has garnered a total order volume of around 1.4 billion euros.
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ZF presents new drive series with higher efficiency and performance
The German supplier ZF has presented a new generation of electric drives for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. With numerous innovations at the component and system level, these are to “set standards with outstanding power density and energy efficiency”.
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Nidec to manufacture electric drives in Mexico
Nidec is planning to build an electric axle factory in Mexico. The company currently produces electric axles in China and Europe and wants to manufacture them in Mexico in the future in view of an expected surge in demand in North America.
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Schaeffler begins downsizing combustion departments
The accelerated transformation of vehicle drives towards electromobility is leading to overcapacities at Schaeffler for products for combustion vehicles. For this reason and to reduce fixed costs, the automotive supplier is now announcing the elimination of a total of 1,300 jobs by the end of 2026.
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ZF to concert factory in Saarbrücken to drive production centre
The German automotive supplier ZF will convert its transmission plant in Saarbrücken into a lead location for pure electric drives and has announced that it will invest a three-digit million sum for this purpose. Electric drive production is scheduled to start there in 2024.
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Knorr-Bremse invests in Chinese supplier Bobang
Knorr-Bremse has invested in the Chinese electric motor supplier Bobang and in return receives a company share of approximately 13 per cent. In addition to the investment, Knorr-Bremse is also planning development projects with Bobang.
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CATL presents skateboard platform & first customer
Chinese battery manufacturer CATL is developing a skateboard chassis that integrates battery packs, electric motors and other components. The CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis (CIIC) is expected to be ready for series production shortly. A first potential customer has already been found with VinFast.
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Aiways to launch recycling programme for vehicles and batteries
The Chinese electric car manufacturer Aiways wants to work with partners in Europe to take back and recycle end-of-life vehicles and batteries, including accident vehicles. For the German market, Aiways has entered into a cooperation agreement with the vehicle recycler Priorec.
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Magna expands EV component production in the USA
The automotive supplier Magna International is investing more than 500 million US dollars in two new production sites and the expansion of an existing plant in the US state of Michigan. An important customer for the eMobility components is General Motors.
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Mercedes is optimizing truck batteries for use in construction BEVs
Around one in five Mercedes-Benz trucks sold in Europe is in the construction site segment. The Stuttgart-based company is now also turning its attention to vehicle development for this energy-intensive business: in the form of specially prepared prototypes of the eActros LongHaul and the Arocs, as well as an eActros with an electrified roll-off tipper.
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Bosch launches electric drive production in South Carolina
Bosch has begun manufacturing electric motors for e-cars at its existing U.S. plant in Charleston. The German supplier also plans to invest more than $260 million at the South Carolina site to further expand production of electrification products.
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