FRANKFURT, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk has addressed 200 Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) executives via a video call after an invitation from the German carmaker’s CEO Herbert Diess, who wants to galvanise VW’s top brass for a faster pivot to electric vehicles.

The comments on Thursday by Musk to a VW managers gathering in Alpbach, Austria, confirmed by Diess via Twitter on Saturday after a report in Handelsblatt daily, included praise of VW for being an “icon” and Tesla’s greatest challenger, Handelsblatt said.

Continue reading “Tesla’s Musk dials into Volkswagen executive conference”

BEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s Honda Motor (7267.T) will launch a new electric vehicle brand in China next year, it said on Wednesday, and will only launch battery electric, hydrogen fuel-cell or petrol-electric hybrid vehicles there from 2030.

Known for its fuel-efficient internal-combustion engines, Honda sold over 1.6 million vehicles in China last year.

Continue reading “Honda to launch new EV brand in China next year”

PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) will leave its current headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris to move to a rented location as it looks to cut costs, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Continue reading “Renault plans move to rented HQ as it aims to cut costs-spokesperson”

TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Japan’s biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp (5401.T) said on Thursday it had filed patent infringement lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (Baosteel) (600019.SS) with a Tokyo district court.

Nippon Steel is seeking 20 billion yen ($176 million) in damages from each company, alleging the two firms have infringed on its patents on non-oriented magnetic steel sheets that are used in electric vehicles, it said in a statement.

Continue reading “Nippon Steel sues Toyota, Baoshan for patent infringement”

NUERTINGEN, GERMANY, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Germany’s BMW (BMWG.DE) will be ready for any ban on internal combustion engine (ICE) cars from 2030 onwards with an offering of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse said on Tuesday.

The EU has proposed an effective ban on fossil fuel cars from 2035 as part of a broader package of measures to combat global warming.

Continue reading “BMW ready for any ban on fossil fuel-burning cars from 2030, CEO says”

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – More than 100 U.S. House lawmakers on Tuesday urged Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep a $4,500 tax credit incentive for union-built electric vehicles (EV) in a massive spending bill.

In a letter seen by Reuters, 107 Democrats urged Pelosi to retain the credit supported by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, the AFL-CIO and U.S. automakers. The $4,500 credit would provide a significant boost to Detroit’s three automakers — General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis .

Continue reading “More than 100 U.S. lawmakers urge Pelosi to back union EV tax credit”

HONG KONG, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Alibaba Group (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma, largely out of public view since a regulatory clampdown started on his business empire late last year, is currently in Hong Kong and has met business associates in recent days, two sources told Reuters.

The Chinese billionaire has been keeping a low profile since delivering a speech in October last year in Shanghai criticising China’s financial regulators. That triggered a chain of events that resulted in the shelving of his Ant Group’s mega IPO.

Continue reading “Billionaire Alibaba founder Jack Ma reappears in Hong Kong – sources”

LAS VEGAS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Honda Aircraft Co on Tuesday rolled out plans for a new light business jet that can fly non-stop across the United States, as the company looks to tap into skyrocketing demand for private travel.

The plane would seat up to 11 and offer up to 20% better fuel efficiency than other jets in the category, the company said. Honda Aircraft unveiled the new design at the National Business Aviation Association show in Las Vegas, the industry’s largest business jet show. It did not guarantee that the plane would be produced or offer a timeline for taking orders

Continue reading “Honda pitches new light jet model as private travel soars”

SEOUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Tuesday its battery partner, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS), had agreed to reimburse it for the $2 billion estimated in costs and expenses associated with the recall of Bolt electric vehicles.

The U.S. automaker did not say how much LG would pay but said it will recognize an estimated recovery in the third-quarter earnings that will offset $1.9 billion of the total charges associated with the recall.

Continue reading “GM settles $2 bln Bolt EV recall cost deal with S.Korea’s LG”

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) – European and U.S. cities planning to phase out combustion engines over the next 15 years first need to plug a charging gap for millions of residents who park their cars on the street.

For while electric vehicle (EVs) sales are soaring in Europe and the United States, a lag in installing charging infrastructure is causing a roadblock.

