Japan’s Nidec Corporation opened new offices in Serbia in the city of Novi Sad today and is setting up two new factories. These however are just part of a wider network that is to bring Nidec at the forefront of the global electric car market. We took part in the wider strategy brief by Nidec.

The US battery manufacturer Romeo Power has secured another major contract. The PACCAR Group will purchase batteries for its Peterbilt 579EV and 520EV electric truck models in the US and Canada until 2025.

The South Korean company Posco Chemical will supply Ultium Cells, the joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution for the series production of battery cells, with anode and cathode materials.

The German research project ‘Street’ has equipped an electric van with photovoltaic modules. Based on the Streetscooter WORK L by DPDHL, the demonstrator is expected to gain over 5,000 km of range in a year of operation using the extra solar power.

Saueressig Engineering appears to be setting up shop in the US. The new reports also suggest Saueressig has designated a new site for its American HQ in very close proximity to Tesla. This points to the German company being indeed involved in building machines for battery cell production on behalf of the EV maker.

US President Joe Biden has now officially presented his two-trillion-dollar investment plan, with which he wants to fundamentally modernise the country’s infrastructure and stimulate economic growth.

SK Innovation is considering exiting its battery business in the US if President Joe Biden does not reverse the US Trade Commission’s ruling in the South Korean battery cell maker’s lawsuit in favour of SKI rival LG Chem by 11 April.

The German speciality chemicals group Lanxess is entering the battery chemistry sector and has entered into a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co, a manufacturer of lithium-ion battery materials. This involves the supply of electrolytes in Europe.

Starting next year, the BMW Group will be purchasing lithium from a second supplier, the US company Livent. The volume of the multi-year contract is around 285 million euros. Livent will supply the lithium directly to the BMW Group’s battery cell manufacturers.

The Chinese battery manufacturer BAK Battery presented a cylindrical cell in the 4680 format at a trade fair – the format Tesla wants to rely on in the future. Unfortunately, no details are known about the chemistry of the new BAK cell.

Battery manufacturer Microvast has signed a framework agreement with French bus manufacturer Safra. Over the next three years, Microvast will supply Safra with three standardised battery products for the company’s electric and hybrid buses, as well as for retrofitting the bus fleet.

SK IE Technology has decided to build two new Polish plants for separators used in electric car batteries. The subsidiary of South Korean battery cell manufacturer SK Innovation is already building two plants in Poland, with construction of plants 3 and 4 scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2021.

Arkema will invest to further increase its fluoropolymer production capacities in Changshu by 35% in 2022. Simultaneously, Arkema celebrates the first ten years of successful PVDF production at its Changshu site in China.

Schaeffler has announced new series orders for electric motors and hybrid modules for use in trucks. One series order relates to the supply of electric motors from 2023 for an unnamed commercial vehicle supplier. Schaeffler can book another major order in the field of hybrid modules.

Daimler’s Chinese battery cell partner Farasis Energy has announced key figures for the fourth generation of its battery cell technology for electric cars. According to the company, the new cells will have an energy density of more than 330 Wh/kg and 750 Wh/l respectively.

The UK-based development service provider Mahle Powertrain (MPT) is investing a total of 12 million euros in the construction of five new test and development facilities. MPT is a subsidiary of the Stuttgart-based supplier Mahle and also operates a test bench for electric drive systems in Stuttgart.

After the supervisory board of Continental AG approved the spin-off of the powertrain division Vitesco Technologies a few days ago, the latter has now presented its current strategy. In the medium term, Vitesco wants to generate over 30 per cent of its sales in its core business with electrification.

Vitesco Technologies has received an important order for its 800-volt components. For the first time, Continental’s drive division is supplying 800-volt inverters with silicon carbide technology in significant quantities to Hyundai.

The German supplier Paragon, with the help of the new FSD technology for freely mouldable batteries from the commercial vehicle subsidiary Voltabox will offer different lithium-ion battery systems for the automotive market.

The Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, who is known for working for Apple, has joined forces with Japanese electric motor manufacturer Nidec via its automotive offshoot Foxconn. The duo aims to develop electric drives for Foxconn’s MIH electric car platform, which will be unveiled in autumn.

Volkswagen’s Chinese battery partner Gotion High-Tech has announced plans to invest a total of 12 billion yuan (1.55 billion euros) in the construction of battery recycling and raw material production facilities for lithium batteries in the Chinese city of Hefei.

Finnish supplier Valmet Automotive has announced battery assembly in Germany. Battery systems are to be assembled in Kirchardt in Baden-Württemberg from 2022. The company already operates two similar plants in Finland.

Proterra has won another customer for its batteries. An agreement now signed with US company Lightning eMotors that will see its Lightning Electric Transit electric delivery van fitted with batteries from Proterra.

The German engineering specialist IAV and automotive supplier Webasto have agreed on technology cooperation for electric commercial vehicles such as buses, trucks and off-road machinery. The plan is to pool their expertise.

It looks like Volkswagen will not rely on its South Korean suppliers LG Chem, and SK Innovation for the planned new standard battery cell format announced at the Power Day this Monday.

REE Automotive has revealed five new and improved ‘REEcorner’ architecture designs and the technology behind its EV platforms designed to support the broadest range of commercial electric vehicles.

The battery manufacturer Varta aims to get involved in the market for electric car battery cells in the future. Up to now, the German company has primarily produced batteries for household electronics but has been involved in cell research for some time.

Volkswagen has just presented its technology roadmap for the battery and charging sectors up to 2030 at its Power Day presentation. The aim of the roadmap is to significantly reduce the complexity and costs of batteries. At the core of the plan are six “Gigafactories” throughout Europe.

Fraunhofer IZM and the Italian automotive supplier Marelli have developed a power module for electrified traction applications in motorsport. The all-silicon carbide-based module, called EDI, is said to enable higher conversion efficiencies and to be smaller and lighter.

According to a Korean media report, Hyundai Motor is in talks with BYD about the supply of blade batteries for electric cars to be sold in China. BYD is said to have already set up a business unit responsible for cooperation with Hyundai and has offered to supply the batteries to Hyundai from 2022 onwards.