Toyota is due to receive $4.5 million in federal funding for research into automating the teardown and rebuilding of used electric vehicle battery packs for eventual reuse. The funding comes from the Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), under the Catalyzing Innovative Research for Circular Use of Long-lived...

Klaus Pflugbeil thought he had it all figured out. Swipe some trade secrets, make $1.3 million, and quietly build a tech business overseas. Instead, the former employee of a company bought by Tesla is now facing two years in federal prison. Why? Because, unsurprisingly, the FBI has little patience for blatant industrial espionage. His partner is allegedly still at large.

Authorities nabbed Pflugbeil back in March after he allegedly attempted to sell sensitive tech to someone he thought was a buyer. It wasn’t. It was an undercover FBI agent ready to ruin his day. According to the Department of Justice, Pflugbeil “built a business in China to sell the sensitive technology that belongs to a U.S. company.” That’s a sanitized way of saying he and his partner cooked up a scheme to peddle trade secrets while hoping nobody in America would notice. They noticed.

Read: Tesla Settles Lawsuit Against Rivian Over Claims It Stole Trade Secrets

As we noted in our original coverage, the DOJ doesn’t specifically say that Pflugbeil stole these secrets from Tesla. However, several factors, including its acquisition of a Canadian tech manufacturer (Hibar Systems) in 2019, for whom Pflugbeil used to work for, point to Tesla as the “leading U.S.-based electric vehicle company” the official records refer to.

“His actions were bold – he even advertised that he was selling the victim’s products – because he thought, incorrectly, that he was outside the reach of U.S. prosecutors,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to would-be offenders: My office will do everything it can to protect American innovation and national security no matter where you try to hide.”

In that same vein, it’s worth noting that Pflugbeil’s co-defendant, Yilong Shao, remains at large according to the DOJ. Evidently, the pair were quite blatant in their work. The DOJ says that Pflugbeil sent several documents including trade secrets to Shao and even said things like “[it’s] in a different format, so it looks very original and not like a copy.” The pair then advertised their products, precision dispensing pumps, and battery assembly lines, across the globe.

They showed up at trade shows, sent emails, and even claimed directly that their products didn’t infringe on any patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property. Somewhat ironically, Pflugbeil’s LinkedIn profile features a quote from Benjamin Jowett as his banner: “The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them,” it says. Perhaps he should’ve made sure that Tesla got full credit for the tech he professed to create.

Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On are getting a huge $9.63 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to build three battery manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky for electric vehicles.

In June 2023, it was initially revealed Ford and SK On would be getting a $9.2 billion loan to help with the construction of three factories. It’s unclear why the loan amount has increased, but it is the largest loan provided by the US government’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. This program aims to help American firms catch up with industry-leading Chinese battery makers.

Read: Rivian’s Georgia Plant Gets A $6.6 Billion Lifeline Thanks To Taxpayers

The money will be provided to Blue Oval SK, a joint venture operated by the two companies. They’ve already invested over $11 billion in the construction of the three plants. Production at the first of the two plants in Kentucky is scheduled to start in early 2025, while the Tennessee site will be ready to start manufacturing in late 2025.

When all three sites are up and running, they’ll be capable of producing 120 GWh of EV batteries annually.

Speaking with Reuters, Blue Oval SK said it took 18 months for the Department of Energy to complete the loan process due to the time needed to conduct due diligence, including market, credit, financial, legal, and regulatory reviews.

This isn’t the only significant EV loan announced in recent weeks; just before Donald Trump returns to the presidency, the DOE announced a conditional commitment to loan $7.54 billion to the joint venture operated by FCA US and Samsung SDI to establish two lithium-ion battery cell and module manufacturing plants in Kokomo, Indiana. Rivian also recently received approval for a $6.57 billion loan from the DOE, although that loan has come under the microscope of Vivek Ramaswamy, who will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk.

Ford and SK On will receive a $9.63 billion government loan for their BlueOval SK battery joint venture, according to a report Monday from Reuters. The news ups the original loan amount, which was $9.2 billion, reported in June by The New York Times. The Department of Energy loan—the largest so far by the Biden administration related to EV...

