Toyota and Volkswagen are gradually bringing their China factories back on line after they were closed for weeks because of COVID lockdowns.

Chinese automakers may have to halt production in May if shutdowns persist in the Shanghai area, said the chief executive officer of electric-vehicle firm Xpeng, a bleak assessment of supply-chain disruptions in the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns.

China's power battery installations in March were 21.4 GWh, up 138 percent year-on-year and up 56.6 percent from February, according to data released today by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA).

According to recent comments from Toyota North America, the automaker expects to surpass the 200,000 vehicle threshold for EV sales sometime this summer, disqualifying itself from any additional tax credits in the United States under current legislation. Toyota's federal tax credits will be phased out just as the automaker plans to begin sales of its lone BEV, the bZ4X, later this year.

General Motors and Honda Motor said on Tuesday they will develop a series of lower-priced electric vehicles based on a new joint platform, producing potentially millions of cars from 2027 in a bid to beat Tesla in sales.

Tesla has notified workers and suppliers that production at its Shanghai factory will not resume on Monday as it had hoped, according to an internal notice shared with Reuters.

US automaker Tesla is suspending production at its Shanghai factory for four days after the financial hub said on Sunday it would lock down in two stages to carry out mass testing for COVID 19, two people familiar with the matter said.

Oil prices fell more than 5% early Monday as the Chinese city of Shanghai announced lockdown restrictions, triggering fears over weakened demand.

The city of Shanghai will be locked down in two stages over nine days while authorities carry out Covid-19 testing.

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor and 'flying car' firm SkyDrive said on Tuesday they have signed a deal to team up in research, development and marketing of electric, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

In the wake of President Putin's military aggression in Ukraine, some firms, including Apple, Jaguar Land Rover, H&M and Burberry, have announced they are pausing activities in Russia.

Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion works by absorbing air to generate plasma, which is then accelerated through an IPT thruster and electromagnetic nozzle. And yes, there is still some air in the altitude at which ABEP will operate. The team at Kreios Space believes its system will lower the costs of VLEO operations enough to make them feasible. Operating in VLEO will allow a 16x increase in resolution for Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. What's more, the firm claims its system "doesn't produce space debris."

The train is planned to use the gravitational energy created on the downhill loaded sections of the iron or giant's rail network to recharge its battery power systems, eliminating the need for additional charging on the return trip to reload. "The Infinity Train has the capacity to be the world's most efficient battery electric locomotive," said Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines. "The regeneration of electricity on the downhill loaded sections will remove the need for the installation of renewable energy generation and recharging infrastructure."

Rivian Automotive is "making progress" in the increase of production for electric vehicles at its Normal, Illinois, assembly plant and is aiming to take 10% share in the EV market by 2030, CEO RJ Scaringe said on Thursday.

Arm has introduced its new Mali-C78AE image signal processor (ISP), which is added to its "AE" line of safety-capable IP suitable for ADAS and human vision applications.

Nth Cycle extracts critical metals from batteries for a second life through a special electrical recycling technology

Tesla is receiving competing bids for a second Gigafactory in China, according to new documents released by a Chinese province. The automaker said that it expects to announce a new factory location this year. Tesla currently operates two main factories, Tesla Fremont and Gigafactory Shanghai, and it has Gigafactory Texas and Gigafactory Berlin slowly starting to ramp up production.

In the early weeks of 2022, the government had to take drastic measures to ensure that (coal-fired) electricity is not interrupted, while in this same year it is leading the Group of 20, in which one of three priority issues is sustainable energy transition. It would be a gross oversimplification to pass quick judgement on any government facing one of the most challenging wicked problems - namely energy transition.

(Bloomberg) -- Panasonic Corp. is renovating a facility in Japan to start testing mass production of a new type of lithium-ion battery that's championed by Tesla Inc. as the key to unlocking cheaper electric vehicles.

The $5 billion will be distributed to states over five years, with $615 million available in fiscal 2022. The first year of the program will prioritize EV charging stations along designated alternative fuel corridors, particularly along the Interstate Highway System. Subsequently, states will be able to use funding to develop community charging infrastructure, a senior administration official told reporters on a press call.

Verizon continues to be a leading corporate buyer of US renewable energy, announcing seven new Renewable Energy Purchase Agreements (REPAs) for an aggregate of approximately 910 megawatts (MW) of projected renewable energy capacity. These agreements position the company to achieve its goal to source or generate renewable energy equivalent to 50% of its total annual electrical consumption by 2025.

Thai-Chinese joint venture SAIC Motor-CP, the manufacturer and distributor of MG cars, plans to spend THB2.5 billion (US$75.8 million) developing a factory to produce batteries for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and start making BEVs domestically next year.

Ford Motor plans to suspend or cut production at eight of its factories in the United States, Mexico and Canada throughout next week because of chip supply constraints, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.

Tesla will see sales increase by over 50% in 2022 compared with last year's despite supply chain problems, Elon Musk has said.

As the world looks to electrify vehicles and store renewable power, one giant challenge looms: what will happen to all the old lithium batteries?

Toyota Motor is cutting its February production by around 20% due to chip shortages, the Nikkei newspaper reported Tuesday, though that output target is still up from a year earlier.

More global automakers have been caught in China's latest coronavirus outbreak in Tianjin, adding further stress to already strained supply chains.

Rio Tinto will put its controversial western Serbia lithium project on hold, a news agency has reported, quoting the CEO of Rio's Serbian arm. The mining group wants to develop the mine near Loznica in the western Jadar river valley to extract lithium, used in electric car batteries, and borates, used in solar panels and wind turbines. Demonstrators block a highway on Saturday to protest against Rio Tinto's plan to mine lithium in Serbia.

The lightest of metals may be causing the largest of impacts. Lithium, which powers our phones, laptops, and electric cars, is essential to our battery-driven world. The demand for lithium has rapidly increased, as the global market's annual consumption has risen by 8.9 percent annually.

Japan's Sony Group plans to launch a company this spring to examine entering the electric vehicle market, looking to harness its strengths in entertainment and sensors to play a bigger role in next-generation mobility.

GM said its sales, which fell 13%, were hurt by semiconductor shortages affecting the car industry. Japan's Toyota claimed the top spot, selling more than 2.3 million vehicles last year, up 10%.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)has halted production at two factories in Japan due to a supply shortage, a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

Electric vehicle startup Canoo on Wednesday said it was accelerating its production plans in the United States while ending its deal for VDL Nedcar in Netherlands to serve as its contract manufacturer in Europe.

The investment made by the South Korean group should help REC Silicon restart polysilicon production at its US factory in Moses Lake in 2023.

The semiconductor chip shortage that is hamstringing the production of products ranging from cars and computers to appliances and toothbrushes will extend into 2022 and potentially beyond that, the CEO of semiconductor company Marvell Technology said.