Continue reading “Rocking down to Electric Avenue? Good luck charging your car”

BEIJING, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (300750.SZ) plans to build a battery material recycling facility in the central Chinese province of Hubei with an investment of up to 32 billion yuan ($4.96 billion), the electric-vehicle battery maker said on Tuesday.

The company’s announcement comes at a time when global demand for electric vehicles has surged, which makes securing battery materials a key task for the industry.

Continue reading “EV battery maker CATL plans $5-billion China recycling facility”

WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) – White House officials, scrambling to relieve global supply bottlenecks choking U.S. ports, highways and railways, warn Americans may face higher prices and some empty shelves this Christmas season.

The supply crisis, driven in part by the global COVID pandemic, not only threatens to dampen U.S. spending at a critical time, it also poses a political risk for U.S. President Joe Biden.

Continue reading “Americans may not get some Christmas treats, White House officials warn”

TOKYO, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) in December wants to restart production curtailed by component shortages with a rebound in shipments from pandemic-hit suppliers that may help it claw back around a third of output lost to supply disruptions, three sources familiar with the carmaker’s plans said.

Toyota last month cut its production target for the financial year to end-March by 300,000 vehicles to 9 million units because rising COVID-19 infections slowed work at parts factories in Malaysia and Vietnam, compounding a global chip shortage that has forced it and other big automakers to curtail output.

Continue reading “Toyota aims to make up some lost production as supplies rebound -sources”

SEOUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) – South Korean battery firms LG Chem Ltd (051910.KS) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) will be shouldering a combined $1.2 billion for General Motors Co’s (GM.N) Bolt electric vehicle recall – the lion’s share of the expected costs.

GM in August expanded the recall, which will replace LG battery modules due to the risk of fire, to more than 140,000 cars, estimating the cost at $1.8 billion, but that has risen to $2 billion. It previously said battery production resumed on Sept. 20 and replacements would begin in mid-October.

Continue reading “South Korean battery firms to shoulder $1.2 bln of GM’s Bolt EV recall costs”

TARTU, Estonia, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Peat, plentiful in bogs in northern Europe, could be used to make sodium-ion batteries cheaply for use in electric vehicles, scientists at an Estonian university say.

Sodium-ion batteries, which do not contain relatively costly lithium, cobalt or nickel, are one of the new technologies that battery makers are looking at as they seek alternatives to the dominant lithium-ion model.

Continue reading “Energy from bogs: Estonian scientists use peat to make batteries”

BEIJING, Oct 11 (Reuters) – China, the world’s biggest auto market, said on Monday it will roll out assessment measures to regulate data sent abroad by vehicles, as the country steps up efforts to protect data and privacy.

As cars become ‘smarter’ with more in-car entertainment, information and autonomous driving functions, automakers and tech companies are gathering more data from vehicles, raising privacy and security concerns.

Continue reading “China to set assessment measures to regulate data sent abroad by cars”

GRUENHEIDE, Germany, Oct 9 (Reuters) – The first cars to emerge from Tesla’s new Berlin factory should roll off the production line as early as next month, CEO Elon Musk said at the site of the plant on Saturday, but added that volume production would take much longer to achieve.

Musk hopes to get the green light in coming weeks to start production at the site. The latest consultation on public concerns towards the site closes on Oct. 14, after which the Environment Ministry will make a decision.

Continue reading “First Berlin Teslas could come next month, Musk tells fans”

TOKYO, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW) and Japan’s Sony Group Corp (6758.T) are considering jointly building a chip factory in Japan, with the government ready to pay for some of the investment of about 800 billion yen ($7.15 billion), the Nikkei reported on Friday.

Continue reading “TSMC and Sony considering joint chip factory, Japan gov’t to help -Nikkei”

Oct 8 (Reuters) – The center of gravity for U.S. auto manufacturing is moving south, with electric vehicle and battery makers planning to spend nearly $24 billion in new factories from Arizona to Georgia.

Continue reading “Factbox: EV and battery makers target $24 billion for southern U.S. plants”

MILAN, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The organizers of the Geneva International Motor Show said on Thursday that they would not organize the event next year due to “industry-wide issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The organisers said in a statement that direct and indirect issues linked to the pandemic left them “with no alternative”.

