June 6 (Reuters) – Solid Power , a developer of solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, aims to begin shipping pre-production battery cells by year-end for validation testing by partners BMW (BMWG.DE) and Ford Motor (F.N), the company said on Monday.

In an interview, Doug Campbell, Solid Power’s chief executive and co-founder, said the Colorado company has set up a pilot production line to provide validation samples to automakers while looking for a manufacturing partner to begin producing its cells as early as 2026. Continue reading “Solid Power aims to ship first solid-state battery cells by year-end to BMW, Ford”

BERLIN, June 5,  (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) is recalling almost a million older cars from around the world due to possible problems with the brake booster, the company said on Saturday.

Models of the ML, GL (BR 164) and R-Class (BR 251) series produced between 2004 and 2015 are affected, it said. Some 70,000 of them are in Germany. Continue reading “Mercedes to recall about 1 million older models worldwide”

June 4 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Saturday that the electric vehicle maker’s total headcount will increase over the next 12 months, but the number of salaried staff should be little changed, backtracking from an email just two days ago saying that job cuts of 10% were needed.

“Total headcount will increase, but salaried should be fairly flat,” Musk tweeted in a reply to an unverified Twitter account that made a “prediction” that Tesla’s headcount would increase over the next 12 months. Continue reading “Elon Musk backtracks on job cuts, says Tesla salaried staff to be ‘fairly flat’”

June 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. business of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy on Friday and will pay about $300 million in a plea agreement to resolve a multi-year U.S. Justice Department diesel emissions fraud probe, court documents show.

FCA US LLC, now part of Stellantis (STLA.MI), will pay about $300 million in criminal penalties arising from its efforts to evade emissions requirements for more than 100,000 older Ram pickup trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles in its U.S. lineup. Continue reading “Stellantis unit pleads guilty, will pay $300M in U.S. diesel probe”

SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and needs to cut about 10% of salaried staff at the electric carmaker, he said in emails seen by Reuters.

A message sent to executives on Thursday laid out his concerns and told them to “pause all hiring worldwide.” The dire outlook came two days after the billionaire told staff to return to the workplace or leave and adds to a growing chorus of warnings from business leaders about the risks of recession. Continue reading “Exclusive: Elon Musk wants to cut 10% of Tesla jobs”

SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Reuters) – Elon Musk needs to cut one in ten jobs at Tesla. Some may already have their eye on the exit.

The Tesla (TSLA.O) chief executive’s intentions, conveyed in an internal email seen by Reuters, are rooted in what he described as his “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy.  Continue reading “Analysis: Elon Musk opens door to a Tesla talent exodus”

June 2 (Reuters) – China’s electric vehicle start-ups reported stronger sales for May and forecast continued gains for June as supply chains and output begin to recover from the disruption of COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities.

Li Auto Inc (2015.HK) reported a May sales gain of 166% from a year earlier to 11,496 vehicles on Wednesday. Xpeng Inc (9868.HK) posted a gain of 78% with 10,125 deliveries. Nio Inc (9866.HK) delivered 7,024 EVs, up 5% from a year earlier. Continue reading “China EV startups say May sales up, post-lockdown output constrained”

BRUSSELS, June 2 (Reuters) – Owners of vehicles equipped with so-called defeat devices have a right to compensation from the vehicle manufacturer, an adviser to the top EU court said on Thursday in a case brought against Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE).

Defeat devices are mechanisms or software that can change vehicle emissions levels, leading to disputes over whether manufacturers use them to mask the true pollution levels of their vehicles. Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) admitted in 2015 to using software to cheat U.S. emissions tests on some diesel engines. Continue reading “Defeat device car owners can claim damages – EU court adviser”

SHANGHAI, June 2 (Reuters) – China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group conducted its first successful satellite launch on Wednesday, sending nine into low earth orbit as it builds out a satellite network to provide more accurate navigation for autonomous vehicles.

The self-designed and manufactured GeeSAT-1 satellites, were launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Geely said it expects another 63 to be in orbit by 2025 and eventually plans to have a constellation of 240. Continue reading “China’s Geely launches first nine low-orbit satellites for autonomous cars”

June 1 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk has asked employees to return to the office or leave the company, according to an email sent to employees and seen by Reuters.

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk wrote in the email sent on Tuesday night. Continue reading “Elon Musk tells Tesla staff: return to office or leave”

June 1 (Reuters) – General Motors Co’s (GM.N) Buick brand, once one of America’s pioneer auto companies, said Wednesday that its future North American lineup will be all-electric by 2030.

