(EV) batteries

Honda is to launch an “energy management solutions” business in partnership with UK-based battery tech company Moixa.

The partnership will utilise Moixa’s ‘GridShare’ batteries aggregator technology to “create additional value for electric vehicle (EV) customers and power system operators”.

Honda announced at this week’s Geneva Motor Show that it has also increased its ambitions in the transition toward EVs— and now intends to move 100% of its sales to electrified powertrains by 2025, up from the goal of two-thirds that was announced in 2017.

France will invest €700 million (US$788.8 million) over the next five years to boost the European battery industry and reduce reliance on Asian battery makers, President Emmanuel Macron has said.

Speaking to the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers in Paris, Macron said that Europe needs a “wake-up call” on batteries, referencing the threat of external dependence for an increasingly vital resource in an era of international trade wars.

“In terms of sovereignty and independence, I think it’s not good in the long run for our industry to be 100 per cent reliant on non-Europeans,” Macron was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Mercedes-Benz is to build a new battery factory in Jawor, Poland, creating 300 jobs and expanding the global battery production network of Mercedes to nine factories across three continents.

The announcement follows up on the German automotive manufacturer’s electric initiative, under which the company will “electrify the complete portfolio until 2022”.

Mercedes is currently building a “state-of-the-art engine factory” at the site in Jawor, 100 kilometres from the German border. This plant “will produce four cylinder engines for hybrid and conventionally driven vehicles” and will be the first production site of Mercedes cars in Poland.