Stellantis has inked a joint venture with Chinese battery giant CATL to establish a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain. Up to €4.1 billion (~$4.31 billion) will be invested into the new site, with production scheduled to start by the end of 2026. When fully operational, the facility will have a capacity of up to 50 GWh.

This new plant will be located alongside the existing Stellantis facilities in Zaragoza. Batteries produced there will be used in the group’s battery-electric passenger cars, crossovers, and SUVs competing in the B and C segments. Stellantis has not confirmed which of its models will be the first to use these new locally-made LFP cells, but notes the plant’s capacity is “subject to the evolution of the electrical market in Europe and continued support from authorities in Spain and the European Union.”

Read: Ex-CEO Tavares Personally Killed The Hemi V8, Stellantis Insiders Reveal

“Stellantis is committed to a decarbonized future, embracing all available advanced battery technologies to bring competitive electric vehicle products to our customers,” Stellantis chairman John Elkann said. “This important joint venture with our partner CATL will bring innovative battery production to a manufacturing site that is already a leader in clean and renewable energy, helping drive a 360-degree sustainable approach. I want to thank all stakeholders involved in making today’s announcement a reality, including the Spanish authorities for their continued support.”

The battery plant has been designed to be completely carbon neutral and will be implemented in several phases and investment plans. Stellantis says the site will also help it on its path to becoming a carbon net zero corporation by 2038.

“The joint venture has taken our cooperation with Stellantis to new heights, and I believe our cutting-edge battery technology and outstanding operation knowhow combined with Stellantis’ decades-long experience in running business locally in Zaragoza will ensure a major success story in the industry,” CATL chairman and chief executive Robin Zeng added. “CATL’s goal is to make zero-carbon technology accessible across the globe, and we look forward to cooperating with our partners globally through more innovative cooperation models.”

Everyone loves a good “breakthrough” headline about electric vehicles, especially the kind that promises they’ll finally stop costing as much as a mid-sized house in Ohio. Well, here’s one for you: according to a new study, the price of lithium batteries has fallen greatly, recording the most significant drop in seven years. The need for cheaper batteries is often cited as one way to speed up adoption, with experts waiting for EVs to achieve price parity with combustion vehicles.

Lithium-ion battery pack prices have cratered thanks to an oversupply of cells, as well as lower prices for the raw metals and other components used in manufacturing. The BloombergNEF survey covered 343 data points, encompassing electric cars, buses, and commercial vehicles.

Price Parity By 2026

The quest for electric vehicles to become as affordable as their internal combustion engine counterparts will be the true litmus test for widespread adoption. If the trend we’ve witnessed this year continues, we could see the much-vaunted price parity between electric vehicles and gas-powered cars becoming a reality for consumers as soon as 2026.

See: GM Sells $1 Billion Stake In Joint Battery Plant To LG

Currently, the average cost of a battery pack sits at $115 per kWh — a 20 percent decline from last year. Pricing will need to drop by $15 to $100 per kWh for that magical price parity, although according to the report from Bloomberg, that’s already happened in China, with some EVs selling for cheaper than their combustion counterparts.

There’s Still Some Way To Go

While BNEF predicts battery pricing will drop below $100 per kWh by 2026 and down to $69 per kWh by 2030, there are geopolitical and macroeconomic factors that may further impact these projections.

However, there will still be a “chicken and egg” situation, where the production of EV cells remains heavily dependent on car sales. While there has been an oversupply of cells recently, partly due to a slowdown in EV sales growth in some markets, manufacturers may begin to reduce production as a result, too.

Government Actions and Tariffs Threaten EV Progress

There are also other factors that may affect the road to price parity. European governments are slashing their EV subsidies, which, in Germany at least, has led to a significant drop in sales for 2024. Meanwhile, in the US, incoming President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports and 10%-20% tariffs on those from other countries. His transition team is also pushing for Congress to repeal the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit. If successful, this could severely impact most automakers, even though Musk believes it may ultimately benefit Tesla.

