Scientist have developed a lithium ion battery that charges at an elevated temperature to increase reaction rate but keeps the cell cool during discharge, showing the potential to add 200 miles of driving range to an electric car in 10 minutes.

In a first for the African continent, the Volkswagen Brand has launched a pilot project in partnership with Siemens to test the feasibility of electric mobility in an African country.

Range sells electric cars. Long range ones sell in 100 times the numbers and have three times the resale value. In this article Dr Peter Harrop discusses the future of electric vehicles capable of 1000km range.

New Report from IDTechEx Research forecasts the global market for lidar in autonomous vehicles growing to $5.4 billion by 2030. Analysis of 100+ 3D lidar companies; automotive focus. Mechanical, MEMS, OPA, flash, liquid crystal and other solid-state lidar for ADAS, autonomous vehicles, industrial, smart city, security and mapping.

Those desperate to invest in "The next Tesla" continue to pile into start-up Rivian, the latest $350 million coming from a media company. That takes investment up to the $2 billion level familiar at Tesla.

Volvo Cars introduces the XC40 Recharge, the company's first ever fully electric car and the first model to appear in its brand new Recharge car line concept.

A global consortium of partners, led by marine research organization ProMare, is building an unmanned, fully-autonomous ship that will cross the Atlantic on the fourth centenary of the original Mayflower voyage in September 2020.

New IDTechEx Research report investigates the market for various die and substrate attach materials used in power electronics in various electric vehicles. It provides a comprehensive view of the industry trends, looking at the trends driving the adoption of higher performance die-attach materials.

With accelerating uptake of lithium-ion batteries in stationary and mobile applications, today's shortages will reoccur in the years to come for many reasons beyond too few battery factories.

New IDTechEx Research report investigates the market for various die and substrate attach materials used in power electronics in various electric vehicles. It provides a comprehensive view of the industry trends, looking at the trends driving the adoption of higher performance die-attach materials.

With this partnership, both companies will leverage their unique market strengths and insights to study the future of premium urban air mobility vehicles.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 rewards the development of the lithium-ion battery. This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. It can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.

Why are axial flux versions coming in fast in certain applications? Why is reluctance becoming much more of the picture in other applications? Escape routes from dysprosium price hikes? Why the acquisition frenzy? What is its focus? It is all here including a comprehensive directory of suppliers. The new report, "Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030 land, Water, Air", explains and predicts what comes next for 101 categories of EV land, water and air, hybrid and pure electric.

Bloom Energy and Samsung Heavy Industries announced a collaboration to design and develop ships powered by Bloom Energy's solid oxide fuel cell technology.

A pilot line for small-series battery cell production was opened at the Center of Excellence in Salzgitter. Some 300 experts are involved in developing, testing and piloting innovative manufacturing technologies for the production of lithium-ion batteries. In a first step, Volkswagen is investing over €100 million in amassing its own development and production know-how.

This technology transforms construction equipment — including excavators, bulldozers, and skid steers — into fully autonomous robots. The automated guidance systems can be installed on existing equipment from any manufacturer, while still maintaining complete manual operation capabilities.

CNH Industrial announced its intention to enter into a strategic and exclusive Heavy-Duty Truck partnership with Nikola Corporation, to accelerate industry transformation towards emission neutrality of Class 8 / Heavy-Duty Trucks in North America and Europe through the adoption of fuel-cell technology.

The Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, experienced the first European urban flight of the Volocopter in Stuttgart together with the Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Ola Källenius, the CEO of Volocopter GmbH, Florian Reuter, and Thomas Strobl, Minister of the Interior, Digitalisation and Migration for Baden-Württemberg.

The rapid penetration of electric vehicles has led to questions on its most expensive component - the battery. What happens to the batteries after 8-10 years of service when they retire from electric vehicles due to capacity fade?

Solar cells that use mixtures of organic molecules to absorb sunlight and convert it to electricity, that can be applied to curved surfaces such as the body of a car, could be a step closer thanks to a discovery that challenges conventional thinking about one of the key components of these devices.

A production site in Germany is currently being planned and will be carbon-neutral from the beginning. The locations in the USA and China are then scheduled to follow.

The latest concept features in future Hyundai Motor Group plans to enable first- and last-mile mobility through integrating the scooter with future Hyundai and Kia vehicles. When mounted on a vehicle, the scooter is charged automatically using electricity produced while driving, ensuring that the user can complete their journey seamlessly.

