The Charged

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $500 million for seven selected projects intended to expand domestic critical-mineral processing, battery manufacturing and recycling capacity. The programme covers multiple upstream bottlenecks rather than concentrating solely on battery-cell production. Projects include lithium extraction, domestic cobalt refining, battery-material recycling, cathode-material recovery, electrolyte chemicals and silicon-anode technologies. DOE says the funding round encompasses demonstration projects, construction of commercial-scale facilities and retrofits or retooling of existing facilities. Among the reported selections are $100 million for Lilac Solutions, supporting a Great Salt Lake lithium project targeting approximately 5,000 tonnes per year by 2028; $100 million for Jervois for domestic cobalt refining; and $100 million for Nth Cycle for battery-metal recovery. Importantly, these projects represent selected/announced projects rather than operating supply. Their contribution to U.S. battery-material capacity depends on award execution, construction, commissioning and production ramp-up.

The U.S. Department of Energy separately announced selections totalling $162 million for nine projects designed to recover critical minerals and valuable by-products from existing industrial feedstocks. The targeted materials include scandium, copper, antimony and rare-earth elements. Four projects are intended to move technologies from technology-readiness levels 4–5 to TRL 7, taking processes from laboratory scale toward prototypes. Another five projects are expected to progress from TRL 6–7 toward TRL 7–8, approaching pre-commercial demonstration. Selected organisations include Anactisis, Still Bright, Nusano, SiTration, Thompson Creek Metals, Felix Gold, DISA Technologies, Alcoa USA and Trigg Minerals. DOE explicitly states that selection for award negotiations does not constitute a final commitment to provide funding, making the project's development stage important. These should therefore be treated as pilot/pre-commercial supply-chain investments rather than current critical-mineral production.

is reallocating a substantial portion of its North American battery-manufacturing footprint toward stationary energy storage as EV-cell demand falls short of assumptions made when regional gigafactory investments were planned. North America President Robert Lee told Reuters that five of LG Energy Solution's eight North American factories are expected to produce energy-storage batteries by the end of 2026. The transition also involves a chemistry shift. LGES has historically had significant exposure to nickel-based automotive batteries, while stationary storage increasingly uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells because of their cost, durability and safety characteristics. North American stationary-battery demand is expected to reach approximately 125 GWh by 2031, according to figures cited by Reuters. The development demonstrates why announced or installed gigafactory capacity should not automatically be treated as EV-dedicated battery supply: factories and production lines can be redirected toward different end markets as relative economics change.

CATL announced that all 20 of its battery plants had achieved certified carbon-neutral status across core operations and established a roadmap toward full value-chain carbon neutrality by 2035. The more commercially significant element is CATL's move to push carbon requirements upstream. The company says more than 80% of product-lifecycle emissions originate in its supply chain. New suppliers will be required to provide product carbon-footprint data, while renewable-electricity consumption and energy efficiency will enter annual supplier reviews. CATL has established baseline carbon data for more than 100 core Tier-1 suppliers and plans an initial decarbonisation programme involving 30 core suppliers. At its own manufacturing operations, CATL reports energy consumption per unit of product has fallen 28% versus 2022, while carbon-emission intensity has fallen approximately 77%. Since 2023, its operations have consumed more than 18 billion kWh of zero-carbon electricity.

reached a new operational manufacturing milestone as Giga Shanghai produced its six-millionth battery pack, approximately nine months after reaching its five-millionth pack. Shanghai is an important example of genuinely operational battery and EV manufacturing scale, rather than announced future capacity. The facility assembles battery packs supporting Model 3 and Model Y production and reportedly sources cells primarily from CATL and LG Energy Solution. The Shanghai facility has approximately 1 million vehicles per year of installed vehicle-production capacity and serves both China's domestic market and export markets. The one-million-pack increment since November 2025 illustrates the throughput of Tesla's established Shanghai battery-pack lines, although pack-production figures should not be directly equated with finished vehicle production. Strategically, the milestone highlights the manufacturing advantage generated by China's mature ecosystem of cell suppliers, pack manufacturing, vehicle assembly and export logistics.