Massachusetts-based Factorial has introduced a process for manufacturing solid-state battery cells, in the size range that electric vehicles can use, that is also close to what can be used for mass production. The company has been providing test cells to automakers, but on Thursday announced that it had scaled sample cells to an...

New electric vehicle battery chemistries and configurations are constantly under development, but a new study highlights the importance of testing them under realistic conditions. Published in the journal Nature Energy by researchers from Stanford University and the Energy Department's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and first spotted by...

Caterham continues to push forward with its first all-electric sports car, and shortly after confirming it will use an electric motor from Yamaha, the British company has revealed it’ll tap a Taiwanese supplier for an innovative, immersion-cooled battery pack.

This battery pack will be sourced from Xing Mobility and features cells immersed in a dielectric liquid. This dramatically improves heat dissipation compared to traditional liquid-cooled battery packs. Caterham also says Xing’s batteries have an energy density of 200 Wh/kg, which should give the EV plenty of range.

Read: Caterham Project V To Use A Yamaha Electric Powertrain

There’s no word on how large the car’s battery pack will be, how much it’ll weigh, or what kind of charging speeds can be expected. However, given that the Project V prototype is a compact sports car, one can’t expect the pack to be huge. When first announced last year, Caterham said their new EV would use a lithium-ion battery pack with a 55 kWh capacity, enough to give it 249 miles (400 km) of range.

A proclaimed energy density of 200 Wh/kg is on par with some other batteries on the market. For example, CATL’s new Shenxing Plus EV lithium-iron-phosphate battery has an energy density of 205 Wh/kg, while Tesla’s 4680 cells have an energy density of 296 Wh/kg.

As mentioned, the Xing battery will provide juice to an e-Axle from Yamaha. Caterham’s original concept had a single motor with 268 hp and chances are, the production model will have roughly the same amount of power.

Shoppers intrigued by the idea of an all-electric Caterham sports car may have to wait a little while before they can get behind the wheel. The brand initially hoped to launch the production model in 2026, but the firm’s chief executive, Bob Laishley, recently admitted that “2026 will be a challenge.” He also revealed Caterham has yet to decide where it’ll build the car, although it has said it won’t be manufactured at its existing Dartford plant in the UK.

Toyota has long been regarded as a bit of a slow mover in the electric vehicle race, but it’s proving that it’s anything but predictable. At the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, the company made a splash by unveiling two striking Lexus EVs, with promises of their arrival in 2026. Yet, just 14 months later, a new report indicates those plans are now on hold.

According to a report from Japan’s NHK, production of the Lexus LF-ZC and LF-ZL have now be postponed until mid-2027. Unlike many of its competitors, who are slowing EV rollouts due to demand concerns, Toyota’s delay appears to stem from a more strategic reason. The company is taking extra time to refine its manufacturing processes, particularly the implementation of gigacasting.

Read: Future Lexus EVs To Introduce Radical New Design Language

The Lexus LF-ZC and LF-ZL are important vehicles for the Toyota family and feature advanced designs and technologies that will trickle down to other models. Both are to be underpinned by a new EV architecture made from a gigacasted modular structure consisting of front, center, and rear portions. Toyota has said the special configuration means the front and rear of the EVs are structurally independent, allowing it to integrate new and improved batteries in the future.

Speaking of batteries, the new Lexus EVs are set to feature cutting-edge prismatic battery cells, which Toyota promises will deliver a range of up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). That’s impressive, especially considering that Toyota isn’t typically one to make exaggerated claims.

Last year, it was also revealed that the new Lexus EVs will be produced at an advanced assembly plant. According to the company, vehicles will be able to drive themselves autonomously with just the battery, motor, tries, and wireless terminal components, allowing it to ditch traditional conveyor belts on the production line.

The LF-ZC and LF-ZL aren’t the only victims of Toyota’s evolving EV timeline. In October, the company revealed that its three-row electric SUV—set to be produced at the Kentucky plant—would also be delayed. Originally planned for a 2025 launch, the SUV’s debut has been pushed back to mid-2026, adding to Toyota’s growing list of postponed EVs.