The new Hyundai Tucson switches off the engine when coasting or braking at under 30kph. This is a bridge to the 48V full hybrids that IDTechEx foresaw some time ago. IDTechEx correctly predicted that they would come sooner rather than later and not just as cars - thus the title of the new IDTechEx report embracing it all, "48V Mild Hybrid and 48V Full Hybrid Vehicles 2020-2030".

The series version of the Mercedes-Benz EQV is celebrating its debut. The next member of the Mercedes EQ family combines emissions-free mobility with impressive driving abilities, high functionality and aesthetic design as the first fully-electric premium MPV from Mercedes-Benz.

UL announced that 4R Energy Corporation, a joint venture of Nissan Motors and Sumitomo Corporation focusing on the effective reuse of EV batteries for energy storage systems, is the first organization worldwide to be certified to UL 1974, the Standard for Evaluation for Repurposing Batteries.

Plug-in hybrids are an important milestone on the road to zero-emissions driving. Mercedes‑Benz Cars is pushing ahead with the development of its plug-in hybrids under the EQ Power label.

Electric aircraft have got there. Cars next. With no road resistance, the best electric aircraft, the Bye Aerospace eFlyer, achieves 1000km with its solar wing option. This range will be the final nail in the coffin of internal combustion cars. It is longer than some of them offer. With gasoline stations shutting down, guess who then gets range anxiety! See the IDTechEx reports, "Electric Vehicles 2020-2030" forecasting premium solar cars, mainstream solar cars and 98 other EV categories: unique detail. See also the IDTechEx report, "Manned Electric Aircraft 2020-2030".

In the new IDTechEx report, "Manned Electric Aircraft 2020-2030" the analyst praises manufacturers such as Bye Aerospace for "walking before they try to run". Like Tesla with cars, they started with two-seater pure-electric vehicles and progressed to four - in this case, fixed-wing aircraft. Sales of these as air taxis and pilot trainers are booming with Bye alone attracting $165 million in business in about one year.

One of the most rapidly evolving areas of energy storage in electric vehicles is the thermal management of lithium-ion cells. Although most of the focus is on cell chemistry advancements, improvements to the battery pack can have a significant advantage in safety, performance, and longevity.

MMC - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is an international Automobile manufacturer located in Japan.

The electric vehicle market is growing rapidly and, as Tesla has demonstrated, the market is not restricted to the established automotive OEMs. Indeed, the automotive landscape is changing as traditional internal combustion engines are being replaced by all-electric systems, in order to meet ever more stringent on-road emission legislation.

Ballard Power Systems announced a purchase order from Wrightbus for 15 FCveloCity®-HD 85-kilowatt fuel cell modules to power buses for deployment in Aberdeen, Scotland under the Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe funding program.

It is nonsense to forecast pure electric cars costing the same as traditional ones, then life continuing much as usual. The up-front price of pure electric cars will be dropping below that of internal combustion engine ones around 2025. The fundamentals are now clear. Short range electric cars will continue to sell badly because of range and financial anxiety: their resale value after three years can be down 80%. 200 miles/ 320 km is the tipping point where resale value can be only 40% down on purchase price. See the IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles 2020-2030" for the full picture of 100 categories of electric vehicle EV by land, water and air.

In electric vehicles, China is not what it used to be. Electric bike demand collapsed five years ago, and electric bus demand followed two years ago. With electric buses, the reason was entirely a precipitous drop in government financial support of demand and production, the peak being accentuated by pulling forward to grab subsidies while there were available. In 2020 they will be zero but despite this, in 2027 China plans that full electrification of its bus fleet will be complete.

Urban mobility with purely electric drive can now also be experienced in hallmark MINI style. The new MINI Cooper SE combines sustainable mobility as the first solely electrically powered model of the British brand.

Stress makes cells age faster. Something that geneticists have long since demonstrated for the human body is also true for electric-vehicle battery cells. The older the batteries get, the lower their performance and capacity, and the shorter the range of the vehicle. To help batteries last longer, Bosch is developing new cloud services that supplement the individual vehicles' battery-management systems.

The world's first fully electric British hypercar, the all-new Lotus Evija, has been revealed. It is the first hypercar from Lotus, and the company's first model with an electrified powertrain. It is the first completely new car to be launched under the stewardship of Geely.