Einride announced plans to deploy 500 Tesla Semi trucks through its Saga AI fleet-intelligence platform, describing the programme as the largest Tesla Semi deployment announced to date. The trucks will support Amazon and other Einride customers across North America, including freight corridors in California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois and Georgia. Deployment will occur in phases over 24 months beginning in September 2026 and will be financed using third-party financing solutions. Adding 500 Tesla Semis is expected to triple Einride's deployed electric-truck fleet. Its Saga AI platform has already managed more than 19 million electric miles and 42,000 optimisation sessions. Einride also connects the deployment to approximately $800 million of potential long-term annual recurring revenue under joint business plans with shippers, although that figure is forward-looking and should not be treated as realised revenue.

New International Council on Clean Transportation data showed that global sales of electric trucks and buses exceeded 520,000 vehicles in 2025, representing approximately 86% year-on-year growth. China drove the overwhelming majority of the market, accounting for close to nine-tenths of global electric commercial-vehicle sales. Outside China, zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales were approximately 63,000 units. Europe nevertheless showed meaningful acceleration. Electric-truck sales in the EU reportedly increased 71%, reaching approximately 4.5% market share. Electric-bus deployment was also significant, with roughly 9,800 electric buses sold in the EU and around 5,000 in India. The figures show that commercial-road electrification has moved beyond pilot scale, but also reveal a major geographic imbalance. China's industrial and deployment scale is far ahead of most markets, with implications for vehicle costs, battery sourcing, charging infrastructure and OEM competitiveness.

Asahi Kasei announced a lithium pre-doping technology designed to address the irreversible capacity loss experienced during the first charging cycle of silicon-rich lithium-ion battery anodes. The approach uses relatively inexpensive lithium carbonate as a sacrificial lithium source. Special electrolyte additives allow the lithium carbonate to decompose at conventional lithium-ion cell voltages, supplying lithium during the initial charging process. In internal testing using an NMC cell with a 90% graphite / 10% SiO anode, Asahi Kasei reported a 10% increase in energy density. The company also says the method can improve cycle life and can be implemented without significant modifications to existing battery manufacturing lines. Asahi Kasei intends to commercialise the technology through licensing and collaborative customer development. It remains a technology-development/commercialisation-stage proposition, not current mass-production battery technology.

launched EnergyConnect, an AI-driven energy-management system designed to maximise charging capacity within a site's existing electrical infrastructure. EnergyConnect dynamically allocates power across chargers in real time and gives site operators centralised visibility and control over electricity consumption. The significance extends beyond the software product itself. As charging networks scale, electrical interconnection capacity, transformers, peak demand and infrastructure-upgrade costs increasingly determine how quickly and economically charging sites can expand. Energy-management software can potentially allow more charging ports or greater utilisation without an equivalent increase in grid connection capacity. The launch therefore illustrates the shift from measuring charging infrastructure primarily by charger count toward measuring usable charging throughput, power utilisation and infrastructure economics.

ChargePoint announced a fast-charging deployment at Portland International Airport designed specifically for high-throughput rental-car operations. The Quick Turnaround Facility installation uses 10 dual-port fast-charging dispensers, allowing as many as 20 vehicles to be connected simultaneously. The chargers are mounted overhead and use retractable cable management, reducing ground-level equipment exposure and limiting conduit and wiring requirements. The system is combined with ChargePoint's fleet-management software for remote monitoring, troubleshooting and intelligent charging management. This is strategically relevant because rental fleets represent a demanding electrification use case: vehicles need rapid turnaround, high charger utilisation and minimum disruption to existing operating space. The deployment provides a potential template for electrifying concentrated airport and rental-car fleets where conventional charging layouts can conflict with vehicle movement and space requirements.

Chinese regulators launched a large vehicle-safety action affecting Tesla, Xiaomi, Leapmotor, XPeng, Zeekr and several other manufacturers, centred primarily on the visibility and operation of mechanical emergency door-release systems. The door-release issue alone affects more than four million vehicles. Tesla accounts for nearly 2.98 million imported and China-built Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X vehicles. Xiaomi is recalling 390,435 SU7s, Leapmotor 371,200 C11 and C01 vehicles, XPeng 264,842 vehicles, and Zeekr 92,658 vehicles. A separate Tesla action affecting approximately 2.74 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles concerns driver-monitoring requirements. The measures arrive as China tightens regulations governing concealed and retractable door handles. Given China's manufacturing and export scale, safety requirements established there can increasingly influence vehicle architecture and homologation decisions beyond the domestic market.