The $2.9 billion battery parts joint venture between Volkswagen Group's PowerCo and Belgian materials firm Umicore will be called Ionway.
Ionway will supply VW's European battery cell factories with key battery materials.
VW said in a statement on Friday that they aim to expand Ionway's annual production capacity to 160 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year by the end of the decade -- enough for 2.2 million vehicles.
Energy prices surged 8.3% in September, led by oil (+9.1%) and coal, Australia (+6.5%). Non-energy prices increased by 1.5%.
Metal prices rose 1.5%, led by iron ore (+9.8%) and lead (+4.6%). Precious metals eased by 0.3%.
TSMC, Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG and NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced a plan to jointly invest in European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) GmbH, in Dresden, Germany to provide advanced semiconductor manufacturing services. ESMC marks a significant step towards construction of a 300mm fab to support the future capacity needs of the fast-growing automotive and industrial sectors, with the final investment decision pending confirmation of the level of public funding for this project. The project is planned under the framework of the European Chips Act.
Battery maker Samsung SDI plans to invest $1.98 billion in its second U.S. joint battery factory with Stellantis, the company announced. The investment is part of Samsung SDI’s push into the U.S. market, as it also expands in Michigan.
The South Korea-based company said in a Sept. 27 regulatory filing that it will fund the project from April to November 2027. The investment will give Samsung SDI a 51% stake in Starplus Energy, its EV battery joint venture with Stellantis.
The Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) has approved the Licensing Basis Document (LBD) for the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) power plant with a gross installed power of 462 MWe (6 modules configuration, each with 77 MWe per module).
The approval of the Licensing Basis Document (LBD) represents a key milestone of the Small Modular Reactor Project, which will facilitate the implementation of the licensing process for all the stages of the NuScale Power plant in Romania.
Mercedes-Benz customers in Germany can now start the fuelling process directly from their vehicle and pay digitally by fingerprint. Eliminating the need to enter a PIN or authenticate via mobile device, drivers can now leverage convenient payments to enhance the in-vehicle experience. The native in-car payment service via Mercedes pay+ will turn the car into a form of payment device and can be used to make payments at service stations using the fingerprint sensor integrated into the MBUX infotainment system. This is now live with Mastercard debit and credit cards in current Mercedes-Benz models.
UKS Stamping, a subsidiary of the Ucler Kelepce group from Turkey, is building its first factory in Romania, where it will produce car parts and accessories. For this purpose, the company obtained an investment loan worth 10.7 million euros from Garanti BBVA. The UKS Stamping company will inaugurate this year the factory in Pitesti, on an area of 4,800 square meters, with a team of approximately 80 employees. In the Romanian factory, UKS Stamping will produce, among other things, car seats and body components.