Apple Inc. reportedly has a team of more than 100 engineers working on a top-secret project in Silicon Valley called Titan. Their goal is to rethink and reinvent the automobile.
LIVONIA, MI—Battery manufacturer A123 Systems filed suit this month against Apple Inc., alleging the electronics giant campaigned to poach employees amid reports that it’s developing an electric car.
ALAMEDA, CA—Wrightspeed, a manufacturer of electric hybrid power trains for trucks, has relocated to a new assembly plant here. The factory is expected to employ more than 300 people by 2018.
BRISBANE, Australia—Researchers from Queensland University of Technology have developed supercapacitors that can be embedded into an electric vehicle’s body panels, roof, doors, hood and floor to quicken charging of batteries.
SPARKS, NV—Electric vehicle manufacturer Cenntro Automotive has started production of an electric light commercial utility vehicle at its assembly plant here.
RENO, NV—Tesla Motors has chosen Nevada as the site for a massive, $5 billion factory that will pump out batteries for a new generation of less expensive electric cars. Four other states—California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico—were vying for the project and the estimated 6,500 jobs it will bring.
BEIJING—China is planning to invest $16 billion to build more charging facilities for electric vehicles. The country is trying to stem air pollution by boosting the use of electric vehicles.
SANTA CRUZ, CA—NTS Works has created a small and powerful battery for electric vehicles that can be rebuilt and upgraded for half the cost of a new replacement battery.
JACKSON, MI—More than 2,000 bats could have a new home at Consumers Energy hydro power plants thanks to collaboration between the utility, General Motors and a Boy Scout from Clarkston, MI. Using scrap Chevrolet Volt battery covers donated by GM, 16-year-old Matthew Netherland and some helpers built 30 bat boxes in a few months.