That target will make Buick one of GM’s lead brands, along with Cadillac, in pursuing the corporate goal of phasing out internal combustion engines by 2035. Continue reading “Buick says it will ‘fully electrify’ North American lineup by 2030”

BERLIN, June 1 (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) is still hammering out how to make good on a promise to build the world’s first fossil-free plant in Hungary, from how much energy can be generated on-site to how much storage will be needed, the carmaker’s production chief said.

The plant under construction, which BMW has said will open in 2025 and source all its electricity from renewables, will still be connected to Hungary’s grid, Milan Nedeljkovic said at a media roundtable on Wednesday. Continue reading “BMW still hammering out details of promised fossil-fuel free plant”

June 1 (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) needs to overhaul its century-old business model – from slashing advertising spending to reworking its dealer network – if it is to earn enough profit on electric vehicles to compete with Tesla (TSLA.O) and others, the automaker’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

The shift from internal combustion vehicles to EVs is “the most exciting land grab in our industry since the Model T” introduced by Henry Ford in 1908, CEO Jim Farley said at an Alliance Bernstein conference. Continue reading “Ford may slash ad spending, revamp dealers to boost EV profit, CEO says”

June 1 (Reuters) – Eight electric vehicle manufacturers have adopted a U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation to improve emergency response guides and incorporate vehicle-specific information for fighting lithium-ion EV battery fires. Continue reading “Eight automakers adopt U.S. EV fire response recommendations”

June 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said on Wednesday it is seeking to boost the number of electric delivery vehicles it plans to buy as it modernizes its network for a new delivery plan.

The USPS currently plans to buy at least 10% EVs including 10,019 of an initial $2.98 billion order of 50,000 from Oshkosh Defense (OSK.N). The Postal Service said it is exploring options for accelerating production of the initial 10,019 BEVs toward the front of the line and “anticipates taking advantage of the flexibility built into the contract with Oshkosh to increase the number of BEVs purchased in the initial delivery order.” Continue reading “USPS expects to boost purchase of electric delivery vehicles”

MILAN, June 1 (Reuters) – Italy’s Lamborghini wants to have two hybrid supersports cars in its range beyond 2030 powered by e-fuels, the head of the Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) brand was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview on Wednesday.

Lamborghini’s Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann told Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera that synthetic fuels would allow the automaker to have very low carbon emissions. Continue reading “Lamborghini wants hybrid cars in its range beyond 2030 with e-fuels – CEO”

BERLIN, June 1 (Reuters) – German manufacturers slightly increased outputs in May, buoyed by order backlogs, increased staffing and, in some cases, improved materials availability, but a further decline in new orders mean rough seas ahead, a survey found on Wednesday.

S&P Global’s final Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing, which accounts for about a fifth of the economy, came in at 54.8, barely changed from a flash reading of 54.7. Continue reading “Backlogs, more staff help German factories against headwinds -PMI”

BERLIN, June 1 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) works at twice the industry pace in many processes but still needs to ramp up highly complex factories and find qualified workers to win the electric vehicle race, Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) chief executive said on Wednesday.

The U.S. carmaker, posing a challenge to German electric vehicle production with its new plant near Berlin, had the advantage of a blank slate start and a small number of models, Diess said, making it easier to scale. Continue reading “Volkswagen’s race with Tesla will be tight, Diess says”

June 1 (Reuters) – Panasonic Holdings Corp (6752.T), which makes batteries for Tesla and other automakers, said on Wednesday it expected global car production to recover this fiscal year, but predicted that the two-year long chip shortage would continue.

“We will be running our business as we consider risks of fluctuations on vehicle production,” said Masashi Nagayasu, CEO of the Japanese conglomerate’s automotive business, which makes in-car infotainment systems and other auto components. Continue reading “Japan’s Panasonic sees global car output improving this business year”

June 1 (Reuters) – TomTom (TOM2.AS) will shed around a tenth of its global workforce, the Dutch navigation and digital mapping company said on Wednesday, as it steps up its automated mapmaking capability.

“Regrettably, this will have an intended impact on approximately 500 employees in our Maps unit,” it said in a statement. “The full assessment of the financial implications of the reset of the Maps unit is ongoing.” Continue reading “Mapmaker TomTom to cut 10% of jobs due to improved automation”

MILAN, May 31 (Reuters) – Electric vehicles are not the only effective route to reducing carbon emissions produced by the car industry, the head of Italy’s automotive lobby said on Tuesday.

Other technologies could help to decarbonise the industry, meeting the same targets on emissions while preserving know-how and jobs in Italy, said Paolo Scudieri, the chairman of automotive industry association ANFIA. Continue reading “Electric vehicles not the only way to meet CO2 targets, Italy car lobby says”