Taseko Mines says it has harvested the first copper cathodes from the newly completed commercial production facility at its Florence Copper operation in Arizona, marking what the company calls the first new US greenfield copper production since 2008.
The company had announced startup of Florence Copper’s electrowinning plant in late February. Now it says the first cathodes have been harvested, an early milestone in ramping the site toward its nameplate capacity of 85 million pounds per year of LME Grade A copper. Over a 22-year mine life, Taseko expects Florence to produce at least 1.5 billion pounds of copper.
Taseko also says Florence Copper is the first greenfield site globally to use its ISCR process, which it describes as a low-cost copper production method with environmental advantages over conventional mining. If the site reaches planned output, Taseko says it will become the third-largest copper cathode producer in the US.
“Producing LME Grade A copper cathode for America’s manufacturing sector, including automotive, semiconductor, defense/aerospace and AI data centers, will meaningfully strengthen US manufacturing and supply chain security,” said President and CEO Stuart McDonald. He added that all copper produced at Florence will remain in the US.
Cary, North Carolina has deployed a Pierce Volterra plug-in hybrid fire truck. The city adopted its first light-duty electrified vehicles a decade ago, and chose to electrify this heavy-duty truck in order to improve public health and air quality, firefighter working conditions, and long-term fleet resilience.
The Pierce Volterra features an Oshkosh parallel-hybrid drivetrain. Both travel and pumping can be powered by batteries or by the internal combustion engine.
The Environmental Defense Fund is using the city’s deployment as a case study to demonstrate how light-duty plug-in vehicle adoption can scale into heavy-duty, mission-critical applications. EDF’s case study is designed to show municipalities how focused deployment, strong cross-sector partnerships and leading-by-example planning can facilitate EV implementation.
EDF’s recommendations based on the group’s electrified fleet case studies:
Start with applications in which impact and feasibility align for your fleet to transition to plug-in vehicles.
Strong partnerships make the process easier and build relationships that facilitate future additions. Cary’s project was enabled through collaboration among the town’s leadership, fire department, utility, OEMs and other stakeholders.
A targeted deployment builds knowledge, confidence and momentum, and provides a framework for other municipal fleets to learn from. EDF’s case study is designed to show how other fleets can replicate Cary’s planning and incorporate coordination into their initial research and transition plans.
Aptera Motors (NASDAQ: SEV) was originally founded in 2006. However, while other EV startups from that area endeavored (and mostly failed) to follow a three-step iteration from a low-volume luxury vehicle to an affordable mass-market EV, Aptera took an entirely different approach. The goal was simply to build the most efficient EV possible with available technology. To that end, the Aptera features a super-aerodynamic design, lightweight materials and integrated solar cells.
It’s been a long road, but the first Apteras are now rolling off the company’s validation assembly line—a major milestone marking the transition from hand-built validation vehicles to a structured assembly line process.
The line consists of 14 dedicated stations, where vehicles are assembled by a team of technicians. Vehicles produced on the low-volume validation line will be used for various testing programs, including thermal validation, brake performance, and “some destructive testing” (what fun!). The line is being used to refine the installation process for every major vehicle system, allowing the team to optimize build sequences, improve assembly procedures and refine station layouts as preparation continues for the next phase of series volume assembly.
“The completion of the first vehicle off our low-volume assembly line is a significant achievement for the entire company,” said Steve Fambro, Co-CEO of Aptera. “These first vehicles will be used to complete the key tests and optimization required to sell our first vehicles to customers.”
Vehicles will continue rolling off the low-volume validation assembly line in the coming weeks as Aptera expands its validation fleet and advances through required testing and certification milestones.
Aptera’s Launch Edition has a 44 kWh battery pack consisting of 2,304 NMC cylindrical cells. It’s expected to deliver 400 miles of range. The integrated solar cells are expected to provide up to 40 miles of driving range per day, reducing the need for regular charging. The car can also be charged via the usual J1772 (Level 2) and CCS (DC fast) charging connectors.
Aptera has nearly 50,000 vehicle reservations on the books, representing over $2 billion in potential revenue, and aims to begin delivering vehicles to customers later this year.
