The Union Cabinet has approved these changes to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, allowing the extraction of lithium and other crucial minerals like beryllium, titanium, niobium, tantalum, and zirconium.

The availability of these minerals is essential for the production of clean energy technologies such as mobile phones, electric vehicles, solar panels, semiconductors, and wind turbines.

An official familiar with the matter informed The Hindu Businessline that the government plans to auction mineral blocks containing these critical resources. Once the amendments receive parliamentary clearance, companies will be able to obtain a single exploration license through these auctions, promoting private investment in the sector.

source: The Wire

LiNi0.5Mn0.43Ti0.02Mg0.02Nb0.01Mo0.02O2 cathode shows potential cost advantage with relatively high specific energy and significantly improved overall performance (~95% capacity retained after 1,000 cycles in pouch-type cells, 2.8–4.3 V vs graphite, at 1 C, 1.5 mA cm−2). Combining X-ray techniques and electron microscopy, we uncover the origins of the superior stability.

source: nature energy

Tesla Inc has put on hold plans to sell electric cars in India, abandoned a search for showroom space, and reassigned some of its domestic team after failing to secure lower import taxes, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The decision caps more than a year of deadlocked talks with government representatives as Tesla sought to first test demand by selling electric vehicles (EVs) imported from production hubs in the United States and China, at lower tariffs.

But the Indian government is pushing Tesla to commit to manufacturing locally before it will lower tariffs, which can run as high as 100% on imported vehicles.

Tesla had set itself a deadline of Feb. 1, the day India unveils its budget and announces tax changes, to see if its lobbying brought a result, the sources with knowledge of the company’s plan told Reuters. When Central Government did not offer a concession, Tesla put on hold the plans to import cars into India.

For months, Tesla had scouted for real estate options to open showrooms and service centers in the key Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru but that plan is also now on hold, two of the sources said.

The new startup is looking to hire over 1,000 workers that will support the production of GM’s future electric vehicles. In December 2019, GM announced its own battery factory in partnership with LG Chem in Lordstown, Ohio.

The project, called Ultium Cells LLC, will produce “more than 30 gigawatt hours with flexibility for expansion” — making it a “gigafactory,” which is a term popularized by Tesla and first used for Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada.

GM is kicking off its hiring effort and making construction progress at its Ultium battery factory under its new Ultium Cells LLC joint-venture with LG Chem.

GM broke ground in May and started deploying the first steel structures in July.

Now the automaker is sharing new images of the progress made at the plant over the last few months (pictures are from October 23):

The website is only showing 14 positions at the time of writing, but it is expected to increase as they make progress.

Thomas Gallagher, plant director of Ultium Cells LLC Lordstown factory, commented:

“We are excited to share our vision of an all-electric future as we begin adding members to our highly-technical battery cell manufacturing team. This facility will lead us into a new era of manufacturing and sustainability as we push toward a zero-emissions future. We are very grateful for the Lordstown community’s continued support.”

GM closed its vehicle factory in Lordstown, but the automaker sold it to Lordstown Motors who is reopening the plant to produce electric pickup trucks.

Between Lordstown Motors and now Ultium Cells LLC, it looks like the region could actually end up in a better situation despite GM closing the factory.

The deal between GM and LG Chem at the factory is reminiscent of the deal Tesla made with Panasonic to build Gigafactory Nevada.

Courtesy @ Electrek

“Tesla motor’s most awaited Indian entry is on track” revealed CEO Elon Musk in twitter. The American electric car manufacturer will start the process to bring Tesla cars to India in January 2021, if all goes according to plan.

After October 2nd’s “next year for sure”, It’s second time Elon tweeted about inidan launch. Tesla had plans to launch its production plant in Bangalore (India’s silicon valley) and as per the news, Karnataka govt is working on it’s bid to have Tesla in their ground.