Shortage of lithium-ion batteries is probable. Too few gigafactories. Too many burning batteries: factories shut to sort out their problems. The US-China trade war cuts off materials. Inadequate lithium or cobalt mining.

Is it all about cars and extrapolation? Not anymore. The unique new IDTechEx report, "Lithium-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030" avoids mindless extrapolation. It uses fundamentals to predict huge changes in the electric vehicle business and the way these vehicles store electricity.

Volkswagen is striving for the lead in transforming the auto industry towards electric mobility in China. Volkswagen intends to offer 14 electrified models to Chinese customers this year. By 2028, more than half of the Group's planned 22 million electric cars will be produced in China.

Protecting the climate calls for environmentally efficient drive systems. For years now, technology company Continental has been backing environmentally friendly and cost-effective 48-volt electrification, which can be used with both gasoline and diesel engines.

With 1,500 e-Golf vehicles, the Volkswagen brand is bringing onto the roads a 100 percent electric fleet and all the vehicles will be operated on green power. They are to be followed by 500 additional e-up! vehicles at the beginning of next year and the first units of Volkswagen's new full-electric ID.3 when it is introduced in mid-2020.

BMW will now achieve the total of 25 electrified models previously announced for 2025 two years earlier, in 2023. Thanks to flexible vehicle architectures for fully-electric, plug-in hybrid and combustion engine drive trains, the company is able to respond quickly to changing conditions. More than half of the 25 models will be fully electric.

Time was when fuel cells were to be in every bike then every motorbike then they were pushed back to ever larger vehicles. The IDTechEx take is that fuel cells are most likely to find their place where batteries cannot give the range and where few of the expensive charging station systems are needed meaning fleets and trains.

Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Co., and Waymo have entered into an exclusive agreement for an initial period to explore all aspects of driverless mobility services for passengers and deliveries in France and Japan.

It is easy to say that, although small electric aircraft are at last selling, they are a negligible part of the overall aircraft market. Mistake. They will work up from the bottom to be mainstream. Airbus, Boeing and Rolls Royce know this, but many others are sleeping through the future. Some of the successes are from small companies.

Domino's Pizza and Nuro are partnering on autonomous pizza delivery using the custom unmanned vehicle known as the R2 later this year.

The Workhorse Group designs and produces battery-electric power trains in its 50,000 sq. ft. facility in Loveland, OH for its new Workhorse chassis. Workhorse's approach to building its battery electric power trains uses proven, automotive-grade, mass-produced parts coupled with its custom designed, proprietary control software.

Not long ago it was just dreams. Small internal-combustion aircraft provide taxi services, serve the declining market for private flying and a few other needs. Some are over 30 years old because total cost of ownership is an issue. Designing electric replacements seemed like entering a dust bowl.

Leading players in the hydrogen fuel cell electric value chain are joining forces to form the H2Bus Consortium. The members are committed to deploying 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, along with supporting infrastructure, in European cities at commercially competitive rates.

Plug-in electric cars are forecast by IDTechEx to sell over 25million units per year in 2029 making up around 30% of total sales by that point. However, electrification does not stop at cars; buses, trucks, construction, mining, two-wheelers, boats, aircraft, and more are all progressing towards electric drive. This combined market shift makes the technologies enabling this transformation a key battleground with plenty to win and lose.

The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Vehicles 2020-2030" is the most thorough on the subject with 100 categories forecasted by number and market value and many newly-revealed trends and predictions.

The supercapacitor market has bottomed out and is now into a sustained period of strong growth. Recent actions of three giant companies not usually associated with supercapacitors illustrate why.

The storage unit has a capacity of 1.9 MWh and uses used lithium-ion batteries from development vehicles to test various interaction scenarios between electric cars and the power grid. The objective: Intelligent networking to promote the energy transition.

The first experimental robot drone that flies like a typical quadcopter, drives on tough terrain and squeezes into tight spaces using the same motors, has been developed.

Ford is teaming up with Agility Robotics to explore a brand-new frontier in the world of autonomy — and a new way of thinking about how we make deliveries.

The Postal Service is exploring the feasibility of utilizing autonomous delivery vehicle technology to reduce fuel costs, increase safe truck operation and improve its fleet utilization rate through longer hours of operation.

