Stellantis aims to halve EV battery cost by 2030 with lithium-sulfur

STLA Large platformStellantis 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...

Biden admin loans Stellantis and Samsung $7B for Indiana battery factory

2024 Dodge Charger Daytona$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...

Replacing an EV battery may cost less than fixing a gas engine by 2030

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EVThe 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...

Northvolt files for bankruptcy

Northvolt lithium-ion battery cellSwedish 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’s ready to build prototype solid-state batteries for EVs

Honda solid-state battery production demonstration plant in Sakura City, JapanHonda on Thursday unveiled what it calls a demonstration production line for solid-state batteries, which the automaker aims to commercialize 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...

Study: EV battery prices to drop by 50% by 2026

Audi battery assembly at Brussels, Belgium, factoryEV 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...

Report: US may undercut China on batteries by 2030

Mercedes-Benz Alabama battery factoryThe 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...

China’s CATL open to building US battery plant if Trump allows

CATL Evogo battery swappingChines battery supplier CATL could build a plant in the U.S. The decision would hinge on whether Trump's administration allows the Chinese to enter the market CATL wanted to invest in the U.S. but to date the government's said no Chinese battery supplier CATL is open to building a U.S. factory if the incoming Trump administration allows it, the...

Electric Mazda SUV arriving in 2027, CX-5 hybrid under development

2025 Mazda CX-5Mazda on Thursday provided an update on its powertrain development efforts, which will emphasize bringing more development work on all-electric and hybrid powertrains in-house going forward. After launching the low-range MX-30 crossover, which has already been discontinued in the U.S., with all-electric and range-extended powertrains, Mazda has...

Honda takes battery-swapping beyond Asia, eyes delivery services

Honda's revised H logo for electric vehiclesHonda is looking to expand a battery-swapping service from Asia to Europe, but the focus will remain on two-wheeled vehicles like mopeds and scooters. The automaker currently offers battery-swapping in Japan, India, Indonesia, and Thailand, but in a Tuesday press release said it's now working with Swedish scooter rental startup GoCimo on testing...

Tesla Roadster battery replacement cuts 400 pounds, half the space

2011 Tesla Roadster Sport. Photo by Joe Nuxoll.As the second-generation Tesla Roadster remains on the drawing board, a Texas-based company has sketched out a new life for original Roadsters, while improving their handling. Re/Cell, which specializes in remanufacturing EV battery packs, recently unveiled a replacement Roadster battery pack that's 400 pounds lighter than the original and takes...