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VW and XPeng agree China EV charging network

  • Spanish Market: Battery materials
  • 08/01/25

German carmaker Volkswagen has signed an initial agreement with major Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer XPeng to jointly build the largest super-fast EV charging network in China, Xpeng announced on 5 January.

The network will include over 20,000 charging piles operated by both parties across 420 cities in China, and will be accessible to both XPeng and Volkswagen customers. The collaboration will likely extend to develop co-branded super-fast charging stations across China in the future, XPeng said.

The initial agreement continues the growing partnership between Volkswagen and XPeng. Volkswagen invested $700mn in XPeng in July 2023, taking a 4.99pc stake in the firm. And the two companies plan to develop battery EVs under the Volkswagen brand, for sale in China.

By Ellanee Kruck


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06/02/25

Japan’s Honda, Nissan mull scrapping merger plan

Japan’s Honda, Nissan mull scrapping merger plan

Tokyo, 6 February (Argus) — Japanese car maker Honda and Nissan are considering ending merger talks, a representative of Honda told Argus today. Ending negotiations for proposed merger is among the issues the two firms are discussing, Honda's representative told Argus on 6 February, without providing further details. Honda will make an official announcement regarding the deal, including its course of action, in mid-February, according to statements released by the firm on 5 February. Nissan similarly commented that the firms are "in the stage of advancing various discussions", according to a statement the company separately released on 5 February. This includes "the contents of the report", the statement said, referring to the local news story about a possible withdrawal from the basic merger agreement with Honda. Nissan reiterated that the report is not based on any official announcement from the company. This comes only several weeks after the firms launched formal merger negotiations in late December 2024. This included setting up a joint holding company under which the current brands would operate as subsidiaries. The merger plan was partly aimed at jointly developing electric vehicles (EVs) along with studying possible areas of co-operation in developing automotive software platforms, core components relating to EVs and complementary products. Tough negotiation was anticipated from the beginning partly because of Nissan's financial struggles. Honda had suggested the merger plan could be scrapped depending on Nissan's turnaround, reiterating that the proposed merger is not aimed at alleviating Nissan's financial situation. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Engie converts Chile diesel plant to renewables


04/02/25
04/02/25

Engie converts Chile diesel plant to renewables

Santiago, 4 February (Argus) — French utility Engie has started commercial operations at its 68MW Tamaya battery energy storage system (BESS) on the site of its former diesel-fired power plant near Tocopilla in northern Chile's Antofagasta region. BESS Tamaya will store electricity generated by the 114MW Tamaya photovoltaic (PV) plant on the same site, which began operations in February 2022. The company is "repurposing the site to give it a second life and continue contributing to the local economy," said Engie Chile chief executive Rosaline Corinthien. BESS Tamaya consists of 152 lithium battery containers with a storage capacity of 418MWh. It will be able to supply 50,800 homes over five hours of peak demand. Engie is also constructing the 116MW Tocopilla BESS operation at its former Tocopilla coal and fuel oil-fired power complex in the same region. It disconnected the complex from the grid in September 2023. Engie is the fourth-largest generator in Chile with 2.6GW of installed capacity. Its BESS portfolio consists of 2GWh in operation and construction. The conversion of fossil fuel-fired plants is part of Chile's decarbonization plan to ensure a "just" energy transition, providing new sustainable economic activity for communities. Since 2019, Chile has withdrawn 11 coal plants for a combined 1.7GW and is committed to closing the remaining 17 coal plants by 2040. By Emily Russell Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

China expands EV charging infrastructure in 2024


24/01/25
24/01/25

China expands EV charging infrastructure in 2024

Beijing, 24 January (Argus) — China significantly expanded its electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in 2024, data from the country's Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA) show. China added 4.222mn EV charging points in 2024, a 25pc increase from a year earlier. This indicates one charging point for every 2.7 EV units on average. The newly added charging points include 830,000 public charging points and 3.368mn private charging points, marking a decline of 8.1pc and a rise of 37pc respectively from the number of charging points added in 2023. Newly added charging points stood at 119,000 in December, up by 31pc on the year. China's total number of charging points was 12.82mn as of the end of December 2024, up by 49pc from a year earlier, EVCIPA data show. China will add 3.62mn of charging points equipped for private vehicles in 2025, with the total number of charging devices rising to 11.582mn, according to EVCIPA. The country will add 73,000 public charging stations and 1.038mn public charging devices in 2025. The country's growing EV charging infrastructure is expected to boost the purchasing of new energy vehicles (NEVs). A lack of charging infrastructure, especially in smaller cities and rural areas, is one of the main reasons restricting NEV adoption. Most charging infrastructure is concentrated in more developed provinces and cities such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, accounting for 69pc of the country's total infrastructure in 2024. China's NEV market penetration rose to 40.9pc of the country's total auto sales in 2024, up from 31.6pc in 2023 and 26pc in 2022. Penetration will reach 50pc in 2025, some market participants said. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

