Opel has just announced the prices for the Mokka-e a few months after the world premiere. Deliveries are scheduled to start in early 2021.

Audi has handed over 19 e-tron electric cars to FC Bayern players. As the club’s official mobility partner, Audi has also already installed charging points for the electric fleet at the Bayern training ground in Munich.

Opel, known as Vauxhall in the UK, will electrify all light commercial vehicles by 2021. Enough for us to take a look at the all-electric van Vivaro-e and its passenger car variant, the Zafira-e. Our editor had a short test drive with both vehicles in Germany.

In Germany, the Darmstadt transport company HEAG mobilo has ordered 24 eCitaro electric buses from the Daimler subsidiary EvoBus including eleven solo and 13 articulated buses. The fleet should arrive at the Böllenfalltor depot from the third quarter of 2021 and replace older diesel vehicles.

Tesla has submitted an application to the state of Brandenburg for the clearing of a further 100 hectares of forest on its Giga Berlin site. Back in the USA, the electric car manufacturer’s construction plans for its latest Gigafactory in the state of Texas have now been made public.

DB Cargo has signed a framework agreement with Siemens Mobility for the delivery of up to 400 hybrid locomotives. Initially, the DB 100 freight railroad will order class 248 locomotives.

Less is more. That’s the Citroën Ami in a nutshell. The all-electric four-wheeler with its 75-kilometre-range targets a young, urban group of buyers who simply want to get from A to B. We tested it and wondered whether the little friend is also suitable for fleet use.

The first VW ID.3 has been delivered in Germany as Volkswagen hands over the 1st Edition model made in its ‘Transparent Factory’ in Dresden. The first customer was handed over a white ID.3.

The Gigafactories under construction in Texas and Berlin have been making progress despite the final permit for the site in Grünheide, close to the German capital still pending. Brandenburg state minister Jörg Steinbach is confident however to be able to grant final permissions before the year’s end.

The European BATTERY 2030+ project is gaining momentum as the research initiative launches seven projects with a total budget of 40.5 million euros from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program this September.

The new Opel Zafira-e Life is now available for order in Germany and most recently in the UK. The battery-powered passenger van will go on sale in early 2021 for prices starting at 53,800 euros, or £34,645 after the Plug-in Van Grant.

The ultracapacitor manufacturer Skeleton Technologies has announced a cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The partners are working together on the development of a graphene battery with a charging time of only 15 seconds.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a surprising stopover in Braunschweig at the end of his visit to Germany, which lasted several days, and met with Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess.

Supermarket chain Aldi Süd has announced the construction of a further 1,500 charging stations in the parking lots of its stores. This would mean that more than 75 per cent of the discounter’s stores would have at least one charging point.

The French automotive group PSA with its German subsidiary Opel and the French energy group Total with its subsidiary Saft have now signed an agreement to set up the Automotive Cells Company (ACC) joint venture.

Germany apparently wants to use its EU Council Presidency to promote e-mobility. In addition to the mandatory construction of hydrogen filling stations, fast-charging stations and a uniform payment system will also be promoted.

The German bicycle and e-bike manufacturer Canyon presented its Future Mobility Concept, a mixture of electric car and pedelec. The four-wheeled vehicle with pedelec drive is designed to be driven on cycle paths or the road.

Factory 56 has now been opened at the Mercedes-Benz Sindelfingen plant in Germany. The fully digitalised production should set standards in flexibility. Starting next year, EQS will also be produced there.

The Berlin-based electric scooter manufacturer Unu has started regular sales of the new model via its online store after completing the pre-order phase. The first e-scooters are to be delivered in October.

The German engineering services provider IAV has announced the construction of a new EMC test centre in Heimsheim near Stuttgart. The new building is IAV’s response to the automotive industry’s demand for measuring and testing capacities for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

Amazon orders more than 1,800 electric transporters from Mercedes-Benz Vans. The order includes around 600 eVito and more than 1,200 eSprinter delivery vans, with Amazon expecting deliveries to begin this year. This is the largest order for electric vehicles from Mercedes transporter unit to date.

Public transport operator BVG in Berlin has taken delivery of the first articulated electric buses. A total of 17 Solaris Urbino 18 electric are now gradually taking up service on Line 200 with charging at Siemens pantographs at the terminal stops.

In Germany, the increased purchase premium is boosting demand for electric cars. BMW and VW have now responded by expanding production of the i3 in Leipzig, while the VW e-Golf will continue to be built in Dresden until Christmas, contrary to initial plans.

Designwerk has entered a partnership with Daimler Trucks and has included a low-entry chassis based on the Mercedes Econic in its own product range. The first vehicle of this type is to be delivered in the second quarter of next year.

After Polestar started European delivery of the purely electric Polestar 2 at the end of July in Sweden and Norway, customers in Germany are now getting their turn.

Munich-based start-up Sono Motors is the first electric vehicle manufacturer to become a member of the Fair Cobalt Alliance. The action platform is an initiative to promote fairer cobalt mining practices in small-scale mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) has used the summer break at its Hanover plant to revamp for producing the new Multivan and purely electric ID.Buzz in Germany from 2022. In short, Hanover is preparing for the future models of the Bulli family that sees increasing electrification.

VW brings two plug-in hybrid versions of the Golf, now in the eighth generation to dealerships, the Golf eHybrid and the new Golf GTE. The former develops 150 kW, the latter comes up to 180 kW.

German battery systems manufacturer Akasol has now placed the follow-up order for production equipment for its planned battery factory in the USA with the mechanical engineering company Manz. The “Gigafactory 2” as Akasol calls it is set to open in late 2021.

Hamburger Hochbahn has now published the list of suppliers for the procurement of up to 530 electric buses to be delivered in the years 2021-2025. Daimler Buses, MAN and Solaris were awarded the contract.