This Week in Batteries: VW, SES AI, Ford, and More.

• Volkswagen scales back plans for battery cell plants in Europe, North America (Link)
• SES AI Corp ’s 100 Ah Li-Metal battery passes critical safety test (Link)

• BMW led the European BEV market for the first time, beating Tesla (Link)
• BYD launches upgraded 2025 Song Plus EV, starting at $21,000 (Link)
• Ford prioritizes smaller EVs, cancels large 3-row SUV, writes down $1.9 billion (Link)
• Toyota poised to use Tesla-style gigacastings as soon as this year (Link)
• NIO plans to install charging stations in every one of China’s 2,844 counties by June 2025 (Link)
• Li Auto signs deal with to accelerate the construction of charging facilities, targeting 2,000 supercharging stations by the end of 2024 (Link)
• Tesla price cuts are driving a used EV surge among buyers (Link)
• BYD eyes state incentives for Mexico plant (Link)
• BYD, Zeekr, & NIO Enter Pakistan, Japan, & UAE markets (Link)
• Li Auto reaches 900,000 cumulative EV deliveries milestone (Link)
• GM lays off over 1,000 salaried software, services employees (Link)
• Tesla Semi fire draws in NTSB investigative team (Link)

• Northvolt to shut down Cuberg and shift development of lithium-metal batteries to Sweden (Link)
• Morrow inaugurates 1-GWh LFP battery factory in Norway (Link)
• SES AI Corp launches first UAM-Dedicated production facility in South Korea (Link)
• Amprius Technologies, Inc. and KULR partners to develop reference design to enhance battery safety and performance in advanced air mobility (Link)
• EnPower, Inc. executes customer electrode as part of its “electrode first” strategy (Link)

• US inks critical minerals cooperation deal with Argentina (Link)
• Patriot Battery targets 400,000 tpa at Quebec lithium project (Link)
• E3, Pure Lithium to test production of lithium metal batteries from Alberta brine (Link)

• Alberta awards E3 Lithium with $3.6MM for expanded demo plant (Link)
• SQM profit down 63%, anticipates continued weak lithium prices (Link) - Sibanye secures debt funding for Finland lithium mine as prices slump (Link)
• Tetra Technologies invests in lithium tech developer KMX (Link)

• Tesla Finance Vice President Sreela Venkataratnam resigns (Link)
• Tesla’s former charging infrastructure exec Rebecca Tinucci joins Uber as Head of Sustainability (Link)

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