OEM

China battery maker Wanxinag Group has secured a $1.4 billion deal to supply German vehicle OEM Volkswagen Group (VW) with lithium-ion batteries.

The deal, through the China firm’s subsidary Wanxiang A123 (Wanxiang bought battery maker A123 in 2012), gives VW a second China lithium-ion cell supplier alongside Contempoary Aperex Technology (CATL). 

The Volkswagen Group is increasing its stake in US solid-state battery start-up QuantumScape by up to $200 million as the German OEM looks to future of electric vehicle drivetrains.

The companies formed a joint venture in 2018 to work together on solid-state batteries with Volkswagen investing $100 million at the time to enable industrial-level production of the technology.

Representatives from battery giant Samsung and vehicle OEM Hyundai Motor Group have met in Korea to discuss use of a lithium-ion solid-state cell in next-generation electric vehicles.

The meeting between Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group's executive vice chairman Chung Eui-sun was made on 12 May at the battery plant of Samsung Display in Cheonan, near Seoul, reported the country’s media outlet Aju Business Daily.

Vehicle OEM Škoda Auto has re-started production of its high-voltage traction batteries for the Volkswagon Group’s plug-in hybrid cars after a temporary shut-down due to COVID-19.

The firm has introduced more than 80 precautions for its workforce to allow production at its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, to re-start as planned. 

Researchers at IBM and vehicle OEM Daimler have used a quantum computer to help them design next-generation lithium-sulfur batteries.

Scientists used quantum hardware to calculate the dipole moment of three lithium-containing molecules for lithium hydride (LiH) using four qubits— a basic unit of quantum information— on IBM’s Q Valencia quantum computer.