Electric bikes with mid-drive motors are more efficient than their counterparts with hub-motors. They used to be extremely expensive, but not anymore…

Stella Li, vice president at BYD just confirmed that the BYD Seagull made for the European market will come next year: Yes, we plan to bring the Seagull to Europe next year. But it’s not the Chinese-market Seagull, it will be a European-market Seagull; a new Seagull. You haven’t seen it yet; even myself, I have not seen it yet. The BYD Seagull is already enjoying great success in South America, particularly in Brazil, where it is called BYD Dolphin Mini and the Chinese manufacturer has already confirmed that a 5-seater version is coming.

The specific electrical key data of the all-new Citroën ë-C3 received particular praise in the report: the lithium-ion phosphate battery supplied by SVOLT has a capacity of 44 kWh. Compared to a conventional lithium-ion battery, it offers greater thermal and chemical stability and can withstand more charging cycles. As a result, the ë-C3 can also be charged at a fast-charging station with up to 100 kW of electricity and its storage capacity can be topped up from 20% to 80% within 26 minutes.

In case you haven’t noticed, we can already buy sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries. For example, with a simple search on AliExpress we can already find sodium-ion battery cells in cylindrical and prismatic formats for consumer use. Depending on the manufacturer, the advertised cycle life varies between 1.500 and 4.000 cycles, while energy density stays between 125 and 140 Wh/kg. However, since the mass production of this battery chemistry is extremely recent, production efficiency (mainly yield rate) and capacity are still low, so you can get much better deals on LFP (LiFePO4) batteries for now…

The Dacia Spring is the by far most affordable battery-electric vehicle on sale in Europe, typically starting under €20,000. It was also Europe’s 9th bestselling battery-electric vehicle (BEV) in 2023, registering almost 60,000 units. Where are the Dacia Spring’s competitors? The legacy auto brands are for the most part refusing to make affordable BEVs, so what’s available in China, and will it come to Europe? Dacia Spring Dacia is owned by Renault Group, and the Spring is made in China by Renault’s local partner Dongfeng.

From April 10th to 14th of 2024, EVB attended the CONSTRUMA exhibition, providing support and momentum for the development of the green energy industry in Eastern European countries. At this dynamic exhibition, EVB showcased its intelligent and efficient electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions to meet the growing demands of the EV market.

March saw plugin EVs take 18.0% share in Germany, down year on year, remaining stuck in a hangover from sudden incentive abandonment in late December. BEVs were down some 29% in YoY volume, while PHEVs were down 4.5%. Overall auto volume was 263,844 units, down 6% YoY, and down 25% from 2017-2019 seasonal norms (~350,000 units). The best selling BEV was the Tesla Model Y. The market data saw combined EVs at 18.

The EL6 is the latest smart EV from NIO to achieve the maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. The EL6 is the fourth NIO model, joining both ET5 and its Touring derivative, and EL7 to receive the highest award bestowed to vehicles that offer “overall excellent performance in crash protection and are well equipped with comprehensive and robust crash avoidance technology.”

March’s auto market saw plugin EVs take a 27.9% share in France, growing from a 25.4% share year-on-year. Full electric volume was up by some 11% YoY, while plugin hybrid volume grew 4%. Overall auto volume was 180,024 units, marginally down YoY, though well below 2017–2019 seasonal norms (~230,000). The Peugeot e-208 remained the bestselling full electric vehicle for the third consecutive month. March’s data tally saw combined plugin EVs take a 27.

BYD Blade Battery is currently the best example of a good module-less and cobalt-free battery for electric vehicles. When it was launched, the energy density was at 140 Wh/kg, then slowly increased to 150 Wh/kg. Recently, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu revealed for the first time at a financial report communication meeting that BYD is currently developing a second-generation blade battery to be released as soon as August 2024. This second generation CTP (cell-to-pack) battery from BYD will reach a gravimetric energy density of 190 Wh/kg, which suggests that at the cell level the density will be around 220 Wh/kg - considering a GCTP (gravimetric cell-to-pack) ratio of 85 %.

CATL’s cutting-edge cell technology supports the outstanding performance of the system. TENER is equipped with long service life and zero-degradation cells tailored for energy storage applications, achieving an energy density of 430 Wh/L, an impressive milestone for LFP batteries used in energy storage.

Salvador Caetano Auto, a leader in vehicles distribution and retail, reaches a strategic agreement for the import and distribution XPENG - a leading Chinese brand and a smart electric vehicle technologies pioneer. This collaboration will allow XPENG high-end smart electric vehicles, long awaited by consumers, to be sold on the Spanish and Portuguese markets during 2024.