US-based silicon battery anode developer Amprius Technologies has formed a manufacturing partnership with lithium-ion battery developer Nanotech Energy to expand its production footprint from Asia into the US market.

Nanotech Energy is Amprius’ first US-based manufacturing partner and strengthens its ability to serve defense, aerospace, and other critical markets by providing secure, domestic production that meets stringent sourcing and compliance requirements. The partnership aligns with the recently updated National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), according to Amprius.

The partnership establishes a US supply chain for Amprius’s customers including L3Harris Technologies, which delivers end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea, and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

In recent months, Amprius and Nanotech have refined the design and manufacturing of the Amprius SA128 silicon-anode cell. The 21700 cylindrical cell has a capacity of 6.8 Ah and specific energy of 320 Wh/kg.

The contract manufacturing capacity from Nanotech increases Amprius’s global capacity beyond 2 GWh.

“Establishing a US manufacturing partner is essential to meeting the evolving requirements of our defense customers,” said Tom Stepien, CEO of Amprius. “Nanotech brings deep expertise in developing and manufacturing advanced lithium-ion cells. Their manufacturing skills and our industry-leading designs enable us to move quickly from development to production while maintaining the quality, security, and performance our customers expect.”

Source: Amprius Technologies

MiddleGround Capital, a private equity firm focused on middle-market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, has acquired Pi Innovo from Powertrain manufacturer Dana.

MiddleGround will integrate Pi Innovo, which designs and develops open platform electronic control systems and control software for electrification, clean fuel and specialty mobility applications, into New Eagle, which it acquired in 2021. New Eagle provides hardware and software controls technology for the automotive, commercial vehicle, off-highway, aerospace and defense industries.

Pi Innovo’s OpenECU product portfolio includes off-the-shelf and project-specific controllers with embedded software as well as application and systems engineering services that support commercial and specialty vehicle OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturers.

New Eagle’s platform focuses on mechatronic controls and supports developers with project management and supply chain coordination, its Raptor software toolchain and off-the-shelf hardware control solutions. The company’s engineering teams bring experience in designing and deploying electronic systems for EV propulsion and autonomy programs, guiding projects from initial concept through full production.

“As a long-standing partner to OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers in commercial transportation and specialty mobility, Pi Innovo delivers open platform, configurable ECU solutions with integrated functional safety and cybersecurity capabilities for electric vehicle charging, clean fuel propulsion, and hybrid applications—helping customers accelerate development timelines and reduce time to market,” said Adrian Carnie, Head of Business Development at Pi Innovo.

“We aim to enhance collaboration opportunities with customers in partnership with New Eagle by combining our next-generation ECU platforms with New Eagle’s flexible Raptor software toolchain and established controls capabilities. Together, we aim to broaden our range of functional safety and cybersecurity-enabled solutions, and to expand into new electrification programs, increasing the support we offer across the full lifecycle of controls development and integration,” Carnie added.

Source: MiddleGround Capital

Since the current US administration eliminated federal EV tax credits, several states have implemented their own pro-EV measures, or beefed up existing programs.

In California, the administration of Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed to create a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which ended in 2023 and spent $1.49 billion to subsidize 586,000 vehicle purchases over a decade.

The proposed $200-million incentive program will be limited to first-time EV buyers, will include price caps adopted by Congress in 2022, and will require automakers to contribute matching funds. The incentive amounts and other key details have not yet been announced.

Officials from the California Air Resources Board recently met with representatives of the Detroit Three automakers to talk about the plans.

CARB would seem to be facing a tough audience. All three automakers recently cancelled flagship EV programs, causing them to write off a chunk of change in sunk costs (an estimated $19.5 billion at Ford, $6 billion at GM), and arguably sabotaging their long-term competitiveness in the global market. If, as some suspect, their real reason for turning down the voltage was to appease an anti-EV federal administration, then they may dare to support a new incentive program in California.

One might speculate that relations are a little frosty between California and Detroit at the moment. Automakers have been only too willing to cooperate with the US administration as it undid much of the progress made by the California Air Resources Board towards reducing air pollution over the last few years. Last September, Newsom harshly criticized GM, saying that CEO Mary Barra “sold us out.”

CARB told The Mercury News that it plans to hold a workshop in the spring that will “gather stakeholder input,” and that more details “will be finalized in the coming months.”

Sources: Reuters, The Mercury News

Battery materials and technology company Talga has been granted a patent in Japan that builds on its Talnode-C product line, which combines shaping and coating methods as well as purification to make battery anode materials for use in high-power applications such as hybrid vehicles. 

Japanese Patent No. 7779483, titled “Anode Material and Method for Producing Same”, protects Talga’s proprietary process for producing natural graphite anode material delivering superior energy density, long life and fast-charge capability for lithium-ion batteries. 

The patent provides Talga with exclusive rights in Japan until at least 2040 and follows the granting of a patent in the US for the same technology. 

The company has concluded anode test programs with several Japanese cell producers, and aims to capitalize on the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s recent announcement of an immediate prohibition on exports of graphite products to Japan. 

“The grant of this Japanese patent is a significant validation of our innovative anode technology at a time when global supply chains are under unprecedented strain. As China’s latest export controls highlight the fragility of graphite reliance, Talga’s Vittangi project offers a secure, high-performance and low-emission solution that can support the broader battery industry and rapidly growing energy storage transition,” said Mark Thompson, Talga’s founder and MD.

