Brexit deal forces UK carmakers to develop domestic battery supply chain


Britain’s new relationship to the EU has important implications for automakers, specifically for their battery supply chains. As The Guardian reports, all UK-EU trade in cars and parts will continue to be free of tariffs or quotas, as long as they contain enough content from either UK or EU factories. For three years, batteries will… Read more »

New battery “gigaplant” promises to be an economic boon to northeastern England


Battery startup Britishvolt has announced plans to build its first battery factory, on the site of a former coal-fired power station in Blyth in northeastern England. Construction is to begin next year, and production of lithium-ion batteries is to start by the end of 2023. The company plans to invest 2.6 billion pounds ($3.5 billion)… Read more »

Envision AESC provides battery modules for FreeWire Technologies’ charging stations


FreeWire Technologies makes several flexible charging solutions, including Mobi, a battery pack on wheels that can be used to charge EVs away from fixed charging stations; and the Boost Charger, a charging station that uses an integrated battery as a buffer to deliver high power output without stressing the local power supply. Now FreeWire has… Read more »

Proterra opens new EV battery production line in Los Angeles County


Heavy-duty EV manufacturer Proterra has announced the opening of a new battery production line, co-located at its electric bus manufacturing facility in Los Angeles County. The battery packs manufactured at the City of Industry facility will feature Proterra’s redesigned modules with next-generation cells developed with LG Energy Solutions, a company that Proterra has been collaborating… Read more »

JB Straubel gives a tour of Redwood Materials’ battery recycling operation


Despite what the anti-EV brigade would like you to believe, recycling lithium-ion batteries is quite feasible both technologically and financially, and several companies are doing so right now. One of these is Li-Cycle, which was featured in the July/August issue of Charged. Another is Redwood Materials , which has gotten a lot of press coverage… Read more »

Orient and Ricardo to jointly develop next-generation battery management system


Ricardo and Orient have announced a partnership to support the development of Orient’s next-generation energy storage systems. The battery pack development support offered by Ricardo includes applying new cell chemistries and battery architectures, designing and building prototype packs, supporting customers and full-scale manufacturing. Orient will use Ricardo’s expertise to incorporate advanced battery state and parameter… Read more »

VW breaks ground on Battery Engineering Lab in Tennessee


Volkswagen has begun construction of a Battery Engineering Lab at its Chattanooga Engineering and Planning Center. The $22-million facility will test and validate EV cells and battery packs for the North American region. The new lab will join VW’s under-construction EV production expansion and battery pack assembly facility to form the company’s hub for EV… Read more »