Volvo and Northvolt to open $3bn battery R&D centre in Sweden
Volvo Cars and Northvolt will open a joint research and development centre in Sweden’s second city Gothenburg to aid in battery development and manufacturing. Volvo says the new facility, which comes as part of a SEK 30 billion (US$ 3.3 bn) investment, will position it...
Localisation with international collaboration underpins VinFast’s battery factory
Vietnamese automotive manufacturer VinFast has started construction of its VinES Battery Manufacturing Factory in the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Vietnam, backed by investment of nearly US$ 175million. The VinES Battery Manufacturing Factory will produce batteries for VinFast’s electric cars and buses, with phased development...
TfL cites fire risk as reason for banning e-scooters from its services
Transport for London (TfL), the body responsible for most of the transport network in London including buses, the underground and overland trains, has banned all privately-owned e-scooters and e-unicycles from its transport network with immediate effect. This is the result, says TfL, of safety concerns...
Galp and Northvolt develop European lithium processing plant
Portuguese oil company Galp Energia and Swedish battery maker Northvolt this week announced a joint venture to invest 700 million euros ($790 million) to build a lithium ore processing plant in Portugal, which should start operating by the end of 2025. The companies said in...
Mercedes becomes world’s first to get Level 3 autonomous driving approval
Mercedes-Benz has become the world’s first automotive company to meet the legal requirements for a Level 3 hands-free driving system. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has granted system approval under United Nation regulation UN-R157, which paves the way for offering the system internationally...
Serve secures strategic partners to scale US self-driving deliveries
US self-driving delivery company Serve Robotics has secured $13 million seed funding from strategic investors including Uber, 7-Eleven and DX Ventures. The capital, says Serve, will “accelerate its path to commercial scale, driving its fleet expansion, geographic growth, and continued product development”. Founded in 2017...
New York invests in off-grid Solar EV chargers designed for extreme weather
San Diego-based solar EV charger developer Beam Global says New York City has become its largest municipal customer with a latest order expanding the coverage of its EV ARC solar-powered EV charging systems to 89 units across the city. The chargers are completely off-grid and...
Sensors on e-scooters help identify road maintenance priorities
London e-scooter trial operator Dott has partnered with cycling technology company See.Sense to test the use of e-scooters to measure road quality and identify dangerous areas. A number of Dott’s fleet have been fitted with sensors from See.Sense, which monitored rider behaviour on the vehicles...
Intel to take Mobileye public in 2022
Intel has announced plans to take its autonomous driving technology business Mobileye public in the US next year through an initial public offering (IPO) of newly issued Mobileye stock. The move will create a separate publicly traded company with Intel remaining the majority owner of...
London to get shared electric mopeds from January
UK micromobility firm HumanForest is set to roll out its shared e-moped service in London from January, becoming the first company in the country to have a shared e-moped fleet. 100 of the electric mopeds will be available during a trial period and users will...