While the india has lot of startups and small EV manufacturers, A global giant like Tesla can accelerate the mass adoption of EV in india. It was only because of lack of charging infrastructure, India couldn’t switch to green energy transportation. While Indian middle class is dependent on public sector transport, two wheelers and budget cars, Tesla might come up with another affordable Electric car powered with LiFePO4 chemistry. The earlier announcement of Chinese manufacturer CATL and their famous 1Million Mile LiFePO4 cells, are going to energize indian auto Industry.

While tesla is busy in building their next GigaFactory in Germany, Tesla fans in India eagerly waiting for next announcement.

Silicon Valley-based company is using its expertise in composites manufacturing and 3D printing to produce the “world’s first” 3D-printed unibody electric bike. (It’s not really the first, but more on that in a bit.)

For all ebikes can do to make transportation easier and more pleasant, there’s one complaint that continues to haunt them: weight. Slowly but surely though, we’re beginning to see more ebikes approach the weights of traditional bikes using clever designs and lighter components.

An upcoming bike called the Superstrata, launching for pre-order on Indiegogo today in both regular and electrified versions, claims to push the boundaries of lightweight ebikes even further by using a 3D-printed, unibody carbon fiber manufacturing process.

Coming in at around 24.2 pounds for the electric model, dubbed the Superstrata Ion, the bike is not only lighter than practically every other ebike out there, but it also claims to be far more durable than existing carbon fiber, steel, and aluminum models. And I say ‘around’ 24.2 lb because the Superstrata has another trick up its sleeve: the 3D-printing process means each model is custom-fitted to the individual rider, allowing up to 500,000 variations of the unibody frame.

So what if that future aircraft looked like a giant flying wing?

This is the concept behind MAVERIC, an aircraft demonstrator unveiled at Singapore Air Show 2020. The innovative design—known as a “blended wing body”—is a complete departure from traditional aircraft architecture thanks to a wide cabin layout that completely breaks the mold of conventional single-aisle aircraft. In fact, the design is so radical, some engineers did not believe in its potential at first.

At Airbus, we understand society expects more from us in terms of improving the environmental performance of our aircraft. MAVERIC’s blended wing body configuration is a potential game-changer in this respect, and we’re keen to push the technology to the limit.

Adrien Bérard, MAVERIC Project Co-Leader

The immense amount of carbon emission has a hazardous impact on our environment and can also risk a smoother travel ride with the destruction of our stratosphere. Airbus thus had always endeavored to infuse a balance between social, economic, and environmental commitment.

MAVERIC’s blended wing body configuration is a potential game-changer in this respect, and we’re keen to push the technology to the limit.” project co-leader Adrien Berard mentions that there will be further development in this aircraft with the assembling of propulsion systems. It might be integrated for commercial use and ‘comfortable cabin layout, enabling passengers to benefit from additional legroom and larger aisles for more personal comfort.’

And, if commercialized, a MAVERIC-inspired aircraft could significantly improve the passenger experience. A blended wing body design provides an exceptionally comfortable cabin layout, enabling passengers to benefit from additional legroom and larger aisles for more personal comfort.

Keeping the future generation in mind, Airbus’ CEO GUILLAUME FAURY and team intended to seek a robust approach by building sustainable aircraft. Project Meveric is one such goal that demonstrates Airbus’ vision of a safe environment.

Jeff Dahn, who had been a leading researcher in lithium battery worldwide, came into agreement with Musk to work for the Silicon Valley Company. The motive was to build a lithium-ion pouched cell that could outperform the traditional technology battery.

These anode-free batteries are not merely rechargeable but have a remarkable energy consumption capacity and come at a lower cost compared to the existing Li-ion batteries. The absence of the anode also makes it convenient in the assemblage.

For example, lithium cobalt oxide, one of the most common Li-ions, has the chemical symbols LiCoO₂ and the abbreviation LCO. For reasons of simplicity, the short form Li-cobalt can also be used for this battery. Cobalt is the main active material that gives this battery character. Other Li-ion chemistries are given similar short-form names. This section lists six of the most common Li-ions.