Continue reading “Geneva motor show postponed further until 2023”

Oct 7 (Reuters) – Stellantis (STLA.MI), the world’s fourth largest carmaker, said on Thursday it would invest $229 million in three plants in Indiana to expedite the development of electric vehicles.

The investment, which will retain 662 jobs, will retool three Kokomo plants in Indiana to produce electrified, eight-speed transmissions, Stellantis said.

Continue reading “Stellantis to invest $229 mln to upgrade Indiana plants for EVs”

CALIPATRIA, Calif., Oct 7 (Reuters) – Automakers, investors and even oilfield giant Schlumberger NV (SLB.N) are beginning to embrace environmentally friendly technologies to produce lithium that could help meet 25% or more of global demand for the electric vehicle battery metal by the end of the decade.

Stellantis , Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and others have invested millions of dollars or signed supply agreements with so-called direct lithium extraction (DLE) start-ups in recent months in an attempt to propel the technology to commercial production, expected within the next year or two.

Continue reading “Automakers funding new tech aimed at making greener lithium for EVs”

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday the electric carmaker plans to move its headquarters from Silicon Valley’s Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas, where it is building a massive car and battery manufacturing complex.

Tesla joins Oracle, HP and Toyota Motor (7203.T) in moving U.S. headquarters to Texas from California, which has relatively high taxes and living costs. While Silicon Valley also is a hive of development of new ideas and companies, Texas is known for cheaper labor and less stringent regulation.

Continue reading “Tesla moving headquarters to Texas from California”

STOCKHOLM, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Northvolt plans to invest $750 million expanding its laboratory facility in Sweden, a top executive said, to meet soaring demand for lithium-ion batteries as carmakers go electric.

As it aims to take on major Asian players such as CATL (300750.SZ) and LG Chem (051910.KS), Northvolt said it would set up the “first R&D campus covering the entire battery ecosystem”.

Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE Northvolt plots EV battery grab with $750 mln Swedish lab plan”

MADRID, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Luca de Meo, the recently appointed CEO of French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA), said a shortage in semiconductors and other rising costs are set to boost car prices, Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Thursday.

“Prices will rise even more in the coming 12 months,” he told the newspaper in an interview, as chip makers are taking advantage of the leverage scarcity is giving them.

Continue reading “Renault CEO warns of bigger price jump ahead as costs soar, Expansion reports”

LOS ANGELES, Oct 7 (Reuters) – The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities like grain to all corners of the world.

Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls.

The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of retail giant Walmart (WMT.N), which is chartering its own vessels in an effort to beat the global supply chain disruptions that threaten to torpedo the retail industry’s make-or-break holiday season.

Continue reading “‘Containergeddon’: Supply crisis drives Walmart and rivals to hire their own ships”

DETROIT, Oct 6 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra told investors on Wednesday that the automaker plans to double revenue by 2030, expanding profits from combustion vehicles even as it rolls out new electric vehicles and new digitally powered services to catch up with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

GM said if it succeeds, annual revenue by 2030 would be about $280 billion, and the automaker would be the leader in U.S. electric vehicle sales. Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said GM expects pre-tax profit margins of 12 to 14%, which could beat current levels. That would imply annual pre-tax profits of as much as $39 billion.

Continue reading “GM aims to double revenues by 2030 as it drives to pass Tesla”

SINGAPORE, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Fresh coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia have hurt factory activity across industries, threatening the region’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and disrupting global supplies of goods such as apparels, automobiles, and electronics.

Coronavirus curbs have led companies to shut factories and suspend or reduce operations at a time when Asia’s manufacturing sector is already grappling with rising raw material costs and signs of a slowing Chinese economy.

Continue reading “Factbox: How COVID-19 in Southeast Asia is threatening global supply chains”

Oct 6 (Reuters) – BMW (BMWG.DE) said on Wednesday it will invest in lithium technology startup Lilac Solutions Inc to support more-efficient ways to produce the electric vehicle battery metal.

Privately-held Lilac is part of a growing number of technology developers seeking to extract lithium from saltwater brines faster, cheaper and with less water than evaporation ponds, which have long been the industry standard.