ERM is set to offer its new StarLink EV, a unique telematics product for the EV market that can be used in cars, buses, trucks and even two-wheeled vehicles like motorcycles and scooters

The future is coming early for electric vehicles. The new IDTechEx Research report "Electric Vehicles 2020-2030" is based on analysis of no less than 100 sectors to 2030. IDTechEx has studied and forecasted EVs for over 20 years. It has 15 PhD level analysts, including 4 who are Chinese, deployed globally, mostly multi-lingual and the discoveries here are sometimes surprising.

Plug-in electric cars are forecast by IDTechEx to sell over 25 million units per year in 2029 making up around 30% of total sales by that point. However, electrification does not stop at cars; buses, trucks, construction, mining, two-wheelers, boats, aircraft, and more are all progressing towards electric drive. This combined market shift makes the technologies enabling this transformation a key battleground with plenty to win and lose.

Researchers are leading a newly funded project from NASA to develop a novel approach for all-electric aircraft.

The European car market registered its seventh consecutive month of decline in March 2019. Ongoing political and economic uncertainty, including lack of clarity around Brexit, alongside consumer preoccupation with diesel bans in cities, meant that overall demand continued to decline.

AeroVironment Inc announced the achievement of a significant solar HAPS project milestone, the assembly of the first HAWK30 solar HAPS for its HAPSMobile joint venture with SoftBank Corp. HAPS stands for High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite or High-Altitude Platform Station.

In what is believed to be a transit industry first in the United States, TriMet's all-electric buses will be powered by 100 percent wind energy.

Toyota premiered its C-HR and IZOA battery electric vehicles, the C-HR and IZOA will be the first battery electric vehicles to launch in China under the Toyota brand. Sales on the new models are slated to start from 2020.

Solid Power is teaming up with Ford Motor Company to develop all solid-state batteries for next-generation electric vehicles.

The Swedish Transport Administration announced the pre-commercial procurement results for the electric road system tender.

With the symbolic foundation laying ceremony for the first battery factory, the Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant is advancing its transformation into a high-tech location for electric mobility.

How do you leapfrog Tesla? How do you avoid circling the drain with much of the car industry when peak car hits? A whole world of new technologies and new markets awaits. Who can reveal the implications, opportunities and vehicles arriving from nowhere such as vast numbers of robot solar weeders on farms? Enter the IDTechEx Business & Technology Insight Forum "Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage" in Novi Michigan 10-12 June.

Mercedes‑Benz has received a record-breaking order for the eCitaro electric urban bus. This massive order comes from the public transport company ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH from Wiesbaden in Germany's Hesse region.

BYD announces the world's first 27-m pure electric bi-articulated bus. With a passenger capacity of 250 people, it is the longest pure electric bus in the world and can travel at a maximum speed of 70 km/h.

With excellent bus designs, Tata Motors is now participating in tender bids for all state transport corporations in India. Things are moving fast in the electric bus market, as appraised by IDTechEx in their new report 'Electric Buses 2019 - 2029'.

IDTechEx Research analyse the changing trends in the robotics industry in their report New Robotics and Drones 2018-2038: Technologies, Forecasts, Players, as new and emerging firms challenge the norm.

Emerging semiconductor laser technologies are revolutionising the industrial material processing and optical sensing markets. Automotive and electronics industries are benefiting greatly from advances in laser manufacturing, 3D sensing and imaging, lidar, and industrial machine vision.

GE's Power Conversion business and Nedstack, a leading fuel cell manufacturer, are collaborating on developing hydrogen fuel cell systems for powering zero-emission cruise vessels.

Integrate electronics with a small footprint into cars / Increased safety. Assistance systems, safety features or infotainment - more and more electronics are finding their way into cars. With HARTING 3D-MID technology, customers can integrate complex electronics with minimal space requirements into cars.

Noodoe introduces Noodoe EV OS, an advanced cloud operating system that orchestrates the operation of smart EV charging stations.

The UK Government confirmed that it will be supporting 14 local authorities through a £25 million funding boost to the Clean Bus Technology Fund. The fund, which was launched in 2017, looks to support projects to upgrade buses with technology to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions in areas with poor air quality.

There are over two million midi buses in the world. For example, most of the 1.6 million school buses are midi buses though North American ones are mainly larger. The new IDTechEx Research report, "Electric School Buses and Midi Buses 2019-2039" finds that almost none are electric. It is very different for larger buses, for now at least.