Renesas has added a new low-end member to its RH850 automotive MCU family with the 28 nm RH850/U2C, aimed at chassis and safety systems, battery management systems, lighting, motor control and other ASIL D applications.
The 32-bit MCU combines four RH850 CPU cores running at up to 320 MHz—including two lockstep cores—and up to 8 MB of on-chip flash. Renesas says it is designed as a migration path for developers using RH850/P1x or RH850/F1x devices, helping them move toward newer vehicle E/E architectures.
A big part of the pitch is communications support. The RH850/U2C includes interfaces for Ethernet 10BASE-T1S, Ethernet TSN at 1 Gbps/100 Mbps, CAN-XL and I3C, while maintaining compatibility with more familiar automotive interfaces such as CAN-FD, LIN, UART, CXPI, I²C, I²S and PSI5. Renesas says that mix should ease phased migration toward domain- and zone-based architectures.
The company also emphasizes functional safety up to ASIL D, ISO 26262 compliance and support for ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity requirements, along with hardware accelerators for cryptographic processing. “The RH850/U2C combines performance, a rich feature set and compliance with key industry standards to meet the requirements of next-generation ECUs,” said Renesas VP Satoshi Yoshida.
Hoenle Adhesives has introduced Vitralit CIPG 60200, a UV-curable cured-in-place gasket material for automotive and e-mobility electronics housings. The company is positioning the blue fluorescent polyacrylate as an alternative to conventional solid gaskets and FIPG silicone systems for complex 3D sealing geometries.
Hoenle says the material can be dispensed precisely with adhesive valves and programmable robots, then rapidly cured under UV light at 365 nm or 405 nm, or with gas-discharge lamps, enabling short cycle times and immediate handling strength. Once cured, the gasket is designed to maintain sealing force over time, with the company citing a compression set of 15% after 24 hours at 150 °C and an operating range from -40 °C to above 150 °C.
The company also says Vitralit CIPG 60200 resists common automotive media including engine oil, ATF, and 50:50 water/glycol mixtures, while offering low outgassing and UL 94 HB compatibility. Hoenle is targeting applications such as ECUs, battery disconnect units, on-board chargers, and cell module controllers.
A notable angle is serviceability: Hoenle says the cured gasket can be reused after disassembly, allowing housings to be opened and resealed without replacing the gasket. The company says that can reduce service cost and waste in maintenance and repair scenarios.
Wieland Electric will showcase its new podis power bus system for EV infrastructure at the upcoming EV Charging Summit and Expo 2026 in Las Vegas.
Wieland’s podis is designed to simplify, accelerate and future-proof EV charging installations. The podis decentralized power distribution system offers a modular, plug-and-play alternative to traditional hard-wired installations. It’s aimed at commercial, industrial, fleet and parking applications.
Using podis eliminates complex conduit runs. Wieland says it can be installed in a third the time compared with pre-assembled, pluggable components, and can reduce labor costs by up to a third compared to conventional wiring methods.
Wieland’s podis delivers reliable power distribution with high-current capacity. It offers scalable design that can grow with EV demand, and includes flexible layouts optimized for various applications, including parking garages, fleet depots and multi-unit residential developments.
Wieland’s podis system will be on display at booth 1402 at the upcoming EV Charging Summit & Expo, March 17–19, 2026 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Battery electrode manufacturer LiCAP Technologies has announced a major expansion of its operations. The company recently secured a 40,500-square-foot industrial facility in Sacramento, tripling its work space.
The new facility will serve as LiCAP’s dedicated manufacturing hub, enabling scaled production of its dry electrode platform and supporting development for energy storage and data center applications.
LiCAP’s proprietary Activated Dry Electrode (ADE) technology eliminates the toxic solvents required for the traditional wet slurry electrode production process. The company says its dry process saves energy, cost and factory space, as well as improving electrode performance. (Read our in-depth interview with LiCAP President Richard Qiu.)
LiCAP has introduced a new ultracapacitor system assembly line. The company says its ultracapacitors deliver more than one million charge-discharge cycles and exceed 15 years of calendar year life, reducing maintenance intervals and total cost of ownership. The ultracapacitor system line will focus on grid stabilization projects, data centers and other energy storage applications.