CATL targets battery JVs with Europe in 2025: Davos


22/01/25
22/01/25

CATL targets battery JVs with Europe in 2025: Davos

London, 22 January (Argus) — The world's largest battery maker, CATL, is looking to sign more joint ventures (JVs) with European carmakers this year, co-chair Pan Jian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. "It's not healthy to concentrate too much production capacity in one space," Jian said, suggesting CATL is looking to diversify its production plants worldwide in case of supply chain bottlenecks. CATL last month announced a JV for a 50GWh plant in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, with Franco-Italian-American car conglomerate Stellantis, owner of 14 brands including Fiat, Jeep, Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. The firm operates at 13 plants worldwide, including 11 in China and two in Germany and Hungary . And the firm has construction plans in Indonesia, Thailand, as well as with Ford in the US state of Michigan and with Tesla in Nevada. CATL also supplies top models such as Tesla models 3 and Y, BMW iX, Mercedes EQ series and Volkswagen iD series in China. Software development key to EV success While electric vehicle (EV) sales in China surged by nearly 40pc last year, sales figures were more mixed in Europe and the US, with growth in the UK and the US , but sales falling in Germany and France. "The bottleneck really lies in the software development capability [of legacy carmakers]," Jian said, adding the example of US carmaker Ford, which has an "internal, traditional culture [that] they need to break through", despite its "visionary" chief executive, Jim Farley. German carmaker Volkswagen is hoping to make itself an exception, after having announced a 49:51 JV with Chinese tech firm Thundersoft in 2023 to develop connectivity and infotainment, to build "innovative and smart cockpits", among other features. The firm also bought a 5pc stake in Chinese EV maker Xpeng in 2023 and announced a charging partnership earlier this month . Volkswagen's battery EV (BEV) sales in China last year rose by 8.1pc to 207,400 units . Elsewhere, western carmakers have struggled to integrate tech into EVs. US carmaker General Motors incurred a $600mn loss last year after ending production of its Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle . US tech giant Amazon also invested heavily in Rivian in 2019, which has struggled to scale up sales and fallen behind as the fifth-largest EV maker in the US past year , far behind Tesla. Autonomous driving start-up Waymo, owned by Alphabet, last May was reportedly being investigated by US safety regulators following a series of crashes involving its autonomous robotaxis. And US tech giant Apple cancelled plans last February to launch a self-driving EV after spending $10bn on the project, codenamed ‘Titan'. British firm Dyson, known for making hoovers and hair dryers, cancelled its own EV plans in 2019. By Chris Welch Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s Nissan to build LFP battery plants in Kyushu


22/01/25
22/01/25

Japan’s Nissan to build LFP battery plants in Kyushu

Tokyo, 22 January (Argus) — Japanese automobile manufacture Nissan will build new lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery plants in Kyushu, in line with its electrification strategy, the company announced today. Nissan plans to start building the new facilities during the April 2025-March 2026 fiscal year, before starting mass production in 2028-29, according to the firm. Nissan did not disclose the production capacity of the new plants, but it is expected to be around 5 GWh/yr, according to the country's ministry of trade and industry (Meti). Meti will provide a maximum subsidy of ¥56bn ($359mn) for Nissan's investment in the LFP plants, which should account for around one-third of the total investment amount. Building the new LFP plants is part of Nissan's wider battery strategy to secure 135 GWh/yr of global production capacity by 2030-31, with its facilities in Japan expected to total 10 GWh/yr of production capacity. A breakdown by battery type, LFP or lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM), is not available. Nissan has been the country's leading electric vehicle (EVs) manufacturer, but it is struggling to make profits partly because of weak EV demand. The company's net profit slumped by 94pc on the year to ¥19.2bn in April-September. This prompted it to cut global car production capacity, including for EVs, by 20pc to around 4mn units/yr. Nissan in December 2024 started merger negotiations with fellow manufacturer Honda, aiming to collaborate on the electrification of automobiles. But Honda suggested that Nissan's financial situation could cause the proposed merger to be scrapped. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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