Stellantis on Thursday announced an agreement with Texas-based Zeta Energy to develop lithium-sulfur batteries that could significantly reduce cost and pack weight, while boosting charging speed. The automaker and Zeta Energy claim lithium-sulfur chemistry can deliver comparable volumetric energy density to current lithium-ion battery cells, but...

General Motors is selling its stake in one of the four huge EV battery plants for the US to LG Energy Solution.

The plant in question is under construction near Lansing, Michigan, and is set to open in the coming months. Work on the site started in 2022, and it was owned by GM and LG through their Ultium Cells joint venture. The duo also has battery plants in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Warren, Ohio, and GM is also planning a joint venture battery plant with Samsung SDI in New Carlisle, Indiana.

Read: GM And Samsung SDI Building $3.5 Billion EV Battery Plant In Indiana

GM has invested approximately $1 billion in the Lansing site and expects to fully recoup this investment. The site currently employs 100 people, although this will eventually grow to 1,700 staff. It’s understood that under the sole ownership of LG, the plant will supply another automaker with batteries, although specific details haven’t been announced.

“Our EV profitability is rapidly improving thanks in part to our strategic decision to build battery cells in the U.S. with LG Energy Solution,” GM executive president and CFO Paul Jacobson said of the move. “It will be years before some of our competitors approach this level of performance. We believe we have the right cell and manufacturing capabilities in place to grow with the EV market in a capital efficient manner. When completed, this transaction will also help LG Energy Solution meet demand by leveraging capacity that’s nearly ready to come online and it will make GM even more efficient.” 

Other plants operated by Ultium Cells supply batteries to vehicles, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Equinox EV, and the GMC Hummer EV Pickup and SUV.

Despite this shake-up, General Motors and LG Energy Solution still have a close relationship, and on the same day the split was announced for the Lansing plant, the two companies said they were extending their 14-year battery technology partnership to include prismatic cell development. These new prismatic cells will power future EVs from GM and promise to reduce weight and cost while simplifying manufacturing processes.

“Together with LG Energy Solution, we’ve built Ultium Cells into one of the largest battery cell manufacturers in North America, creating thousands of advanced technology jobs in the U.S. and powering our diverse EV portfolio,” GM vice president of battery cell and pack Kurt Kelty said. “We’re focused on optimizing our battery technology by developing the right battery chemistries and form factors to improve EV performance, enhance safety, and reduce costs. By extending our partnership with LG Energy Solution, we’re taking an important step toward these goals.” 

$7.5B loan would help scale up battery production in Indiana Aiming for 67 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity there DOE loan comes from same program that supported Tesla The Department of Energy on Monday said it is prepared to loan up to $7.5 billion to Stellantis and Samsung SDI for battery production in Indiana. The conditional loan commitment...

The potential high cost of EV battery replacements is a major worry for new-car shoppers, but that likely won't be the case for long, according to battery-analysis firm Recurrent. Recurrent, which produces battery health reports for used EVs, predicts that plummeting new-battery prices will make replacing a battery pack cheaper than repairing a...

Swedish battery firm Northvolt filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, with CEO Peter Carlsson stepping down the following day. Northvolt needs to raise between $1 billion and $1.2 billion to restore itself to full operations, Carlsson told Reuters and other media Friday. On Thursday, the company said it only had enough cash to...

Honda on Thursday unveiled what it calls a demonstration production line for solid-state batteries, with aims to commercialize the technology later this decade. Located in Sakura City, in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture, the 295,000-square-foot facility is intended to establish the process for eventual mass production, as well as determine costs and...

Two years after Tesla promised to open up its charging network to other brands’ EVs, many of those non-Tesla electric cars are still unable to top-up at one of the instantly recognizable red and white Supercharger stations, according to a new report. Just 4 percent of chargers have had the necessary upgrade.