“This milestone reflects the market’s strong appetite for cleaner, more efficient energy storage technologies,” said President Richard Qiu. “Our new facility gives us the scale to support commercial partners and deliver energy storage solutions that meet industrial reliability standards.”
Components borrowed from other GM EVs, a LFP battery, and up-to-date new software gives the classic Bolt a brief new life.
The Bolt is back! The new 2027 Chevrolet Bolt has been available at some Chevy dealers since last month, and now we’ve driven it. GM’s lowest-priced EV remains what it always was: a practical small EV hatchback with a range of 262 miles. In 2017, its 238 miles was class-leading, at a price $7,500 higher; today, 250-plus miles is adequate, and it’s a good value for the money.
That price may be the single most important aspect of the new Bolt. A 2027 Chevrolet Bolt LT starts at $28,995. The sportier Bolt RS trim adds $4,000, and the priciest Bolt is the RS with the Technology Package, Super Cruise, and a sunroof, at $38,990. (All prices include a mandatory destination fee of $1,395.)
But shoppers who like the new Bolt shouldn’t dawdle. Chevrolet says the car will have a “limited run” of one long model year, with cars available from now through the end of 2027. Its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas will switch to building gasoline-powered Equinox compact SUVs in mid-2027. What will follow the Bolt when it sunsets? Chevy repeatedly declined to say.
Photos by John Voelcker
Same exterior, new interior
The Chevy Bolt is now the VW Beetle of EVs: on the outside, a 2027 Bolt looks very close to one from its first model year in 2017. It hit dealerships in December 2016, even earlier than the Tesla Model 3 now in its 10th model year. (The Bolt skipped model years 2024, 2025, and 2026.)
The 2027 Bolt, however, is actually an updated version of the slightly longer Bolt EUV introduced for the 2022 model year. Now the “EV” and “EUV” suffixes are gone, and there’s only a single Bolt, the bigger one. It’s still a subcompact, and the sheet metal remains identical, with only mild updates to the front and rear. GM kept cost down by adapting components from other models.
Photos by GM
Current Bolt owners, however, will find an entirely new interior that takes elements from a number of GM’s other EVs. The 11-inch digital instrument cluster was carried over from the Equinox EV, but that car’s wide central touchscreen was too large—so the Bolt adapted an 11.3-inch unit from the Chevy Colorado midsize pickup truck. The column-mounted “shifter” is shared with other Chevy EVs, freeing up console space.
Over parts of two days in the temperate weather of Westlake Village, north of Los Angeles, we had the chance to drive two different Bolts, including a top-spec RS, a total of roughly 65 miles.
Familiar feel behind the wheel
On the road, the 2027 Bolt feels remarkably like the old one: punchy when needed, but otherwise competent, quiet, and generally free of fuss. Its motor produces 156 kilowatts (210 horsepower, or 10 hp more than the 2022 model) and 169 pound-feet of torque. A final drive ratio of 11.59:1 means torque to the wheels is slightly higher than its predecessor, for a 0-to-60-mph acceleration time of 6.8 seconds, according to Bolt chief engineer Jeremy Short. It has three regenerative braking levels: None, Normal, and Strong. We left it in Normal; the Strong was just … too strong.
Fully 57 percent of its components are new or adapted from other GM electric vehicles. Most crucially, the battery pack now uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. The new Bolt is GM’s first EV to use LFP (if you discount one year of the low-volume Chevy Spark EV, which used A123 Systems’ “Nanophosphate” LiFePO4 cells in 2014; the 2015 Spark EV switched to LG Chem cells with a nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry).
Photos by John Voelcker
You’d never know the new battery uses a different cell chemistry—nor should you have to. While its prismatic LFP cells contain 20 to 30 percent less energy than the nickel-manganese-cobalt-aluminium cells used by GM in its other EVs, evolution in LFP chemistries gives the 2027 Bolt battery pack 65 kWh of energy—and better range than earlier models. The 2022 Bolt EUV was EPA-rated at 247 miles; the 2027 Bolt gets a 262-mile rating.
