Howmet is set to install a SACMA 670AL cold forging machine, used to produce its Huck lockbolt pins and collars; a range of two-piece vibration-proof fasteners typically used in safety-critical applications.

The move is a cost-cutting measure which will allow Proterra to concentrate its manufacturing activities at its two sites in South Carolina.

The 9,500 square metre (sqm) plant will employ 150 staff and become the focal point of a global network of gigafactories based on its “cradle-to-cradle” circular value chain, which integrates chemistry research, cell development, battery production and material recycling in one location.

The company has invested GBP 750,000 in a new Curtain ‘Livery’ Printer which has greatly improved efficiency and offers vastly increased throughput.

Lion Electric is to offer a lithium-ion battery pack, produced at its Mirabel facility in Quebec, with final certification of the product set to take place in Q1 2023 before going into series production.

Castertech is developing nano-technology with partners in materials for use in transport applications.

The 327,000-sq-ft factory is now open and is producing not only batteries but drivetrains and other “ancillary equipment” such as high voltage junction boxes.

The new building covers a surface area of 10,000m2 in the immediate vicinity of the company’s main factory, providing greater storage space for the parts and components Solaris requires to assemble its buses and trolleybuses.

Production will continue at Cypress until the end of the second quarter of 2023, at which time Nikola hopes to bring battery production at its own facility in Coolidge, Arizona online.

Jonathon Wood will take over from Jim Fier, who retires at the end of March this year after 36 years at the company.

ACEA is now lobbying for an interim review of the proposed Euro VII emissions standards and will publish a revised proposal to these regulations early this year.

The manufacturing facility in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, is set to open in Q1, 2023. Ultra-high energy (UHE) battery packs (AKASystem AKM CYC) are to be built for supplying the markets in South America.