Continue reading “BMW invests in lithium technology startup Lilac Solutions”

STOCKHOLM, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Volvo Trucks has received an order for 100 electric trucks from shipping firm DFDS (DFDS.CO), its biggest commercial electric truck order to date, the Swedish truck maker said on Wednesday.

Volvo Trucks, AB Volvo’s (VOLVb.ST) main truck brand, said the order was one of the largest ever for heavy electric trucks worldwide, adding that deliveries would start in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Continue reading “Sweden’s AB Volvo wins its largest electric truck order so far”

SEOUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) – The global auto industry’s shift to electric vehicles (EVs) has spurred an expansion race among battery makers, and caused a growing a skills shortage. See main story:

Global sales of EVs, estimated at 2.5 million vehicles in 2020, is forecast to grow more than 12-fold to 31.1 million by 2030 and account for nearly a third of new vehicle sales, according to consulting firm Deloitte.

Continue reading “Factbox: Electric-vehicle batteries: major players and their expansion plans”

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) have agreed to settle a legal battle over the latter’s use of the name “BlueCruise” to market its hands-free driving technology.

In a notice filed in court late on Friday, the two automakers said they are in the “process of settling all claims and counterclaims at issue.” A judge agreed to dismiss the suit on condition the automakers finalize a settlement within 60 days. No details were released.

Continue reading “GM, Ford to settle suit over use of ‘BlueCruise’ name for hands-free driving”

NEW DELHI, Oct 4 (Reuters) – India is framing policies to promote the use of clean fuels, including electric vehicles (EVs), and tightening emission norms to meet its carbon reduction targets, transport minister Nitin Gadkari told the Reuters Impact conference on Monday.

India is the third-largest user of transport automobiles in the world but 70% of its transport energy need is fulfilled by importing fossil fuels.

Continue reading “India targets alternate fuels, EVs in clean transport push”

CAPE TOWN, Oct 5 (Reuters) – South Africa’s biggest metalworkers union on Tuesday launched an indefinite strike, seeking pay rises and threatening to block supplies of parts to make new cars and accessories, industry and union officials said.

With around 155,000 members organised in the sector, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has called for a total shutdown of the engineering industry after wage talks with employer bodies reached a deadlock and arbitration failed.

Continue reading “South African union starts indefinite strike, auto industry fears impact”

Oct 5 (Reuters) – Hertz Corp (HERTZ.UL) has named former Ford Motor Co (F.N) Chief Executive Mark Fields as its interim CEO, the rental car company said on Tuesday.

Fields succeeded Alan Mulally as president and CEO of the No. 2 U.S. automaker in 2014. He was ousted in 2017 and replaced by Jim Hackett.

Continue reading “Hertz tabs former Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields as interim CEO”

SEOUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) – The South Korean battery giants powering many of the world’s electric vehicles face a skills shortage that could drag on the global race towards zero-emissions transport.

The country’s three major players, which command a third of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market, told Reuters they were all grappling with a shortage of research and engineering specialists as demand for the technology balloons.

Continue reading “Battery giants face skills gap that could jam electric highway”

Oct 4 (Reuters) – Hedge fund Engine No. 1 on Monday formally announced it has taken a stake in General Motors Co (GM.N) and was supportive of its transition to battery electric vehicles, sending the shares of the No. 1 U.S. automaker up 3.2%.

The position of support for GM was in contrast to the hedge fund’s against-the-odds challenge against Exxon Mobile Corp (XOM.N) earlier this year that enabled it to land three board seats. Engine No. 1 had criticized the energy giant’s track record and targets on reducing its carbon footprint. read more

Continue reading “Engine No. 1 backs GM’s strategy around transition to EVs”

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct 4 (Reuters) – A Delaware judge should order Elon Musk to repay $9.4 billion to Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) for the benefits he received by pushing the electric vehicle maker in 2016 to buy an ailing solar company he partly owned, according to Tesla investors in a court filing late Friday.

The investors said a “simple and practical” way to undo the benefits they say Musk improperly received from the $2.6 billion deal for SolarCity would be to order the chief executive to return the Tesla shares he received for his stock in the rooftop solar company.

Continue reading “Investors argue Musk should repay $9.4 bln to Tesla for SolarCity deal”