Source: Talga

Schneider Electric has introduced Schneider StarCharge Fast 720, an EV charging system for commercial and industrial sites and fleet operators in Europe. The system delivers up to 720 kW and can charge up to 12 vehicles simultaneously, targeting higher-throughput charging as demand for eMobility grows.

Schneider Electric reports 97% efficiency for StarCharge Fast 720 and says it uses dynamic load management to optimize charging across multiple vehicle types, including e-trucks, buses and passenger cars. The company positions the product as a high-power option for sites that need to serve mixed fleets and keep vehicles moving.

The system uses a decentralized architecture to improve site layout flexibility. Operators can place up to six dispensers within an 80-meter radius of the power cabinet, enabling scalable configurations for different site footprints.

For installation and operations, Schneider Electric says the design can minimize grid connections, simplify installation, and reduce noise. StarCharge Fast 720 includes lifecycle support from installation through tailored maintenance plans, with 24/7 assistance and remote monitoring via Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Energy Asset Portal.

Source: Schneider Electric

Cyclic Materials has closed a $75-million Series C equity round to scale its rare earth element recycling operations across the US and Europe and accelerate its Canada-based research and development footprint. The company says the funding will speed deployment of locally anchored recycling infrastructure for magnet-containing end-of-life scrap and magnet production waste—materials it processes to produce magnet rare earth elements, including heavy rare earth elements that it notes are less commonly available from Western mining deposits.

Cyclic Materials says that the new capital will support commercial rollout and global expansion with “a substantial focus” on North American market needs.

Cyclic Materials operates a two-stage physical and hydrometallurgical recycling technology to produce rare earth elements from end-of-life products and magnet production waste. It claims its approach reduces carbon footprint by 61.2%, cuts water use to five percent of what mining requires, and achieves recovery rates exceeding 98%. The company also says its recycling infrastructure can be deployed years faster than traditional mining projects, and it positions the system as a pathway to supply heavy rare earths used in high-performance permanent magnets.

Cyclic Materials says its proprietary technologies can economically and sustainably recover critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle motors (as well as wind turbines, MRI machines, and data center electronic waste). The company links these feedstocks to demand growth in e-mobility and other permanent-magnet-driven systems.

Source: Cyclic Materials

WattEV offers a Truck-as-a-Service solution for carriers and owner-operators—not only does the company have its own fleet of electric trucks, it also operates five heavy-duty EV charging depots, and has 15 more under development. Now the company has added more charging ports and increased the available charging power at its busiest electric truck charging depot, located in San Bernardino, California.

The San Bernardino truck charging depot, located adjacent to I-215, one of Southern California’s busiest freight corridors, has added thirty 250 kW CCS ports and six 1.2 MW MCS ports to its existing 24 ports, and offers 11.5 MW of total charging power. The site will now be able to charge up to 200 electric trucks per day while offering megawatt charging capability for trucks compatible with the MCS standard.

“At our San Bernardino depot, strong and sustained utilization—currently averaging approximately 700 MWh per month—has created the need to more than double the site’s capacity” said CEO Salim Youssefzadeh. “San Bernardino sits at the center of some of the most freight-dense corridors in the country, and scaling this depot enables us to support real-world fleet growth with reliable charging, dependable operations and infrastructure designed for long-term commercial deployment.”

Source: WattEV

Canada-based Northern Graphite and Saudi industrial group Obeikan Investment have signed a financing agreement to jointly develop and operate a large-scale battery anode material (BAM) facility in Saudi Arabia through a joint venture company.

The $200-million BAM facility will have an initial annual production capacity of 25,000 tonnes. Construction of the facility is expected to start in 2026 and first-phase production is expected to begin in 2028. The facility will be scalable over time to meet growing global demand for graphite anode materials sourced outside of China.

The facility will be located in Yanbu, a strategically positioned industrial and logistics hub on the Red Sea that has direct access to European, North American and Middle Eastern markets.

Obeikan will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture company and Northern Graphite will hold 49%.

Obeikan will lead the organizing of local debt funding required to finance construction, development and commissioning of the plant. The partners will provide the remaining funding as equity in proportion to their ownership interests and through commercial banks.

Northern and Obeikan are in negotiations with battery manufacturers to secure long-term offtake agreements for the initial 25,000 tonnes per year of production. The joint venture will also enter into a long-term offtake agreement to purchase up to 50,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually from Northern’s Okanjande project in Namibia. That agreement will accelerate the restart and potential expansion of the graphite mine, which has been in a care and maintenance status since 2018.

“We are partnering with a well-financed and experienced industrial player, gaining scale, financing strength, and access to one of the world’s most strategically important industrial hubs, while accelerating the restart of our Okanjande mine in Namibia and advancing our broader mine-to-market strategy,” said Hugues Jacquemin, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Graphite.

Source: Northern Graphite

Heilind Electronics is adding the Molex SideWize High-Voltage Connectors to its portfolio of high-power interconnect solutions. The connectors target space-constrained, high-power designs where engineers are balancing packaging, electrical safety and power density in power-distribution hardware, like EV charging systems, data-center power shelves, UPS equipment and industrial automation.

The Molex SideWize Connectors use a right-angle architecture intended to maximize power transfer in constrained environments. The connectors are rated up to 80 A and 1,500 V per UL 4128, positioning them for high-voltage, high-current systems. The design supports higher-wattage, denser power architectures “without increasing heat generation or installation complexity.”

The right-angle design is intended to eliminate cable bend-radius challenges, while color-coding, positive locking, and 360° cable rotation are meant to simplify mating and reduce cable wear.

Source: Heilind Electronics