The new cells are housed in a battery of identical dimensions to previous Bolts, using the same attachments, despite having differently arranged internals. It’s also a cell-to-pack configuration, meaning the prismatic cells are not contained in modules but sit in rows directly on a cooling plate at the bottom of the pack. Though the pack itself is roughly 200 pounds heavier than its predecessor, weight savings in other parts of the car—Short cited an entirely new front suspension cradle and far more integrated power electronics and charging gear—reduced total weight gain to only about 20 pounds more than the 2023 Bolt EUV.
From late next year, GM will produce LFP cells in the U.S. at its joint-venture Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Until that plant comes online at scale, GM must purchase LFP cells for the 2027 Bolt from an outside vendor. In a statement last August, the company said, “To stay competitive, GM will temporarily source these packs from similar suppliers to power our most affordable EV model.” The Wall Street Journalreported the vendor was China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL.
150 kW, NACS port, 100% charges
Rebooting the Bolt wasn’t nearly as simple as owners imagine; while the shell of the car remains the same, its electrical architecture is almost entirely new. That means not just the battery pack, electric motors and power electronics, but also the switches and wires to control modules and high-voltage components. It’s fitted with a heat pump for the first time, for more efficient heating and cooling of not only the cabin but the battery pack as well.
Photos by John Voelcker
The old Bolt maxed out at a DC fast-charging rate of 53 kilowatts; the update almost triples that, “up to 150 kW.” In our test, with no battery preconditioning, we saw a sustained rate of 119 kW starting at a charge level of 19 percent. One driver saw a rate of 153 kW. GM cites charging from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes, under ideal circumstances.
The 2027 Bolt is Chevy’s first EV with a standard J3400, or NACS (Tesla), charging port—still on the left-front fender, as the old CCS port was. The onboard AC charger can deliver up to 11.5 kW from charging stations that can provide it. The 2027 Bolt comes standard with a portable charger capable of charging at either120 or 240 volts via swappable pigtail connectors included. Adapters for J1772-to-NACS ($67) and CCS-to-NACS ($189) are available from Chevrolet.
One drawback to the 2027 Bolt is that it’s not presently Plug & Charge compatible. That’s the protocol that lets drivers simply plug in and walk away, with all session validation and billing done in the background. A member of the charging team told us the car “is ISO 15118-ready, and we’re working on growing the compatible networks for this vehicle to use Plug & Charge with.” The first of those networks is to be Tesla’s Superchargers—or at least the 25,000 Version 3 and Version 4 stations out of its total of 36,000 chargers.
Asked about Plug & Charge at any other U.S. charging networks, where some drivers of other EV makes have used it for more than five years, GM released an anodyne statement: “We’re committed to continuously working with our partners to expand coverage, improve reliability and enhance the overall charging experience.” Gosh, which maker isn’t committed to those things? Sadly, GM gave Bolt shoppers not a shred of information on when, or whether, Chevy EV drivers can expect Plug & Charge functionality one day at Electrify America, Ionna, and other networks.
A wrinkle to the new LFP cells is the need to charge the battery to 100 percent regularly. That keeps the range-estimating software properly calibrated, but for owners of other EVs used to capping charges at 80 or 90 percent, it’s contrary to common practice and requires adjustment. The car will suggest to owners every so often they should charge to 100% when convenient.
All new electrical everything
The 2027 Bolt can export energy to power a home during a blackout, known as Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). That capability requires a specific GM Home Energy charging station—meaning owners of older Bolts may have to replace their home charger to take advantage of bidirectional charging.
The old Bolt used GM’s “Global A” electrical architecture, but now, every EV in the lineup uses its “Global B” architecture. That offers five times the processor power, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, and cybersecurity improvements. Buyers can now specify a greater range of advanced safety features: automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, a Surround Vision Recorder that captures camera views onto a USB drive inserted into the console, and more. The new architecture also enables the latest version of GM’s well-reviewed Super Cruise hands-free adaptive cruise control, now including automatic lane changing.
Boosting GM’s bottom line, Global B allows new apps and features—some with monthly fees. Chevy has aligned the new Bolt with its other EVs by removing phone mirroring: No more Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. That was controversial. Now, audio apps like Spotify and Apple Music have been added into the 8-year period during which Chevy won’t charge for OnStar Basics (Google Maps, Voice Assistance, Automatic Crash Response, and mobile app features like remote commands). Bolts with Super Cruise get three years of Onstar One, which adds video streaming, then the Super Cruise subscription fee alone is $40 a month or $399 a year. Bolts without get Super Cruise get a one-month trial of OnStar One, then it costs $35 per month.