Royal Mail is conducting its first ever trial of zero-emission e-Trikes for letter and parcel deliveries later this month. The trial is an example of the Company's efforts to continue to reduce CO2 emissions associated with its operations.

Zero emission transit buses powered by BAE Systems' battery electric drive systems and fuel cell electric drive systems have successfully driven more than two million miles in transit bus service.

In partnership with Airbus, Wilhelmsen's shore-to-ship Singapore pilot project, marks the first deployment of drone technology in real-time port conditions, delivering a variety of small, time-critical items to working vessels at anchorage.

In electric aircraft, motor power-to-weight ratio is paramount for endurance, the main constraint on sales. You cannot lug ever more battery weight to get range. Indeed, better motors mean less battery in a land, water or air vehicle. The new IDTechEx Research report, "Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles: Land, Water, Air 2019-2029" explains the new emphasis on power-to-weight ratio with good efficiency.

Porsche is investing more than 600 million euro to expand its factory in Leipzig, which will allow the company to set an important course for the future of its site in Saxony and the production of future models. The first car to benefit from extended factory premises will be the next generation of the Macan: As a purely electrically powered vehicle based on the "Premium Platform Electric" architecture, the new Macan will roll off the assembly line in Leipzig at the beginning of the next decade.

IDTechEx is hosting a free webinar on Thursday 28 March 2019 titled Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles Land, Water, Air: $100+bn Market Emerging.

The collaboration will focus on delivering electric vehicle and lab-based prototype power generator systems to showcase Libertine's modular Smart Engine packaging concept, and demonstrating the Smart Engine performance made possible by Libertine's linear e-machine and controls technologies.

Tesla has unveiled V3 Supercharging, the next step in the growth of Tesla's Supercharger network. V3, which is born from experience in building the world's largest grid-connected batteries, enables Tesla vehicles to charge faster than any other electric vehicle on the market.

In the future, Volkswagen will offer e-mobility for all - and will assume overall responsibility: from the concepts for the vehicles, through production, sales and operations on to recycling. For this reason, a pilot plant for battery recycling is currently being set up at Salzgitter factory, south-west of Braunschweig, Germany.

Researchers have developed an innovative method for detecting koala populations using drones and infrared imaging that is more reliable and less invasive than traditional animal population monitoring techniques.

Buses and trucks are essentially one business because the same companies increasingly make both using the same technologies.

Car demand will collapse as people move to cities. $100 billion was written off the stock value of car companies recently. The US economy is on a sugar rush from a trillion-dollar borrowing boost at the top of the cycle. Climate change getting out of control in 12 years? These and many other negative indicators can portend a recession, maybe a severe one. What are the implications for EVs?

Volvo Trucks delivered its first all-electric vehicles - a refuse truck to waste and recycling company Renova, and a distribution truck to the logistics company DB Schenker and partner haulier TGM, operating in Sweden.

The EV business is highly fragmented with great scope for consolidation leading to economy of scale.

The Chinese government shrewdly controls supply and demand for sectors it deems important. As elsewhere it has to cope with people moving to cities.

Bad strategy rather than tactics, such as misjudged new models, will kill several major automotive companies. They face a perfect storm of peak car, totally new technology, totally new markets and recession.

BYD boasts the world's largest selection of battery electric buses, and a clientele that spans across 300 cities around the world.

The sixth Energy Storage India (ESI) took place in New Delhi on January 10 - 11, 2019, at the Ashok Hotel.

Aerospace and defence are key drivers for many new technologies. They often have the deepest pockets and are the most likely to adopt the newest technologies.

It is a rule-of-thumb that manufacturers should vertically integrate only when products and markets mature, so they can confidently shave off the last pennies of cost. One exception is when shortages loom: Tesla built its battery gigafactory fast using proven Panasonic technology. However, many suppliers now build battery gigafactories.

We move to cities and do internet shopping: that destroys the market for private cars and boosts demand for buses and delivery trucks. Monster Class 8 trucks are top polluters on US highways, all powering a boom in energy storage in buses and trucks. The new IDTechEx report, "Energy Storage for Electric Buses and Trucks 2019-2029" analyses the similar requirements.

Instead of throwing away your broken boots or cracked toys, why not let them fix themselves? Researchers have developed 3D-printed rubber materials that can do just that.

Tesla needs to excel in the much broader range of energy storage technologies needed for Class 8 trucks down to Tesla 3 cars to retain uniquely long range for the price.