California battery developer Sepion has received $16 million from investors, including international chemical firm Solvay. Sepion plans to use the funds to speed up the commercialization of lithium metal batteries for EVs. Solvay offers additives for the electrolytes in Li-ion cells. Sepion’s niche is lithium metal battery cells, which Solvay says feature high energy density… Read more »
GM plans to invest more than $51 million to upgrade its Bedford, Indiana mold and aluminum die casting plant for some of its current casting needs, and to support the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV, which is to be launched at CES in 2022. The Silverado EV joins the growing roster of GM vehicles with aluminum… Read more »
Sponsored by Kulicke & Soffa By: Peter Klaerner, senior manager for Wedge Bond Systems Engineering, Kulicke & Soffa Wire and ribbon bonding have traditionally been the methods of choice for creating reliable interconnects in the electronics industry. The progress in electric vehicle production has created the need for better, more reliable interconnects that can be… Read more »
Global battery supplier Octillion Energy has announced that it is now shipping over 1,500 battery packs per day. The company says rising EV sales in Brazil, India and China have contributed to the demand for its battery packs. In addition to electric buses in India and electric trucks produced by Brazilian automaker FNM, Octillion is… Read more »
Toyota has decided to locate a new automotive battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in North Carolina’s Randolph County. Toyota chose the site based on the availability of renewable energy, local support, on-site rail, and proximity to highways, four airports and two seaports. Together with lithium producer Toyota Tsusho, Toyota is planning to spend $1.29… Read more »
Bosch has started volume production of SiC semiconductors, and plans to expand its production capacity to a unit volume running into the hundreds of millions. The company is also working on a second generation of more efficient SiC chips. To meet steadily increasing demand for these semiconductors, Bosch added 1,000 square meters to the clean-room… Read more »
Automakers that are serious about producing EVs understand that they need to build new supply chains, including major battery manufacturing capacity and secure sources of raw materials. The Volkswagen Group has been steadily turning up the voltage, raising its planned investment in EV and self-driving technologies to 73 billion euros ($86 billion) over the next… Read more »
Microchip Technology is collaborating with Mersen on a new 150 kVA 3-phase silicon carbide power stack reference design. Mersen’s current offering provides designers with a compact, high-power silicon carbide system without the need for individual device sourcing, testing and qualification. The reference design includes Microchip’s SiC power modules and digital gate drivers and Mersen’s busbar,… Read more »
Vehicle parts supplier Dana has announced that one of its business partnerships is planning to open an electric motor factory in Åmål, Sweden in late 2022. Called Dana TM4, the partnership joins Dana with Hydro-Québec to make electric motors for EVs. Production is to begin in the first half of 2023. US-based Dana designs and… Read more »
Parker LORD has expanded its EV product portfolio to include thermally conductive (TC) adhesives and one-component low-density gap fillers. The new adhesives are part of a strategy to create lighter-weight and smaller-footprint products that can help deliver additional energy density. Methods under development include bonding individual cells directly to the cooling plate and bonding directly… Read more »