Tesla offered other automakers the opportunity to switch to its proprietary charging port design in 2022, a move that presented a significant engineering and manufacturing challenge for those other brands, but one they’ve now met. Many EVs sold in America from next year will have the new NACS (North American Charging Standard) port.

Related: GM EV Owners Get Tesla Supercharger Access, But There’s A $225 Catch

But soon after offering that initial olive branch, Tesla also agreed to modify its chargers so that the thousands of EVs already on the road and not fitted with Tesla-compatible ports could take advantage of the large Supercharger network. A “Magic Dock” retrofitted to each charger would enable an electric vehicle from the likes of Ford, GM, or Hyundai to park up next to a Model 3 and enjoy rapid charging.

But as of late 2024, only around 100 of Tesla’s circa 2,500 Supercharger stations in the US are outfitted with the Magic Dock, an investigation by Bloomberg Green discovered. The distribution of the Magic Docks that have been deployed is also wildly uneven. Florida has just one adapted charger and even EV-loving California only gets five. Texas, however, has 20.

The rollout of some automakers’ own adapters has reportedly been slow because those brands have needed Tesla’s assistance to create the hardware at a time when Tesla has slimmed down its Supercharger team. Ford became so frustrated with Tesla’s pace of development that it built its own adapter and offers the connectors free-of-charge to its EV buyers. GM on the other hand is charging $225 and insists drivers initiate and pay for charging using its own app.

There’s one group of drivers who are quite happy about Tesla’s tardiness in making its charging network available to other brands, and its Tesla owners. Their satisfaction with charging experiences has dropped since other brands gained some access to their turf, and that’s only going to get worse when NACS goes mainstream in 2025.

The electric range of Honda’s EVs could double in the next few years with the introduction of solid-state batteries, the automaker’s R&D chief predicts.

Keiji Otsu made the comments to journalists at the opening of Honda’s demonstration solid-state production line in Sakura City, Tochigi, Japan. The 27,400 m2 (295,000 ft2) site has received 43 billion yen ($277 million) of funding and will start pilot battery production in January 2025.

Related: New Solid-State Batteries From Mercedes And Factorial Could Boost EV Range By 80%

But Honda engineers then have to verify the build process, technologies, and the cost of making the batteries, plus lock down the exact battery cell specifications before full production can start and the power packs can be fitted to production EVs.

That’ll happen “in the second half of the 2020s,” Honda says. Otsu described solid-state technology as “a game changer of the EV era,” telling Reuters that the new batteries would deliver twice the driving range of current lithium-ion batteries by the end of this decade and 2.5 times more range by the 2040s.

On the face of it, that could mean Honda EVs being capable of 600 miles (966 km) on one charge by 2029, though the more likely reality for most models is that Honda will improve range a little but use the energy density advantages to reduce the size of the batteries fitted to its electric cars.

Honda’s goals for the project are to reduce battery size by 50 percent, weight by 35 percent and cost by 25 percent compared with current EV levels, Otsu explained to Reuters. Reducing cost is key to making electric cars more affordable (and more desirable) to buyers, especially at a time when many are beginning to lose interest in EVs.

The automaker said it wants to increase EV production to more than 2 million units within five years, predicting that battery- and fuel-cell-powered vehicles will account for 40 percent of its total sales at that point, and all of them by 2040.

But Honda doesn’t only plan to put solid-state batteries into cars. It says a range of mobility products including motorcycles and even aircraft will benefit from the technology. Otsu also said Honda, which earlier this year formed an alliance with Nissan to develop batteries and motors, was open to selling its Sakura-built batteries to other brands.

EV battery prices have been falling, and they could decline even more steeply over the next two years, according to a new Goldman Sachs report. On the pack level, global average battery prices declined from $153 per kwh in 2022 to $149 in 2023, according to the report, which predicts that they'll continue dropping to $80 per kwh by 2026. That's...

The U.S. could produce cheaper EV batteries than China by 2030, according to a new report by analysis firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (via Politico). But that depends on Biden administration policies undergirding current battery-manufacturing momentum staying in place. The cost reductions are dependent on tax credits from the Inflation...