What comes after 2027?
When Chevrolet announced the return of the Bolt for 2027 as a “limited run,” the phrasing begged the question: What happens after that run ends? While GM remains tight-lipped, some hints have emerged in comments from GM president Mark Reuss. Last October, he said on Inside EVs’ Plugged-In podcast that Chevy is planning a “family” of low-cost EVs to come after the Bolt.
Renesas has added a new low-end member to its RH850 automotive MCU family with the 28 nm RH850/U2C, aimed at chassis and safety systems, battery management systems, lighting, motor control and other ASIL D applications.
The 32-bit MCU combines four RH850 CPU cores running at up to 320 MHz—including two lockstep cores—and up to 8 MB of on-chip flash. Renesas says it is designed as a migration path for developers using RH850/P1x or RH850/F1x devices, helping them move toward newer vehicle E/E architectures.
A big part of the pitch is communications support. The RH850/U2C includes interfaces for Ethernet 10BASE-T1S, Ethernet TSN at 1 Gbps/100 Mbps, CAN-XL and I3C, while maintaining compatibility with more familiar automotive interfaces such as CAN-FD, LIN, UART, CXPI, I²C, I²S and PSI5. Renesas says that mix should ease phased migration toward domain- and zone-based architectures.
The company also emphasizes functional safety up to ASIL D, ISO 26262 compliance and support for ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity requirements, along with hardware accelerators for cryptographic processing. “The RH850/U2C combines performance, a rich feature set and compliance with key industry standards to meet the requirements of next-generation ECUs,” said Renesas VP Satoshi Yoshida.
From the sensor-packed ‘tiara’ on the roof to the Nuro software stack providing autonomous driving, the Lucid Gravity met all the qualifications for a self-driving luxury Uber.
Lucid’s robotaxi is ready for the road—except for one small detail. It still needs to fit the microsprayers that will clean its various sensors to ensure they work in bad weather. Once that happens, and final safety testing is finished, they are scheduled to go into service by December.
Earlier this year at CES, EV maker Lucid and autonomous-vehicle software developer Nuro jointly showed the production-intent robotaxi, based on the Lucid Gravity electric SUV, that Uber plans to deploy in San Francisco before the end of this year. We spoke to Lucid’s acting CEO Marc Winterhoff and its design director Derek Jenkins to learn how the design and the partnership came together.
The massive deal was first announced last July. Lucid, Uber, and Nuro agreed that Uber would buy and deploy 20,000 Lucid vehicles as robotaxis over six years. Lucid would build the cars, replacing its own driver-assist software with Nuro’s software stack, and fitting the cars with Nuro’s suite of sensors for self-driving. Uber, meanwhile, would make “multi-hundred-million dollar investments” in both companies.
Production intent, minus one detail
The vehicle shown at CES represents the Gravity robotaxis that will go into service within the year. Except, that is, for one detail. Derek Jenkins, Lucid’s senior VP of design, noted the various sensors did not have the “microsprayer” cleaners that will keep them clean in rain, snow, ice, dust, and other climatic extremes—a necessity for reliable robotaxi operation.
The Gravity on display otherwise had three sets of physical modifications to take it from a production EV with Lucid’s ‘Dream Drive’ ADAS system to a fully self-driving robotaxi. Jenkins ran down the changes for reporters during a private briefing on the sidelines of CES.
Photos by John Voelcker
The most visible and obvious change is the “tiara” (also known as a “halo”) that holds a variety of sensors, mounted on supports above the car’s roof. It resembles nothing so much as a luggage rack, and it’s possible onlookers will read it as just that. It also contains a small LED display to help passengers identify the correct vehicle by showing their initials, along with status updates to the public while autonomous service is underway.
The tiara has by far the biggest effect on the car’s drag coefficient (Cd). The standard Gravity comes in at a remarkably low 0.24, and while Jenkins wouldn’t specify a number for the robotaxi version, he said in response to a question, “Oh, it’s more than 1 or 2 counts” (one count being 0.0001 Cd).
Neither Nuro nor Lucid cared to specify the total number of sensors (solid-state lidar; high-resolution cameras; and radar for 360-degree data). For comparison, the standard Lucid array for Dream Drive includes 14 cameras, 5 radars, and lidar, along with 12 ultrasonic sensors. Nuro suggested the actual number wouldn’t be any particular surprises to those who follow the field.
Beyond the rooftop tiara, the front apron below the Lucid “nose blade” is modified to hold more sensors than the standard Gravity, including Nuro’s solid-state lidar replacing Lucid’s hardware along with low forward-facing cameras.
Then, at the rear, the Gravity’s pronounced roof spoiler has gotten thicker to hold sensors tucked inside and underneath it. Jenkins admitted the bulkier spoiler affects rearward vision through the mirror, though the rear-view video camera will retain its full field of view. And, he pointed out, all modifications occurred in areas of the car that are black from the factory—making them visually less obvious to bystanders.
Photos by Lucid
Swapping out a software stack
The other major modification to the Gravitys, of course, is the software. Lucid’s own ADAS software, keyed to the sensors on the production Gravity, is replaced by Nuro’s autonomy stack. That code includes, Nuro said, “state-of-the-art AI [blended] with clear, verifiable safety logic.”
The partners first tested early prototypes on a closed course, as well as running hundreds of simulations, before launching on-road tests with safety drivers last December. If revenue robotaxi service starts a year later as projected, the project will have taken less than two years from announcement to realization.
Human drivers will still able to pilot these robotaxis, Jenkins said, just like any other Gravity. But the companies likely won’t use the driver’s seat for passengers being driven autonomously. What would happen if a passenger got into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive the robotaxi? Jenkins smiled and said the company doesn’t really talk about its safety protocols—but suggested to reporters it wouldn’t be possible.
The three-way deal first came together between robot startup Nuro and ridesharing giant Uber, which had killed its own efforts to develop robotaxis after a fatal 2018 crash in Arizona. Nuro was founded in 2016 by two former Waymo engineers to develop on-road autonomous delivery robot vehicles, now in their third generation. The two companies knew each other from an early Uber Eats partnership.
David Salguero, Nuro’s communications head—who previously spent six years at Lucid—said Uber had been impressed early on with Nuro’s “safety focus and development rigor”. Further discussions ensued once Uber changed its focus and decided to partner with an autonomy company. It didn’t hurt that Uber is headquartered in San Francisco, while Nuro is less than 40 miles away in Mountain View.
Once that partnership solidified, the two companies assessed the EV landscape to choose a vehicle into which Nuro’s sensor suite and software could be implanted. Requirements included a spacious interior, high rated range, and fast recharging—each of which would make the robotaxis useful while minimizing downtime for charging.
Bay Area convenience
Geography again played a role, as Lucid’s headquarters were also in the San Francisco Bay Area, across the Bay in Newark, California. That made it possible for any or all of the partners to sit down face to face with the others as needed.
Uber chose to launch the service near home, in San Francisco. It will select future launch markets as well. It’s worth noting that Nuro is separately mapping parts of Tokyo and other areas of Japan, reflecting an investment by Toyota’s Woven Capital almost five years ago. The test cars there are right-hand-drive Toyota Priuses. The Gravity wasn’t engineered, Jenkins said, to accommodate the RHD found mostly in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
The Lucid-Nuro announcement, however, refers to a “global robotaxi service,” suggesting future Lucid models for robotaxi service could be used in right-hand-drive markets. Execs from both companies were vague on whether the deal might be extended into the midsized lineup, though it seems logical and perhaps even likely. Test results from the Gravity fleet during 2027 and 2028 will undoubtedly be required before that decision is made.
The projected volume of 20,000 Lucids to be deployed over six years will represent just a tiny fraction of Lucid’s output within a few years, said acting CEO Marc Winterhoff. The company ultimately plans three vehicles on its smaller, less expensive midsize platform—none will be a sedan, he noted—with the first targeted for deliveries by the end of 2027.
The current year may be a major turning point for Lucid. The Gravity was slow getting into production last year, due in part to software glitches and owner howls about non-working key fobs. In 2025, Lucid built 18,378 vehicles (more than twice the previous year’s total) and delivered 15,841 of them.
